Lumber prices have gone through the roof over the past year—up 370%. The lumber needed to build a new home now costs nearly $36,000 more than just 12 months ago. The reasons include lower production levels at U.S. sawmills when the pandemic was raging, high demand for new homes as millennials enter the peak homebuying age group, and … Continue reading Tariffs on Canadian Softwood Lumber Hitting US Homebuyers Hard
Category: Economy
One dysfunctional federal welfare program is contributing to a national labor shortage. Now, we can add Texas to the increasingly long list of states opting out. The program in question is the federal government’s pandemic expansion of unemployment benefits. At the start of the crisis, Congress expanded benefits to new categories of workers and added … Continue reading Texas Just Became the Latest State to Opt Out of a Broken Federal Welfare Scheme
A couple months ago, in arguing that “The Fed should give everyone a bank account,” journalist Matt Yglesias cited what he took to be an instructive precedent: “Once upon a time, governments didn’t issue paper currency, and instead banknotes were printed privately by banks. But over time, we came to see this as a worthwhile public service.” His first sentence … Continue reading How U.S. Government Paper Currency Began, and How Private Banknotes Ended
President Joe Biden released three enormous spending plans within three months of taking office. These packages, each of which contain dozens of major provisions, should not be considered in isolation. While focus is currently on the so-called infrastructure and family plans, it’s important to keep in mind the flawed “COVID-19 relief” bill that Biden already signed in March. Combining … Continue reading 5 Ways to Understand Biden’s $6.4 Trillion Tax-and-Spend Agenda
The federal government has broken the bank with an astounding $6+ trillion in (ostensibly) pandemic-related spending to date, and President Biden wants to spend trillions more. Unfortunately, many Republicans in Congress have been too inconsistent on this issue to protest this spending binge in any meaningful way. But one of the few principled fiscal conservatives … Continue reading Rand Paul Warns America: Time to ‘Wake Up’ to ‘Profound Repercussions’ of Biden’s Spending Binge
It seems like every day a new viral story crops up featuring a major company’s latest woke initiative or a major executive’s latest politically charged stance. But in a refreshing twist, a top tech CEO just stood up for old-fashioned, profit-focused business—and spoke out against woke capitalism. Business Insider reports that the CEO of the … Continue reading Major Tech CEO Speaks Out Against Woke Capitalism
It’s no secret that US businesses are struggling to find workers. Recent surveys have shown that small businesses are reporting record job openings. Many have described the phenomenon as a labor shortage. “Walk outside: labor shortage is the pervasive phenomenon,” economist Lawrence Summers recently observed at a conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of … Continue reading Stossel: Stop Calling It a ‘Labor Shortage.’ It’s an Incentive Shortage
My new Cato study examines state and local regulations that create barriers to startup businesses. It looks at occupational licensing, marijuana laws, alcohol licensing, minimum wages, rules on home‐based businesses, and much else. It ranks the 50 states based on an index of 17 variables. The table shows the overall results. The state ranking should be considered … Continue reading Best and Worst States for Entrepreneurs
President Joe Biden proposes to subsidize with federal tax dollars the manufacturing industry under his American Jobs Plan to “maintain our competitive edge.” The proposal would cost American taxpayers about $300 billion and would specifically aid small and minority-owned businesses, tribal communities, and rural areas. The manufacturing industry in the United States has declined for the past 40 … Continue reading Subsidizing Manufacturing Is Wrong Approach for US Companies, Workers
Americans spent a lot of money on groceries over the past year—and it isn’t just because they were eating more meals at home. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, food prices jumped 3.9 percent in 2020, nearly triple the rate of inflation. Unfortunately, this trend seems poised to continue. The US Department of Agriculture … Continue reading Why Your Grocery Bills Are Going Up (And Are Only Expected to Get Bigger)
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