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September 25, 2023

America Remains a Shining Beacon for the World

The Pew Research Center’s new study on Americans’ view of politics offers a sober reminder of just how negative our politics has become heading into the 2024 election. Regrettably, 65 percent of Americans state they always or often feel exhausted when thinking about politics. Plus, many Americans say that the political process is dominated by wealthy, special…

September 5, 2023

Trump’s Tariffs Won’t Address the Trade Deficit

Last month, the Washington Post reported that former president Donald Trump plans to enact a 10 percent tariff on all imports if reelected. After facing sharp criticism, Trump defended his proposal in a letter to the Wall Street Journal. He argued that the trade deficit is a “loss” for the US economy and that his tariffs would be the “best way” to…

September 5, 2023

Trump’s Tariffs Won’t Address the Trade Deficit

Last month, the Washington Post reported that former president Donald Trump plans to enact a 10 percent tariff on all imports if reelected. After facing sharp criticism, Trump defended his proposal in a letter to the Wall Street Journal. He argued that the trade deficit is a “loss” for the US economy and that his tariffs would be the “best way” to…

July 25, 2023

Why Is Economic Growth Good?

As the saying goes, there are no stupid questions. In that generous spirit, it’s certainly legitimate to ask why a continually growing economy is a good thing. Why does GDP have to keep going up? Isn’t life good enough? Economic growth isn’t an economic statistic. That’s just what measures economic growth. A good definition from Our…

July 7, 2023

The 21st Century Decline of Economic Freedom

From 1850 to 2020, industrialized economies went from roughly $3,000 per capita to $40,000 per capita, inflation adjusted. This was also a period of expanding economic freedom, as documented in the new analysis, “Economic freedom, 1850–2020: New evidence” by economic historian Leandro Prados de la Escosura. There are two important things to note about that…

June 28, 2023

Is ‘Bidenomics’ Even a Thing, Really?

The White House is saying that President Biden’s speech today in Chicago will be on the subject of “Bidenomics.” The choice to use that term is a meaningful one, according to the Financial Times: Biden’s move reflects growing confidence inside the White House that he can gain more political credit for his sweeping economic legislation, which has pumped…