Every hoary myth about the private market's unfitness to supply means of exchange has roots that trace back to the hoariest monetary platitude of all, namely, the claim that governments alone, whether republican or absolutist or otherwise, are fit to coin money. That commonplace credendum dates from ancient times, and was a staple of medieval and early-modern monetary … Continue reading Lawrence White on Private Gold Mints
Category: Economy
The Wall Street Journal reports that skyrocketing construction material costs are inflating home prices, pressuring homebuyers and threatening the booming U.S. housing and construction industries: Lumber, one of the biggest costs in home-building after land and labor, has never been more expensive and is more than twice the typical price for this time of year. Crude oil, a … Continue reading How U.S. Trade Policy Helped Construction Materials Costs Go Through the Roof
President Biden’s $1.9 trillion “American Rescue Plan'' could soon become law. The budget-busting legislation, sold as emergency COVID response and “stimulus,” passed the Senate over the weekend. But even the liberal-leaning fact-checking website PolitiFact is pointing out that almost all of the bill’s spending is unrelated to the health effects of COVID-19. “Total spending directly … Continue reading PolitiFact: 90% of Biden Stimulus Spending Not Directly Related to COVID-19
The Congressional Budget Office released the newest version of its “Budget and Economic Outlook” on Thursday, and the fiscal outlook over the next decade is grim. Spending, taxes, deficits, and the debt are all projected to increase to record levels. Even assuming no new spending is adopted, the government is projected to spend $61 trillion, collect $49 … Continue reading Congress Must Confront Overspending, CBO Report Confirms
Some lawmakers’ push to raise the national minimum wage to $15 an hour is “truly maddening,” small business owner Stuart Hornsby says. Hornsby owns a frozen yogurt shop, a business he built from the ground up in 2013, in a small city in northwest Georgia. With the exception of the manager and a few other employees, Hornsby … Continue reading Here’s What $15 Minimum Wage Would Mean for This Frozen Yogurt Shop Owner
In an interview with MSNBC last Thursday, new Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo spoke highly of the "national security" tariffs that President Trump placed on steel and aluminum imports in 2018 under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. According to Secretary Raimondo, "[t]he data show that those tariffs have been effective." As my colleague Simon … Continue reading By Supporters’ Own Standards, the Steel Tariffs Haven’t Been “Effective”
A federal $15 minimum wage may have been taken out of Congress's forthcoming COVID-19 legislation, but progressives haven’t abandoned the “Fight for $15”—not even close. Indeed, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer insists that Democrats “are not going to give up the fight to raise the minimum wage to $15.” This is bad news for workers … Continue reading $15 Minimum Wage Would Have Harsh Consequences for Ohio and West Virginia Workers, New Analysis Finds
Three actions by the Biden administration could put nearly 10 million American jobs at risk, says Alfredo Ortiz, president and CEO of the Job Creators Network. Ortiz joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss the economic implications of the Biden White House’s canceling the Keystone XL oil pipeline, rejoining the Paris Agreement on climate change, and … Continue reading 3 Actions by Biden Administration Could Cost Millions of Jobs
President Biden’s just-released infrastructure proposal takes a “go big or go home” approach. Its various provisions have been tallied at $2 to $2.25 trillion in total cost, with less than half of that spending going to actual transportation infrastructure—hundreds of billions are instead funneled to “racial and environmental justice,” crony corporate subsidies, public schools, and … Continue reading Biden Is Covering Up True Price Tag of Infrastructure Plan, Experts Warn
Fast on the heels of signing a bloated $1.9 trillion spending package, President Joe Biden has introduced yet another gigantic spending plan. While the administration’s messaging focuses on broadly popular themes such as “jobs” and “infrastructure,” the details of the plan show that it would be a destructive power grab for Washington. Here are just some of the problems with the … Continue reading 9 Things You Need to Know About Biden’s ‘Infrastructure’ Spending Plan
