The global semiconductor shortage roiling the U.S. automotive industry has become the latest pandemic‐induced supply chain disruption embraced by economic nationalists to justify their preferred trade and industrial policies — policies that would renationalize global supply chains and supposedly improve America’s economic “resilience” during future emergencies. President Biden is also reportedly considering an executive action to address … Continue reading The Global Chip Shortage Doesn’t Demand Supply Chain Nationalism
Category: Economy
Uncle Sam hit a budget deficit of $163 billion in January, a record high for the month and a $130 billion hike from the deficit in the same month last year. This does not bear well for America’s fiscal health. Not only that, but for the first four months of the 2021 fiscal year, the budget shortfall … Continue reading We Can’t Just Focus on Public Health. Fiscal Health Is Also Vital to Our Nation’s Future.
The New York Times [ Feb. 11] provided an in-depth look at the Biden White House's plans to "transform the economy" through "dramatic interventions to revive U.S. manufacturing" - heavy on economic nationalism, industrial planning, and manufacturing jobs. If that approach sounds familiar, it should: it's essentially the same gameplan that Biden's predecessor used, with the only major … Continue reading Will Biden Repeat Trump’s Automotive Mistakes?
President Biden has abandoned bipartisan compromise and pushed full-steam-ahead to pass his entire sweeping $1.9 trillion COVID-19 spending package. The president’s proposal includes $1,400 “stimulus” checks for more Americans, $350 billion to bail out state and local governments, a renewal of super-charged unemployment benefits through September, money for vaccine distribution, a federal $15 minimum wage, … Continue reading Economists Slam Biden Stimulus as ‘Economically Unjustified’ Plan That ‘Incentivizes Unemployment’
National conservatives have latched onto the idea that cutting immigration will increase wages despite all of the evidence to the contrary. One of the pieces of evidence they cite most is a 2016 article in the Wall Street Journal that states that wages for construction and farm occupations in Arizona went up by 10 percent and 15 percent, respectively, in the 4 years after Arizona … Continue reading Wages Did Not Rise in Arizona After SB1070
State lawmakers in Albany, New York are considering imposing a tax on financial transactions. If they go through with it, the iconic New York Stock Exchange might actually leave the Empire State. The tax legislation in question was recently proposed by state Senator Julia Salazar and several of her Democratic colleagues. It would impose a … Continue reading Why the New York Stock Exchange Could Soon Flee the State
Many families struggle to find child care, especially at a cost they can afford. A $15 federal minimum wage could make child care unattainable for millions more families. Higher wages are a great thing, especially for child care workers who serve such an important role in the lives of children and families. But the reality is that … Continue reading Unintended Consequence of $15 Minimum Wage: Higher Child Care Costs
In 1998, Paul Krugman predicted that by 2005 it would be clear that “the Internet’s impact on the economy has been no greater than the fax machine’s.” The prediction was so wrong and so widely circulated that Snopes has a page fact-checking the claim and affirming its veracity. The internet is a vast place, but … Continue reading Paul Krugman’s Hilarious 2015 Bitcoin Prediction and the Value of Intellectual Humility
We should be championing people's ability to work, to make a living, and to live free from excessive government interference.
The minimum wage debate is littered with examples of second‐order consequences that tend to get ignored.
