Free Republic

...Kudlow is being eyed by the incoming Donald Trump administration as the next Council of Economic Advisers Chairman. Kudlow is not afraid of good ideas, nor does he dismiss good policies solely because they come from the Democratic Party... ...Kudlow understands this well, and will bring this common sense to a CEA that has too often embraced what is senseless. Sadly, it’s not just on the subject of inflation that credentialed economists have lost their way. To see why this is true, ask most any economist what ended the Great Depression. Almost to a man and woman the reply will...

Social Security benefits will be cut at the start of 2017 for everyone who has yet to turn 62. Those cuts will grow in each year to 2022, reaching 7% for everyone now 56 and under, as the official retirement age rises two months per year to 67. Those benefit cuts are part of the daunting math for Social Security and the federal budget that could cause speed bumps for, or perhaps even curb, President-elect Donald Trump's big fiscal plans. 1) Once the retirement age rises to 67, Social Security's early retirement penalty will cut annual benefits by 30%... 2)...

Since the election, the stock market has soared, consumer confidence has climbed to its highest level in 20 years, and several companies have committed to multi-billion dollar new investments in the United States. To say that America has a new spring it its step — at least for now — would be an understatement. It feels like the last joyous scene in “It’s a Wonderful Life” when George Bailey stumbles home on Christmas Eve to a house full of friends and family. The burst of optimism has President Obama and supporters of his policies proclaiming that Obamanomics was a grand...

The Fed engaged in a massive bond-buying spree following the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy announcement on September 15, 2008. The bond-buying program, commonly referred to as quantitative easing (QE), ended October 2014. However, the Fed pledged to maintain its balance sheet at the $4.5 trillion level indefinitely. QE was intended to reduce yields on long-dated Treasuries, mortgage-backed securities, and agency debt. The effect on these yields would spread to other long-term yields through arbitrage, or what chairman Bernanke called the portfolio balance effect. There is considerable debate whether or to what extent QE reduced long-term yields. But there is another effect...

It is interesting to note that outgoing President Barack Obama wants Donald Trump to stand up to Vladimir Putin the way he never did. But Obama being Obama, the president really believes that he did stand up to the Russian strongman, despite all evidence to the contrary. In the real world, that is called delusional. Obama, on his last foreign tour before being leaving office, urged President-elect Donald Trump to be more like him when it comes to dealing with Putin.

Voters chose a different direction this election. The new administration and lawmakers nationwide must determine how to get the economy on track. The historical evidence is clear that free market capitalism best provides prosperity. Economic growth continues to muddle along at the slowest pace since World War II. The labor force suffers from 40-year lows in major indicators. The national debt is $20 trillion and exceeds economic output. More of the same failed Keynesian policies, named after the economist John Maynard Keynes, that assume spending drives economic growth aren't an option. Data show better economic outcomes in places with less...

In late October, when it was still conventional wisdom that Hillary was "guaranteed" to win the presidency, the WaPo explained that among the neo-con, foreign policy "elites" of the Pentagon, a feeling of calm content had spread: after all, it was just a matter of time before the "pacifist" Obama was out, replaced by the more hawkish Hillary.   As the WaPo reported, "there is one corner of Washington where Donald Trump’s scorched-earth presidential campaign is treated as a mere distraction and where bipartisanship reigns. In the rarefied world of the Washington foreign policy establishment, President Obama’s departure from...

As he raced across the country before the election, President Obama warned supporters about the stakes. “All the progress we’ve made over these last eight years,” he said, “goes out the window if we don’t win this election.” Hillary Clinton, his anointed successor, did not win, and so now Mr. Obama will find out whether his prediction was just campaign hyperbole or if his legacy really has just gone out the window. Not only are specific initiatives like his health care and climate change programs at risk, but so, too, is the broader vision Mr. Obama articulated for America. Suddenly,...

Here's what we got planned ("gleaned" from https://www.greatagain.gov ):   Tax Reform/Economic Vision Anyone who fills out a tax form knows how harmful the U.S. tax code is today – punishing hard work, savings, and investment.  American frustration with the tax code has prompted two decades of Washington, D.C. blue ribbon commissions and detailed plans to reform the code.  These efforts have not changed the tremendous burden Americans face in complying with the U.S. tax code.  If a tax code were designed to punish hard work, thrift, and investment, the current U.S. tax code could serve as a blueprint.Republican efforts to reform...

<p>Can Trump Deliver What Obama Didn't? "People Wanted Major Change In 2008... They Still Want It"</p> <p>This article was written by Michael Krieger and originally published at his Liberty Blitzkrieg site.</p> <p>SHTFPlan.com's Mac Slavo notes: At the heart of things, Americans are fed up with the economic state of affairs, and with the political/financial corruption that brought us to that point. Though political philosophies differ greatly, there was a huge populist movement behind Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump both. There are millions and millions of people who want nothing more than to clean house in Washington, stop the people who are shafting them, and be left alone to enjoy their lives.</p>

Trump Reveals Policy Goals: "Building That Wall", End "War On Coal", Repeal Obamacare, Dismantle Dodd-Frank by Tyler Durden Nov 10, 2016 2:21 PM 0 SHARES On his transition website GreatAgain.gov, the Trump team has laid out the framework of his initial policies with policies focused i) on American Security including as Defense and National security, Immigration Reform and Building That Wall, and Energy Independence; ii) Getting America Back to Work Again including Tax Reform; Regulatory Reform; Trade Reform; Education; Transportation & Infrastructure and Financial Services Reform; and iii) Government for the people including Healthcare Reform (Obamacare), Veterans Administration Reform and...

