EconomyNews
Sequestration? What Sequestration?
President Obama claimed that millions of Americans would suffer if Congress failed to prevent the $85 billion in automatic budget cuts known ominously as “sequestration.”… Read More
Baucus–Hatch “Blank Slate” Tax Reform a Positive Step but Too Narrowly Focused
Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee Max Baucus (D–MT) and Ranking Member Senator Orrin Hatch (R–UT) recently proposed a “blank-slate” approach to tax reform. This… Read More
National Employee Freedom Week: Informing Workers of Their Rights
Rob Brough and John Cress are public school teachers in Pennsylvania. When they wanted to quit their teachers union because of its increasing politicization, they… Read More
Time to Upgrade the African Growth and Opportunity Act
Africa is increasingly viewed as “a hopeful continent” whose next 10 years can be even better economically than the last 10. In this evolving economic… Read More
Too Big to Fail: Some Questions for the House Financial Services Committee
Tomorrow, the House Finance Committee, chaired by Representative Jeb Hensarling (R–TX), is holding a hearing on one of the most damaging legacies of the 2008… Read More
Greece: Austerity Doesn’t Involve Public-Sector Layoffs
Slate’s Matthew Yglesias might be attacked as an “austerity denier” now that he has joined Heritage’s Salim Furth in pointing out that there is a… Read More
Cut Government Spending to Help the Economy? Majority Say Yes
A recent Rasmussen poll (subscription required) found that 65 percent of likely voters want the government to cut spending to help alleviate the country’s economic… Read More
U.S. Mortgage Market Reform: Corker–Warner Bill Misguided
Draft legislation by Senators Bob Corker (R–TN) and Mark Warner (D–VA) would wind down federally sponsored housing finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but… Read More
Internet Sales Tax: Online Entrepreneur Would Downsize
For Thomas Carlson of Cottage Grove, Minnesota, the Internet was key to unleashing a long-held dream of owning a business, quitting his federal job, and… Read More
China’s Financial Quandary: Get Used to It
The finance media are discovering that China has trapped itself with bad monetary policy, joining a long list of countries in this situation. The media… Read More
Kansas Teachers Vote to Decertify Their Union
Teachers in Deerfield, Kansas, just did something unusual—they voted to decertify their union. The Kansas National Education Association (KNEA) no longer represents them. Teachers disliking… Read More
Will the Currency Zombie Eat the Trans-Pacific Partnership?
Currency manipulation is the issue that never dies. No matter how many times the link between exchange rates and American jobs is shown to be… Read More
G8 Summit: Fight Global Hunger with Economic Freedom
This week, President Obama is in Lough Erne, Northern Ireland, for the G8 summit, an annual meeting of the world’s wealthiest countries: the U.S., Canada,… Read More
Morning Bell: 17 Reasons the $17 Trillion Debt Is Still a Big Deal
Remember the debt? That $17 trillion problem? Some in Washington seem to think it’s gone away. The Washington Post reported that “the national debt is… Read More
For the Record: Tax Increases Are Harmful, but Europe Has Pursued Them Anyway
Heritage economist Salim Furth gave testimony last week to the Senate Budget Committee, reminding the Senators that economic research shows that deficit reduction should be… Read More
GDP: I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means
Many decision makers and commentators treat gross domestic product (GDP) as if it measures the whole of the economy. They even use “the economy” and… Read More
Backdoor Bailouts Begin
The Treasury Department’s release of $100 million from the Hardest Hit Fund last week amounts to a federal bailout of five Michigan cities without congressional… Read More
Brazil Turns Away from Capital Controls
Last week, Brazil announced that it is finally eliminating its most prominent tax on foreign portfolio investment. This reversal is the most recent reminder of… Read More
Bill Would Allow Families to Save More for Education
A bill introduced in the House of Representatives could have widespread benefits to parents saving for a child’s education. The Helping Families Save for Education… Read More
Consumer “Watchdog” Tailing Consumers
Many Americans are understandably unsettled by news reports about the National Security Agency’s widespread monitoring of telephone and Internet traffic. Attracting far less attention is… Read More
Equal Pay Act: No Need for a Next Generation
Today, the Equal Pay Act becomes middle aged. This law made it unlawful to pay women lower wages based on sex. It was passed in… Read More
Equal Pay Act at 50: The Myth of the Gender Wage Gap
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act. Signed into law by John F. Kennedy in 1963, the act ruled it unlawful to… Read More
Disability and Unemployment: Putting an End to Double-Dipping
The number of people on Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) reached a record high this year. But a large number of people are double-dipping from both… Read More
Austerity and Stimulus: A Response to The Washington Post
Journalists should check with both sides before committing pen to paper, especially those at respectable outlets like The Washington Post. It would have served Post… Read More
Treasury Employs Extraordinary Measures to Spend Beyond Debt Limit
After hitting the debt limit on March 19, the Treasury Department under Secretary Jack Lew is now employing its toolset of “extraordinary measures” to continue… Read More
Meretricious? Senator Whitehouse Is Projecting
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) spent eight minutes berating me at a Senate Budget Committee hearing yesterday. He disliked the facts I presented on austerity, so… Read More
Trade Promotion Authority: Make the Case
Trade promotion authority (TPA) does several positive things. For one, it gives the President a window where Congress agrees to an up-or-down vote on trade… Read More
Social Security’s Unfunded Obligation Rises by $1 Trillion
Contrary to claims by cheerful news sources, Social Security’s deficit outlook is not “unchanged” or “no worse.” Social Security’s unfunded obligation rose by $1 trillion… Read More
The Internet Sales Tax Will Kill My Small Business
Hi, I’m Catesby Jones. I own a small business in Virginia called Peace Frogs. My three dozen employees and I make T-shirts and other cool… Read More
GDP Report: Government Shrinks, Private Economy Grows
Last Thursday’s revisions to the first-quarter growth estimates showed little change: Gross domestic product (GDP) had grown at a 2.4 percent rate, not 2.5 percent… Read More
