Morning Bell: Obama’s Christmas Tree Tax
Christmas is more than a month away, but the Obama Administration just couldn’t wait to hang a shiny new ornament on every fresh Christmas tree… Read More
The FCC’s Universal Service Folly
Are mobile phones and Internet access necessities that require taxpayers to foot the bill for the supposed “have-nots”? The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) evidently thinks… Read More
Is China More Prosperous Than the U.S.?
The Legatum Institute has just released its 2011 Prosperity Index. The index has a number of strengths, topped by the versatility of its supporting Web… Read More
Courting Disaster: Two Gaping Loopholes in the Debt Deal That Will Drive Up Spending
Among the more egregious failings of the Budget Control Act (BCA)—the proxy fiscal plan spawned by the summer’s debt ceiling debate—are a pair of gaping… Read More
Income Inequality vs. Wealth Inequality
Recently, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its latest statistics on income inequality. Economists, bloggers and others have been furiously debating their implications. Over at… Read More
The Death of Colombia’s Guerrilla Prince
The armed forces of Colombia have scored a major battlefield victory. They finally hunted down, confronted, and killed the leader of the narco-terrorist Revolutionary Armed… Read More
Morning Bell: Straight Talk for the Super Committee
It has been 12 months since the American people spoke resoundingly at the polls against overtaxing, overspending, and overborrowing, but memories can be short in… Read More
Harvard Students Channel ‘Occupy’ Movement, Protest Economics Class
Protests that began on Wall Street and spread to cities across America have now reached the pristine halls of Harvard. That’s right, the country’s oldest… Read More
Morning Bell: Obama Spins His Wheels; Economy Stuck in First Gear
No news is good news–except when it means that the story about America’s slow-moving economy remains the same. A new report this morning from the… Read More
Morning Bell: Debunking Obama’s Latest Jobs Myth
Imagine a high-speed train zooming down hundreds of miles of glistening train track stretching across sunny California, connecting Anaheim to San Francisco. It’s a bullet… Read More
Myths of Austerity Failures
Evidence shows that “austerity” during a sharp downturn in 1920 coincided with quick economic recovery and robust growth throughout the rest of the decade. Nevertheless,… Read More
What Kirchner’s Win in Argentina Means for the U.S.
It came as no surprise when Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner swept the election on Sunday, earning herself a second term. After all, polls… Read More
Gibson Guitar Targeted as the Lacey Act Falls Flat in Nashville
In recent months, the U.S. government has dispatched heavily armed federal law enforcement officers to raid Gibson Guitar factories—American guitar factories!—in Tennessee for violations of… Read More
Does ‘Austerity’ Work?
Remember the Great Depression of the 1920s? If not, that’s because it didn’t happen. The recession of the early ‘20s quickly ended after spending and… Read More
EconomyNews
Senate Finance Republican’s Tax Recommendations a Good Start
The Republican members of the Senate Finance Committee recently submitted their recommendations for tax reform to the deficit reduction super committee. Their recommendations lay out… Read More
Latest Obama Mortgage Refinance Plan Another Dud
Undeterred by the underperformance of several previous efforts at mortgage refinancing, the Obama Administration has announced yet another plan designed to refinance the “underwater” mortgages… Read More
The Video AARP Hasn’t Made: Medicare’s Need for Structural Reform
Medicare—on its current path—cannot be sustained. At a recent hearing held by the Senate Special Committee on Aging, Ranking Member Senator Bob Corker (R–TN) stressed… Read More
Forget the Facts. Reid Says Private-Sector Employment Is ‘Just Fine’
Apparently unemployment is not much of a problem in the private sector. At least Senator Harry Reid (D–NV) thinks so. Debating the Senate’s proposed… Read More
Tax Cuts and Supply-Side Effects
Lawmakers have recently paid lip service to cutting the corporate tax rate to help boost economic growth. Doing so would be good policy, but it’s… Read More
Morning Bell: Wall Street is the Wrong Place to Occupy
A new USA Today/Gallup poll shows that when it comes to assigning blame for the country’s economic woes, more Americans point the finger at Washington,… Read More
Quality of Light, Quality of Life
The soon-to-be-effective ban on traditional incandescent light bulbs creates more concerns than just the forceful shift of market shares; it also raises questions regarding individual… Read More
Freer Trade, Greater Prosperity
Some critics of free trade say that trade agreements just help the “rich” get richer while making the “poor” poorer, but in fact, free trade… Read More
Why the New FTAs Should Be Embraced
It started almost five years ago with free trade agreements (FTAs) reached between the Bush Administration and the governments of Peru, Colombia, Panama, and South… Read More
Morning Bell: Jobs Plan Fails, but Obama Doesn’t Get the Message
When President Barack Obama began his Midwest “jobs tour” in August, he set out to campaign for the passage of a yet-to-be-released plan to turn around… Read More
Steve Jobs and America’s Entrepreneurial Spirit
The recent passing of Steve Jobs, while sad, is a good reminder that the freedom to innovate is, after all, one of the things that… Read More
PODCAST: New Debit Card Fees Thanks to the Durbin Amendment
In this week’s Heritage in Focus, regulatory fellow Diane Katz discusses a provision in the regulatory reform bill, also known as Dodd-Frank, that is leading… Read More
Morning Bell: Free Trade Agreements Are A Win for Prosperity
Free trade agreements (FTAs) have economically benefited nations the world over since their inception. Poverty rates in countries with low trade barriers are significantly lower,… Read More
Obama Confirms Fears About New Financial Regulator
The newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) took a step forward today to getting its first director, as the Senate Banking Committee voted 12–10… Read More
A Plan to Limit Dishonesty in Congress
Give two U.S. Senators credit for trying to do something about the smoke-and-mirrors games in Washington. The “Honest Budget Act” by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL)… Read More
Supply and Demand, Part II: The Money Supply
My recent post explained why President Obama’s newly proposed $447 billion spending package aimed at boosting total demand is doomed to fail. Some commenters offered… Read More
