Free Republic

The victor of the 2024 election is set to face a number of new legislative deadlines immediately upon entering office that could have drastic effects on the country’s economy. More than a dozen candidates are eyeing the Oval Office in 2024, positioning themselves as the best choice to address the nation’s cultural and economic challenges. However, upon taking office in 2024, the winner of the presidential election must deal with the impending expirations of both the 2017 tax law as well as subsidies included in Obamacare. On top of that, the debt limit bill is also set to expire just...

The Federal Reserve Chairman’s testimony to Congress next week is likely to be very succinct and can be summed up neatly as ” the risks of doing too little are far greater than the risks of doing too much,” economists said Friday. “The Fed is getting a little more hawkish than we pictured them at the end of last year,” said Michael Gregory, deputy chief economist at BMO Capital Markets. Powell will testify on Tuesday to the Senate Banking Committee and on Wednesday to the House Financial Services panel. Both hearings are set to begin at 10 a.m. Eastern. Recent...

The debt crisis of China’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) has been deepening since 2020. Beijing has recently issued a report to address the issue as several SOEs have defaulted on loans in recent months. The State Council of China recently issued the report “The Guideline on Enhancing Debt Risk Control of Local State-owned Enterprises” on March 28. Beijing requires state-owned firms to create the following: a mechanism to identify and monitor debt; a mechanism to control debt; a mechanism to support the life cycle of a bond; and a long-term mechanism for debt risk management. In the same month when the...

The Congressional Budget Office says the deficit will hit $3.3 trillion this year. The national debt will exceed the size of America's gross domestic product for the first time since the end of World War II.When the federal government's fiscal year ends on the last day of September, America's national debt will nearly match the size of the nation's economy for the first time since the end of World War II, according to projections from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The national debt will equal 98 percent of America's gross domestic product, a rough measurement of the size of the...

Last week, the U.S. passed a milestone — US federal debt in private hands exceeded 100% of GDP. But does all this debt matter, or is worrying about debt passé? This debate has been going on among economists for a while. One does not need to go to the incoherence of "modern monetary theory" to find support for the view that debt has few consequences. Olivier Blanchard, of MIT and the IMF, in his Presidential Address to the American Economic Association, (excellent summary here) declared that “there may be no fiscal costs” of additional debt. The core of his argument...

President Trump suggested this week the next coronavirus relief package could include a direct cash payment for American families that's potentially higher than $1,200. "It may go higher than that actually," Trump during an interview Wednesday with ABC affiliate KMID in Texas. "I'd like to see it be very high because I love the people. I want the people to get it."

Almost before the ink is dry on Trump's signature on the $2 trillion stimulus bill, Democrats are agitating for another one. Indeed, another infusion of cash in the economy and more checks to Americans may become necessary. But Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans want to wait and see some of the effects of the first stimulus bill before entertaining another. McConnell, meanwhile, reiterated what he's been telling Pelosi for months: no unrelated items in the stimulus bill. And the White House is on board with McConnell's "wait-and-see" attitude regarding the last stim bill.

If the U.S. economy were to collapse, it would happen quickly. No one would predict it. The surprise factor is, itself, one of the causes of a collapse. The signs of imminent failure are difficult for most people to see.

U.S. equity futures are trading higher after the S&P 500 rose for a fourth session in the last five to begin the week. The major futures indexes are indicating a rise of 0.9 percent when trading begins on Tuesday. Asian shares traded mixed Tuesday after a rally in U.S. stocks.

The CARES Act, the $2 trillion coronavirus emergency relief bill that serves as Phase Three of Congress's coronavirus relief efforts, has passed the House of Representatives. It is the largest stimulus package in U.S. history and aims to provide funding for hospitals, and targeted relief for small businesses. The successful vote comes after hours of cantankerous debate, in which one unhinged Democratic representative was ruled " out of order " on the House floor. Once the measure finally passed, the entire House erupted - in a positive way. Lisa Desjardins ✔@LisaDNews WOW and just like that, the motion is adopted....

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is proposing direct payments of $1,200 per person and $2,400 for couples amid the coronavirus outbreak, according to a copy of the legislation obtained by The Associated Press. The GOP leader was poised to unveil the sweeping response Thursday as Congress raced to draft a $1 trillion measure to shore up for households and the U.S. economy. Among key elements would be the direct payments to Americans, aligned with the Trump administration's push for quick cash aid. Under McConnell's proposal, the minimum payments would be $600, and aid would be phased down at income thresholds...

