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October 5, 2023
Do 60 Percent Of American Workers Have Insecure Jobs?
American Compass has a new survey out in which it finds, among other results, that “only 40 percent of workers have secure jobs.” This is the latest attempt by the outfit to portray the American economy as in dire need of “rebuilding.” The report summarizing the findings is titled, “Labor Market Not Yet Working for…
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 12, 2023
Please, Gen Z Aren’t “Doomed to be the First Generation of Americans Who Will Grow Up with a Lower Standard of Living Than Their Parents”
One could easily fill all the waking hours in the day—and non-waking hours, too!—with pointed responses to all the bad economic opinions expressed on social media. That said, I like to dip in every now and then with a humbly offered counterpoint. This week’s 9/11 anniversary, for example, meant the recycling of this passage from…
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…
August 22, 2023
Is Paid Leave a Pro-Growth Policy?
Some pro-growth public policies seem super obvious, like attracting more high-skill immigrants or reducing the federal paperwork needed to build clean energy facilities and infrastructure. Paid leave, whether mandated by Washington or funded by new taxes on rich people and large companies, might seem like another obviously good thing. Rarely do I ever hear about…
August 3, 2023
Does Money (and Economic Growth) Buy Happiness?
Sure, economic growth may allow us to buy more stuff, buy cooler stuff, help us to live longer, and give us the resources to solve big problems such as global poverty and climate change. That’s fine, I guess. But do the higher incomes that come from economic growth make us, you know, happier? Do they,…
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…