Media reports say that 20 million Americans will lose their “health care” under the Republican plan to replace ObamaCare, as if health care is like a cellphone, wallet, or item of clothing unintentionally left somewhere or stolen by someone. Such confusion about “health care” stems from the misuse of the term itself. In common usage, … Continue reading Stop Misusing the Term “Health Care”
Category: Economy
Donald Trump has demonstrated his profound misunderstanding of the basic economic principles of international trade for several years now, and perhaps reached a pinnacle when he told the New York Daily News in an interview last August that “we’re getting hosed by the Chinese — and that we’ve done it with our eyes wide shut.” … Continue reading Trade Deficits Don’t Matter; Understanding Deficits Do
A new Congressional Budget Office report projecting the effects of the House Republican leadership’s American Health Care Act weakens the case for the bill’s ObamaCare-lite approach, and strengthens the case for full repeal. The CBO projects that over the next two years, the AHCA would cause average premiums to rise 15 percent to 20 percent above ObamaCare’s … Continue reading CBO Takeaway: Full Repeal Would Insure More People than ObamaCare-Lite
Senator Rand Paul has introduced an alternative bill to what he calls, “Obamacare Lite,” a.k.a. the American Health Care Act, introduced by House Speaker Paul Ryan. Paul’s criticism of Ryan’s bill was mild compared to Rep. Thomas Massie’s. Massie called Ryan’s bill a “stinking pile of garbage.” While Paul’s plan is more free-market oriented than Ryan’s, no plan … Continue reading Medical Entitlements Make Care Expensive
The monetary matadors at the Federal Reserve have stared into the eyes of mild price inflation for years. They didn’t move a muscle for years and have finally twitched ever so slightly, a couple times in the last few months, with a promise of more. It is the view of Fed Chair Janet Yellen that … Continue reading Garbage In, Garbage Out at the Federal Reserve
From the White House: "The federal government is projected to spend $4.091 trillion next year, with roughly two-thirds of that going mostly toward Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, poverty assistance and interest payments on the government debt. This spending is expected to be left untouched in the budget proposal next week." You can't reduce the size, … Continue reading You think Trump is making massive reductions to federal spending? Bless your heart.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House economic adviser Gary Cohn said on Sunday that the Federal Reserve "has been doing a good job" and the Trump administration respects its independence, even if the U.S. central bank raises interest rates this week. Cohn, director of the National Economic Council, told Fox News Sunday that the Trump administration … Continue reading Trump economic adviser: Fed doing ‘good job,’ respects independence
The centerpiece of President Trump’s tax plan is a 15 percent corporate tax rate. Republicans in Congress aren’t quite as aggressive. The House GOP plan envisions a 20 percent corporate tax rate, while Senate Republicans have yet to coalesce around a specific plan. Notwithstanding the absence of a unified approach, you would think that the … Continue reading It’s Long Past Time to Cut Corporate Tax Rates
As the federal debt has gone from astounding to unbelievable to incomprehensible, a new problem has emerged: The US government is actually running out of places to borrow. How Many Zeros Are in a Trillion? The $20 trillion debt is already twice the annual revenues collected by all the world’s governments combined. Counting unfunded liabilities, which … Continue reading Trillions in Debt and We’re Just Scratching the Surface
Today is International Women's Day and, in some of the least surprising news of the day, it turns out that women's equality ties into economic freedom. International Women's Day was founded by the American Socialist Party in 1909 and usually ends up celebrating women in government, politics, and statism, but let's look at something else. … Continue reading Women Prosper When Markets Are Free
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