Free Trade: Bringing Ireland to Your St. Patrick’s Day Celebration
Today, millions of people around the world will put on some green, watch a hurling or rugby match, enjoy a Guinness stout, and praise St…. Read More
Japan’s Step Closer to TPP
Today, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced that Japan will officially join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). This comes a day after Prime Minister Abe received the… Read More
Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement One Year On: Solidifying a Partnership for the Future
March 15 marks the first anniversary of the Korea–U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA). Over the past 12 months, a growing number of businesses in… Read More
The Senate Continuing Resolution and Its Demons
The massive spending bill released by the Senate this week suffers the same flaws as the measure the House passed last week: It spends too… Read More
Unemployment Remains a Stumbling Block in the Eurozone
January’s unemployment numbers for the 17 countries of the eurozone has moved closer to 12 percent. This underscores the strong economic headwinds that face these… Read More
One of America’s Biggest Exports: Treasury Securities
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) recently released statistics on U.S. exports for January, but failed to mention of one of the biggest U.S. “exports”—federal… Read More
Attention, Reporters: A Trade Deficit Is Not Bad
The latest trade deficit figures are out, and, as always, most reports fail to accurately explain what these numbers mean. Consider the following widely reported… Read More
Post-Chávez, Caribbean Should Snub PetroCaribe
As some Venezuelans mourn the death of populist President Hugo Chávez, their northern neighbors in the Caribbean Basin shouldn’t shed a tear. In 2005, members… Read More
Advancing Economic Freedom: Leading from Behind Doesn’t Work
Advancing economic freedom around the world has markedly stagnated in recent years, particularly due to the lack of America’s leadership, says Terry Miller, chief editor… Read More
EconomyNews
Debt Drag: Krugman, Konczal Miss the Point
On their respective blogs, economists Mike Konczal and Paul Krugman criticize the widely cited finding that a nation’s debt above 90 percent of its gross… Read More
America’s Next Trade Chief Should Focus on Promoting Greater Trade Freedom
Senator Max Baucus (D–MT), chairman of Senate Finance Committee, urged strong and unrelenting political leadership in pursuing a comprehensive free trade pact between the U.S…. Read More
North Carolina: Prospering from Trade
North Carolina’s congressional delegation has been among the most protectionist in the country. This is odd, considering that record levels of trade are creating well-paid… Read More
EconomyNews
Stop Sending Foreign Aid to the U.S.
If the Obama Administration is looking for places to make sequestration cuts, it can start with the Economic Development Administration (EDA). In late August 1965,… Read More
2 Problems With House Spending Plan
The House version of the continuing resolution (CR) — necessary to fund the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30 —… Read More
SKILLS Act Would Cut Duplication and Waste in Job Training Programs
The federal government spends billions each year on job training programs. However, these programs are ineffective and waste billions on duplicative administrative expenses. A 2011… Read More
Mexico Strikes a Blow Against Corruption
Mexico’s new president, Enrique Peña Nieto, has made clear that his re-election does not signal a return to the old days of corruption and cronyism… Read More
Latin America: If You Want to Lower Inflation, Avoid Price Controls!
The recently reelected president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, wants people to know he is determined to fight inflation through combating “speculation.” A noble goal, to… Read More
Morning Bell: Busting 5 Myths About the Minimum Wage
When someone says “minimum wage,” what comes to mind? Do you think of teenagers flipping burgers? Or a single parent trying to feed several kids?… Read More
EconomyNews
Minimum Wage Benefits Suburban Teenagers, Not Single Parents
President Obama argued in his State of the Union address that “no one who works full-time should have to live in poverty.” That is a… Read More
“Overpaid and Underworked” Federal Employees? It’s Not Just a “Perception”
The Washington Post has a sympathetic article today on federal workers who consider themselves unfair victims of the sequester. Unfortunately, the article does not consider… Read More
New Whoppers from U.S. Sugar Producers
According to a recent statement from the American Sugar Alliance: Over the past few weeks, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has released three key… Read More
Unused Federal Buildings: No Room for Sequestration Cuts?
About 77,000 unused or underused federal buildings cost taxpayers $1.67 billion to operate and maintain in 2010 alone (latest data available), according to a Congressional… Read More
Morning Bell: Obama’s Sequester Smokescreen
Suppose you desperately needed to lose weight but had a Big Mac with fries and a Coke staring you in the face. You could take… Read More
India Stays on Path to Economic Failure
Thursday was a really bad day for the Indian economy. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the October–December quarter came in at 4.5 percent, continuing… Read More
St. Louis Fed Report Finds Imports, Not Exports, the Lifeblood of U.S. Manufacturing
A new report published in the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review provides strong evidence that the Administration’s obsessive focus on boosting exports as… Read More
Financial Transactions Tax Is Back – Again
Two Members of Congress are reportedly trying again to impose an excise tax on certain financial transactions—i.e., the “Robin Hood tax.” A financial transactions tax… Read More
EconomyNews
Bernanke’s Defense of Fed Policies Neither Comforting nor Convincing
Do the risks from the Federal Reserve’s trillion-dollar annual stimulus program justify the rewards? That was the central question at Tuesday’s Senate Banking Committee hearing… Read More
Small Business Administration: No Room for Sequestration Cuts?
The White House warns that sequestration “would reduce loan guarantees to small businesses by up to $902 million”—loans that it claims are “investments that are… Read More
India Property Rights: Not a New Problem
For the past few weeks, India’s internal turmoil has been on display via news headlines on rape, widespread poverty, and continued civil conflict. Foreign Affairs… Read More
EconomyNews
America’s Double Jeopardy: Surging Debt and Waning Economic Freedom
A new study on public debt presented at the recent University of Chicago Booth School of Business monetary policy forum in New York has highlighted… Read More