On his transition website GreatAgain.gov, the Trump team has laid out the framework of his initial policies with policies focused i) on American Security including as Defense and National security, Immigration Reform and Building That Wall, and Energy Independence; ii) Getting America Back to Work Again including Tax Reform; Regulatory Reform; Trade Reform; Education; Transportation & Infrastructure and Financial Services Reform; and iii) Government for the people including Healthcare Reform (Obamacare), Veterans Administration Reform and Protecting Americans' Constitutional Rights.

On his transition website GreatAgain.gov, the Trump team has laid out the framework of his initial policies with policies focused i) on American Security including as Defense and National security, Immigration Reform and Building That Wall, and Energy Independence; ii) Getting America Back to Work Again including Tax Reform; Regulatory Reform; Trade Reform; Education; Transportation & Infrastructure and Financial Services Reform; and iii) Government for the people including Healthcare Reform (Obamacare), Veterans Administration Reform and Protecting Americans' Constitutional Rights. The key highlights include: overhaul in immigration policies, including "Building that Wall" , the Trump transition team will "execute on the...

FROM late January, Donald Trump will have all the authority of the American executive, and the support of a unified Republican Congress, behind him. He will, therefore, be in a position to deliver profound and lasting change. The near-term economic effect of a Trump presidency is perhaps not of foremost concern to vulnerable racial and religious minorities in America, or to nervous NATO allies in eastern Europe. But the economic consequences of Mr Trump's presidency could be enormous, and costly. In the short run, the market reaction will receive most attention. Mr Trump will not be president until early in...

One of the first things Trump talked about in his victory speech was rebuilding the national infrastructure Donald Trump has the potential to be a massive force for good for the economy... ...Obama got a relatively wimpy stimulus package passed at the start of his term but hasn't been able to get anything going since... ...Krugman has been pounding the table for an increase in fiscal stimulus for years now, to no avail. Trump could change all of this. The first thing Trump mentioned in his victory speech was spending on infrastructure. "We are going to fix our inner cities,...

Election 2016: To say that Donald Trump's decisive election victory is a stunning development is the understatement of the century. This election makes Truman's surprise win over Dewey look positively pedestrian. The repercussions are enormous, but so are the opportunities. First and foremost, Trump's victory is a thunderous rebuke to the legions of pundits and armies of pollsters who said it couldn't happen, and the mainstream press that declared all-out war on his candidacy. In the days leading up the election, every poll except the IBD/TIPP tracking poll showed Hillary Clinton winning by a wide margin in a four-way race....

A few days ago and for a few hours last night, it looked as if a Donald Trump victory was perhaps the only thing standing in the way of a Federal Reserve rate hike in December. Some economists had even suggested Janet Yellen would have to resign if Trump won, after he attacked her for running a Fed that acted "more political than Secretary Clinton." Now, in the light of day, as markets process the likely direction of a Trump presidency, the Fed's green light is back. After tumbling overnight, the 10-year Treasury yield surged above 2%... ...Plus, Trump will...

Financial markets are beginning to believe the Federal Reserve. That's the simplest explanation for the tumble that major stock indexes took on Tuesday, which saw the 10-year Treasury yield rise to a four-month high and the U.S. dollar index hit its highest level in seven months. While the U.S. central bank's key overnight lending rate is barely above zero and policymakers have repeatedly reined in their intentions for further hikes, markets have taken each Fed pronouncement with a grain of salt. Whether investors doubted the Fed's resolve or its economic forecast, markets have been pricing in an even lower-rate future...

What with writers and speakers everywhere quoting William Butler Yeats' poetic appraisal of modern times, as I read recently, maybe we can better appreciate House Speaker Paul Ryan's present dilemma and resolve to leave the guy alone. He is a good man doing the best he can in bad — no, awful — times, despite the revilement falling upon him for his Monday announcement about campaigning no more with Donald Trump. Ryan fears the Democrats could win everything worth winning in November — the White House, the Senate, the House of Representatives. He understands that the Trump candidacy opens the...

Election 2016: A new Gallup poll finds that most Americans think the government "is doing too much." At the same time, various other polls show that voters are likely to hand the White House over to Hillary Clinton, who wants to vastly expand the size and scope of government. Go figure. For more than two decades, Gallup has been asking the public whether the "government is trying to do too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses" or "should do more to solve our country's problems." Its latest poll shows that 54% agree with the former, while...