Free Republic

A plan that will close nearly 2,000 miles of public roads that have previously been open for use by the people of Mesa County is creating a public backlash against the Grand Junction field office of the federal Bureau of Land Management. The BLM’s resource management plans (RMP) regulate the access and types of traffic allowed on roads on public lands. Road maintenance and seasonal closures are also detailed in such plans. But the most recent RMP in Mesa County indicates the BLM’s intent to limit access to public roads which have traditionally been open to motorized, horse, and foot...

The New Hampshire House Business Caucus, in partnership with the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce, will host its fourth in a series of business roundtables with presidential candidates, on Monday, June 1, at 9 a.m. at The Draft restaurant, 67 South Main St. in Concord, according to a press statement. The featured speaker, and declared presidential candidate, will be Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. “The momentum continues to build as we have more and more candidates take part in this series. We have had a terrific response and level of interest from the business community, the candidates, and state elected...

What the EPA is attempting to impose on America is a drain on our production of electricity coupled with an increase in its price. It is an obscene attack on our economy There are many things I do not like about the Environmental Protection Agency, but what angers me most are the lies that stream forth from it to justify programs that have no basis in fact or science, and which threaten the economy. Currently, its “Clean Power” plan is generating its latest and most duplicitous Administer, Gina McCarthy, to go around saying that it will not be costly, nor...

I would like to thank Turd Burgelstein for pointing out that all the whiners offended by micro-aggressions, BMI’s, white privilege and harsh stares are really just this year’s crop of POWS – People of Occupy Wall Street. I will do an update on the whiners and their professorial enablers when time permits, butt in the meantime, I thought it might be fun to repost this golden oldie: it was my most popular post ever and was picked up by the Daily Mail and linked by the Instapundit. I do find it a bit odd however that after 4 years...

Coming on the heels of weak retail sales and producer inflation data, the reports stoked concerns that the U.S. economy is hardly gaining momentum after disappointing 0.2 percent annualized growth in January-March. "U.S. GDP will likely be revised down in the next update to show a contraction. We estimate the U.S. economy shrank 0.9 percent," said Shuji Shirota, head of macro economics strategy group at HSBC in Tokyo.

The best I can do is to wish you good luck. You’re going to need it. All manner of people are giving commencement speeches to students graduating from colleges and universities these days. It is doubtful that any will be remembered because the prospects of students depend in large part on the economy into which they are entering, the majors they pursued, their individual ambitions, and capacity for hard work. Then, too, there’s dumb luck which often plays a role. For those graduating this year, my profound sympathy because the economy could not be much worse short of being declared...

Democrat Elizabeth Warren warned Saturday that Republican policies being promoted by its emerging presidential field would create an "American nightmare" that would crush opportunities for students and workers, deepen wage inequality and favor Wall Street banks and huge corporations. Warren's speech before several thousand party loyalists at a California Democratic convention in Anaheim was greeted with thunderous cheers while scores of delegates waved signs emblazoned with her name. The Massachusetts senator and favorite of the party's left wing ridiculed the GOP's potential 2016 field, including Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who has proposed a double-digit cut in state aid for higher...

In a pilot program designed to reduce GHG emissions and safety risks and provide better clean food preparation in mobile food vending, the Big Apple will be home to the next generation of eco-friendly food carts.Food carts, while being convenient for consumers and a good small business venture for foodies and entrepreneurs, are also a source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and air pollution, as well as being potential public safety hazards from their onboard propane tanks. And in a metropolis like New York City, with some 8000 mobile food carts on the streets, the environmental and health effects of...

The U.S. economy had a really bad March, the worst since the financial crisis. But don’t panic.The broadest gauge of U.S. economic output, from the Commerce Department, tracks the economy on a quarterly basis. The private forecasting firm Macroeconomic Advisers provides a measure to track gross domestic product on a monthly basis, highlighting some of the volatility that gets smoothed out in the official quarterly figures.Macroeconomic Advisers on Thursday said its monthly estimate showed GDP fell an inflation-adjusted 1% in March, the largest drop since December 2008, “when the U.S. economy was in the throes of recession,” the firm said. Monthly GDP...

After a rough start to the year, economists are counting on the U.S. to bounce back in 2015 much like it did in 2014. Forecasters in the latest Wall Street Journal survey estimated the U.S. economy contracted at a 0.3% pace in the first quarter because of hits from winter weather and the West Coast port slowdown. But the panel, on average, sees annualized economic growth of 2.8% in the second quarter, supported by stronger job gains and wage growth. They also see the drag from weak trade and a strong dollar dissipating by the second half, delivering average economic...