McConnell indicated job status would not be a factor, and that the money would go to unemployed workers and those recently laid off; those still working; and retirees, even if they're already receiving Social Security checks. While officials have indicated the ultra-rich would not be eligible, McConnell said Thursday the checks would still go to everybody "from the middle class on down. Period." How the middle class is defined can be a contentious subject when stimulus checks are on the line. One source told Fox Business Network that the amount would start to reduce for those making $75,000 and above...

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) proposed giving every housing in America a check for $2,000 each month as part of a laundry list of recommendations to curb the impacts of the coronavirus outbreak. Speaking from his presidential campaign’s headquarters in Burlington, Vt., Sanders outlined a $2 trillion list of proposals he would bring to the “Democratic leadership” that is centered around protecting workers in various industries. “We need to provide a direct $2,000 cash payment to every household in America for the duration of the crisis to provide them with the assistance they need to pay their bills and take care...

During a press conference on Sunday, President Donald Trump announced that the Federal Reserve is taking drastic action to cushion the economy from the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak that has become a pandemic. According to Trump, the Federal Reserve will drop the interest rate to near zero.  "The effects of the coronavirus will weigh on economic activity in the near term and pose risks to the economic outlook. In light of these developments, the Committee decided to lower the target range for the federal funds rate to 0 to 1/4 percent," the Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement. "The...

The Federal Reserve, saying “the coronavirus outbreak has harmed communities and disrupted economic activity in many countries, including the United States,” cut interest rates to zero on Sunday and launched a massive $700 billion quantitative easing program to shelter the economy from the effects of the virus. Facing highly disrupted financial markets, the Fed also slashed the rate of emergency lending at the discount window for banks by 125 bps to 0.25%, and lengthened the term of loans to 90 days. The Fed also cut reserve requirement ratios for thousands of banks to zero. In addition, in a global coordinated...

U.S. stocks fell sharply once again on Thursday after an address from President Donald Trump failed to quell concerns over the possible economic slowdown from the coronavirus.The S&P 500 dropped 7% shortly after the open, triggering a 15-minute “circuit breaker,” which temporarily halts trading at the New York Stock Exchange. The broad index also joined the  Dow Jones Industrial Average in bear market territory. The 30-stock Dow slid more than 1,600 points, or 7.%. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 7%.  Before the open, futures contracts tied to the major indexes fell to their so-called limit down thresholds, sliding 5%. These limit down levels act as a as...

Investors betting big against catastrophic diseases are watching the World Health Organization closely as insurance bonds tied to whether the organization labels COVID-19 a pandemic are set to mature in June.In 2017, the World Bank designed a new way to raise money: Pandemic Emergency Financing bonds. Over $425 million worth of such bonds, which bet against a global outbreak of infectious diseases and will default if WHO declares the coronavirus a pandemic, were sold by the World Bank in its first-ever issuance of catastrophe bonds. In the event of no pandemic, investors would be paid a healthy annualized return. Meanwhile,...

President Donald Trump proposed eliminating federal payroll taxes altogether for the rest of the year, according to a report from CNBC Tuesday. The proposal would include eliminating both the employer and employee payroll taxes on Social Security and Medicare, according to the report. “There was also discussion of making the payroll tax rollback permanent,” CNBC reported.

U.S. equity markets ebbed and flowed on Tuesday before breaking away with the Dow Jones Industrial Average adding over 1,167 points clawing back from a deficit. The Dow's point gain was the third-best on record. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite also rallied tacking on nearly 5 percent. Investors were encouraged after President Trump backed “very substantial relief” for the areas of the economy hardest hit by the new coronavirus outbreak.

There is so much misinformation and grossly misleading talk about what will happen if the federal debt ceiling isn’t increased that, before any more unnecessary bloodcurdling language is used that increases everyone’s anxiety, it’s worth taking a few steps back from the edge. First, not raising the current federal debt limit absolutely will not immediately shut down the federal government. In fact, the federal debt ceiling has virtually nothing to do with whether federal departments and agencies continue to operate. Borrowing is just one of the ways the federal government finances its activities, and not increasing the debt ceiling only...