Economy News

The Daily Signal reports on economy news with analysis and commentary on growth, recession risks, employment, and financial trends.
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  • opinion

    Minimum Wage Fail

    Not long ago, new kinds of jobs appeared: app-based gig work. They include jobs like dog walking on Rover, Taskrabbit work, DoorDash food delivery, Uber and Lyft driving … Lots of people like gig work. It’s flexible. You work when you want to work. But “workers’ rights” activists and governing socialists don’t like that. Gig…
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  • opinion

    ‘ABSOLUTE FARCE’: Board Stacked With Mamdani Allies Passes Large-Scale Rent Freeze in New York City

    “The [New York City] Rent Guidelines Board has stopped being a fact-finding body. It has become a body that starts with an answer and vibe codes its way backward to justify it.” That quote was from the resignation letter of Christina Smyth, a now-former member of the New York City Rent Guidelines Board who left…
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  • opinion

    Why Are Taxpayers Forced to Subsidize Chronic Disease?

    Americans should be free to buy soda, but taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize this unhealthy habit. Now, a district judge is blocking state efforts to keep taxpayer dollars from funding soda purchases. The ruling challenges the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s authority to approve state Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program waivers, more commonly known as…
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  • opinion

    Senators Tried to Unravel Historic Student Loan Reform

    Last summer, Congress passed the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, which was a massive budget reconciliation package that combined permanent tax relief with much-needed changes to the federal student loan program. The higher education reforms passed in the Working Families Tax Cuts Act represent one of the most significant overhauls of federal student lending. These…
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  • news

    The GOP’s Last-Ditch Effort Behind Closed Doors of Reconciliation 3.0 Meeting

    Speaker of the House Mike Johnson on Wednesday called the House Budget Committee to his office for an impromptu closed-door meeting to plan the must-pass “Reconciliation 3.0.” With their deadline approaching, this could be the GOP’s last chance to eliminate fraud and wasteful spending, permanently defund Planned Parenthood, and pass the SAVE America Act. Rep….
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  • news

    Property Tax or Sales Tax? The Lesser of 2 Evils

    During the special session at the Georgia General Assembly, Georgia Democrats voted against property tax referendum legislation that Republicans introduced. If passed, this legislation would grant citizens in localities the opportunity to vote on slightly increasing the sales tax in exchange for a lower property tax. House Republican leaders have emphasized the need for a…
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  • exclusive

    Trump Admin Makes New Move to Beef Up American Manufacturing

    FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—In an effort to beef up America’s manufacturing and reduce reliance on foreign companies, the Export-Import Bank, a federal credit agency, is unveiling a new loan opportunity for manufacturers. Specifically, the bank is now “offering lender guarantees of up to 90% on equipment loans and operating leases” to American small and…
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  • news

    For the Love of DEI, Virginia Democrats Inject Race Into Tourism

    The Virginia House of Delegates just released its final draft of the 2026 budget. Buried in a civil war on data centers, lifting marijuana restrictions, and giving themselves a 150% pay raise, Democrats are also seeking to spend millions on DEI tourism. Virginia legislators are busy working out the 2026 budget. After months of back…
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  • opinion

    Tariffs Alone Won’t Reshore Steel and Aluminum, but Will Hurt Manufacturing

    Tariffs can be a powerful and effective tool of statecraft. The evidence could be seen last year when resistant trading partners were dragged to the negotiating table. The progress with the United Kingdom, India, Japan, and others is real, as is the leverage that produced it. However, as I’ve argued before, tariffs without significant domestic…
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  • opinion

    Alaska Is More Than a Theme Park With Moose and Bears

    Alaska is unlike any other state in the country. And when I say that, I’m not referring to its size or its natural beauty or even its resource abundance—although all three are relevant to the discussion. Rather, what I mean is that Alaska is different from the other states in that everybody, everywhere, thinks they…
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  • news

    Strong Fathers Are Crucial for Society to Thrive and the Government Doesn’t Know It

    Government programs that claim to support families actually cut fathers out of the picture—and that results in broken families and higher poverty rates, according to Delano Squires. The Heritage Foundation hosted the director of the Richard and Helen DeVos Center on Tuesday to lead a panel discussion titled “Invisible Men: How Guaranteed Income Programs for…
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  • opinion

    The American Opportunity Agenda Is Key to Advancing America’s Economic Freedom

    When economic freedom advances, prosperity follows. That critical relationship is the underlying finding of The Heritage Foundation’s 2026 Index of Economic Freedom, an annual benchmark study that assesses and compares economic policy environments of countries around the world. The latest edition of the Index points out, yet again, that what really matters is the direction…
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  • opinion

    The Art of the Deal

    Like they all had read President Donald Trump’s seminal tome “Art of the Deal,” Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, state Sen. Louise Lucas, and Speaker of the House Don Scott had us all believing that the Virginia Democrats were in disarray. Then, as Lee Corso used to say on ESPN “College GameDay,” “Not so fast, my…
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  • news

    Ohio Cracks Down on CDLs for Foreign-Born Drivers

    Amid federal scrutiny and concerns about commercial driver’s licenses being in the hands of unqualified drivers, Ohio is cracking down on CDLs for those drivers not born in the United States. The CDLs of 1,200 foreign-born drivers will be downgraded to a Class D by the state for failing to adequately meet standards proving they…
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  • opinion

    SNAP’s Updated Work Requirements: A Needed Makeover for Upward Mobility

    The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program’s new work requirements are now on display across all states as of June 1. California, the country’s last holdout, began implementing the updated work requirements set forth in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed last July. The work requirements were rolled out in waves across the country.   Some politicians on the left and several media outlets claim the work requirements are harmful. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is among those sounding the alarm, with a recent X post stating: “Food stamp work requirements don’t create jobs, they create…
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  • news

    Sen. Kennedy Predicts Schumer Shutdown Before Midterms

    While campaigning in New Hampshire for U.S. Senate candidate John Sununu, Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said he expects another federal government shutdown in September, in order to give Democrats an advantage in the November midterm elections. Kennedy told reporters that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., could use the approaching expiration of the Consolidated Appropriations…
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  • news

    NFL Subscriptions Stir Controversy

    The National Football League has privatized much of its viewership, which is drawing criticism from leading lawmakers, such as Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, and President Donald Trump. The controversy comes as NFL fans are now expected to spend up to $1,000 across roughly 10 different subscriptions if they wish to have access to…
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  • opinion

    ‘Affordability’? Virginia Drives Gun Manufacturer to Cheaper Georgia

    Gov. Abigail Spanberger and whatever members of the Virginia Democratic Party that aren’t in a war of words with her still speak of fulfilling their affordability agenda, which we have debunked in earlier columns as nothing more than more taxpayer-funded subsidies or draconian controls on providers like landlords. However, the news that Rideout Arsenal, a…
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  • opinion

    Giving Americans More Choices for Their Retirement Savings

    For years, most Americans’ retirement savings plans have been locked out of certain investment choices, including some of the market’s best-performing assets. That makes it harder to save for retirement. Fortunately, though, this is about to change, giving savers new—and better—options for their investments. At issue are not only the many rules and regulations surrounding…
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  • opinion

    The Great Corporate Governance Realignment

    Three relatively recent events arguably serve as the most prominent landmarks for the dramatic shift in corporate governance we are currently witnessing. First, after roughly 100 years of essentially unchallenged dominance, Delaware’s role as the undisputed home of corporate charters ran into an iceberg in the form of Elon Musk. On Jan. 30, 2024, a…
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