Based on projections, China's population will start shrinking in 2026. It will then be a nation in decline. After all, no economy can grow robustly when it is getting smaller and its population is aging. Just don't tell that to Chinese officials, who are doubling down on interest rate cuts and stimulus plans that will go nowhere. Printing money always sounds good at the time, but it just ends up paying off past debts — not creating investments or consumer-led growth. The big problem is that half of China's debt is tied to its overbuilt real estate market — so...

Scott Walker is certainly ambitious, and planning a run for president may seem par for the course. But for a long time—most of the 1990s, in fact—Walker was content to be a backbencher in the state assembly and didn’t do much to advance himself up the party ranks. While the seniority he gathered in his state assembly career (1993–2002) from his safe Republican district just outside Milwaukee allowed him to chair some committees, the most attention-grabbing thing he did was to protest the hiring of a Wiccan as a chaplain in a state prison. The idea that he would become...

That free trade is advantageous to both sides is the rarest of political propositions – provable, indeed mathematically. David Ricardo did so in 1817. The Law of Comparative Advantage has held up nicely for 198 years. Nor is this abstract theory. We’ve lived it. The free-trade regime created after World War II precipitated the most astonishing advance of global welfare and prosperity the world has ever seen. And that regime was created, overseen, guaranteed and presided over by the United States. That era might be coming to a close, however, as Democratic congressional opposition to free trade continues to grow....

NEW YORK, May 14 (Reuters) - U.S. corporate spending on capital projects could fall this year to the lowest level since 2011, with steep reductions by the energy industry and companies in other sectors cutting spending amid broad concerns about global growth. Among the S&P sectors, only the materials and financials sectors expect to spend more in 2015 than they did last year, according to a Thomson Reuters analysis of spending outlooks from the 255 S&P 500 companies that have offered guidance on their capex for the year.

Linette Lopez May 14, 2015 All of Wall Street has been waiting for what happens when the Federal Reserve raises rates and the bond market becomes attractive again. For years it has been thought of as the next cataclysmic event in investing. But what if it isn't? What if everything is going to be fine?Think about it: Bond yields have spiked over the past two weeks. Most market participants are blaming big fund managers trying to get ahead of the Fed. The stock market, however, hasn't really been hurt that much as this has been going on. So what if...

For most people, pleading guilty to a felony means they will very likely land in prison, lose their job and forfeit their right to vote. But when five of the world’s biggest banks plead guilty to an array of antitrust and fraud charges as soon as next week, life will go on, probably without much of a hiccup. The Justice Department is preparing to announce that Barclays, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and the Royal Bank of Scotland will collectively pay several billion dollars and plead guilty to criminal antitrust violations for rigging the price of foreign currencies, according to people briefed...

HSBC chief economist Stephen King is already thinking about the next recession. In a note to clients Wednesday, he warns: "The world economy is like an ocean liner without lifeboats. If another recession hits, it could be a truly titanic struggle for policymakers." Here's King (emphasis added): Whereas previous recoveries have enabled monetary and fiscal policymakers to replenish their ammunition, this recovery — both in the US and elsewhere — has been distinguished by a persistent munitions shortage. This is a major problem. In all recessions since the 1970s, the US Fed funds rate has fallen by a minimum of...

Another market disruption from higher interest rates is virtually certain, according to former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. "Just remember we had the 'taper tantrum.' And we're going to get another one," Greenspan said Wednesday at the Global Private Equity Conference in Washington, DC. "This is a very tough period to get through," he added about the Fed increasing interest rates. "Normalization is great, but the process of getting there is going to be very rocky." Greenspan said there was no way to get around bond market volatility but said it was necessary to help the Fed and other central...

<p>May 8 marked the end of World War II in Europe 70 years ago — a horrific conflict that is still fought over by historians.</p> <p>More than 60 million people perished — some 50 million of them in Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, and China.</p>

WASHINGTON - Barack Obama's presidency, and the Democrats' chances of holding the White House in 2016, are fading faster than Hillary Clinton's e-mails. The long-suffering, underperforming Obama economy still shows signs of weakness. The majority of his party is deserting him in droves in Congress on his trade deal, and threatening to filibuster it. And Obamacare, facing financial troubles in its state marketplaces, may be shot down soon by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported last week that the economy added 223,000 jobs in April, but there is less here than meets the eye. The...