With Americans growing ever more divided amid national upheaval over racial inequality and a global pandemic, it has perhaps never been more apparent that the United States has no business trying to fix the world with so many problems on our own doorstep. Whatever his faults, President Trump at least seems to understand this. Even … Continue reading With Only These Four Exceptions, Senate Republicans Just Abandoned ‘America First’ Foreign Policy in Afghanistan
Category: Washington
For more than 25 years, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which built the continent into one of the most efficient and competitive trade blocs in the world, has been the law of the land. On July 1, rules for trade in North America will change with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement entering into force. USMCA … Continue reading USMCA Marks New Chapter for North American Trade
The Trump administration recently announced its intention to nominate Mauricio J. Claver-Carone for the presidency of the Inter-American Development Bank Group, a Washington-based regional development bank that has a $97 billion loans portfolio across Latin America. Claver-Carone currently serves as the deputy assistant to the president and senior director for Western Hemisphere affairs at the National Security … Continue reading The Inter-American Development Bank’s Next President Should Advance Rule of Law, Free Markets
Relations between the U.S. and China are increasingly icy, and justifiably so given China’s mishandling of COVID-19 and its undermining of Hong Kong’s autonomy. However, even as overall tensions rise, it is important to remember that the trade dispute between the U.S. and China continues to take a toll on the U.S. economy and the pocketbooks of Americans. As … Continue reading Congress and the Administration Should Advance Free Trade to Aid in COVID-19 Economic Recovery
In the United States and around the world, concern is mounting over a potential COVID-19 “second wave” as economies reopen and nominal coronavirus case numbers rise. While we don’t yet know how the virus will play out and whether this concern is warranted, one thing is certain—no matter what happens, American taxpayers shouldn’t support a … Continue reading One Enormous Mistake Congress Must Not Repeat If There’s a COVID-19 ‘Second Wave’
The large increase in unemployment during the COVID-19 pandemic, caused by individual changes in behavior and government policies, have prompted the Trump administration to consider suspending many temporary work visa programs. Among those visa programs on the chopping block is the H-1B visa for skilled foreign workers. In 2019, two‐thirds of migrants received the H-1B visa to work in computer‐related occupations with … Continue reading H-1B Workers Helping Save Jobs During COVID-19 Recession
U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell highlighted during a recent Senate Banking Committee hearing that the “best way the Federal Reserve can help reduce racial inequality is to return the U.S. labor market to its pre-coronavirus strength.” Indeed, ensuring a thriving job market by advancing economic freedom is the key fundamental element of reducing poverty, dependence on … Continue reading Time to Revitalize America’s Economic Freedom
It’s been 11 weeks since Congress passed the CARES Act, which, among its many other provisions, established the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Nearly three‐quarters of U.S. small businesses have so far availed themselves of this program. But it turns out that fewer small businesses got a PPP loan in the states hardest‐hit by the Covid‐19 pandemic than elsewhere. … Continue reading Paycheck Protection Program: Who Lent to Whom, and Where?
On June 22, President Trump banned the skilled worker categories including the H-1B for newly hired skilled professionals. My colleagues and I have already laid out numerous issues with this decision (here, here, here, here, and here). But the proclamation text appears to betray a confusion about basic economic statistics. In his proclamation, the president states: Certain nonimmigrant visa programs authorizing such employment … Continue reading Trump’s H-1B Ban Based on a Misreading of Economic Statistics
It’s an election year, so it must be time for some grandiose infrastructure proposals. Representative Peter DeFazio (D-OR), chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, has come out with a $494 billion five‐year transportation proposal, which is a huge boost from Congress’ 2015 five‐year spending package of $305 billion. Congress writes a new highway & transit package about every five … Continue reading Trump’s $1 Trillion Infrastructure Plan
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