Free Republic

The great Jackie Gleason once said, "The past remembers better than it lived." And so it is, apparently, with the Obama years. There was no economic "boom" as Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are misremembering. This was an economy that skidded into a financial ditch and seemingly never pulled out of it and got back on the prosperity hot lanes until Donald Trump won the election in November 2016. You can mark the real recovery -- an economic inflection point almost the day after that surprise election outcome. Every liberal forecaster and most academic economists had guaranteed America that, if...

The amazing strength of the data in that report show what the American economy, and American workers, can achieve—if given the right policy environment and opportunities. Based on a Census Bureau report released last Tuesday, the current debate over economic policy might come down to a question of numbers. Which would you prefer: A $1,200 “stimulus” check while not working during lockdowns, or a nearly $4,400 pay increase in a growing job?The Census report, which chronicled changes in income and poverty in 2019, documented the state of the economy well before the coronavirus hit. But the amazing strength of the...

As we watch our jobless claims skyrocket, our businesses close, and our government print currency in an effort to make us feel better about it, this may be a good time to take a step back, and consider what economic activity really is, at its heart. What is money? How is wealth created? It’s a complex question, but as bureaucrats crank up their printing presses and argue about where to send those crisp new dollar bills, we may be better off taking a step back and considering the subject “from 30,000 feet,” as the saying goes. THE PARABLE OF THE...

The year 2020 could emerge as the start of the era of relative global chaos or major upheaval. It is the era we have been anticipating, as the impact of core population decline meets economic dislocation, and security and structural uncertainty. Changes in the fundamental sociological framework of global society, due to the end of the population growth cycle - and with it the end of the economic growth cycle based on expanding market size - were beginning to become evident by the beginning of 2020. It was apparent that 2020 was likely to see a major evolution in this...

At a time when our country seems as divided as ever and many are talking as if the end times are coming, it's more important than ever to look at what we should be thankful for. Unemployment is at its lowest level in nearly 50 years. Poverty is down, too. Since 1990, average life expectancy in the United States increased from 75.4 to 78.6 years. Our workplaces are also safer, as demonstrated by the 30% decline in the rate of workplace deaths from 1992 to 2017 and a 69% drop in the rate of workplace injury and illness. Our...

On July 1, California hiked its gas tax to the highest rate in the country. The gas tax, in particular, is one of the most regressive taxes. It hurts the poorest families in our country the most. Tax increases in California shouldn’t shock anyone, but the craziest part of this plan is that the increase STILL won’t be enough to cover the repairs California needs for roads, bridges and mass transit. Officials are actually considering additional fees on top of the new tax!That’s not how we operated in Florida when I was Governor, and that’s not how any state in our...

For more than a generation, James Carville's campaign maxim, "It's the economy, stupid," has been held up as an essential truth of American politics. There's no denying that a strong economy is an incumbent president's best friend. Seventy-three percent of voters currently rate the economy as a very important issue. As a result, if the economy remains strong for another 1 1/2 years, many analysts believe President Donald Trump will be favored to win reelection. On the other hand, if a recession hits next year, we will almost certainly have a new president in 2021. However, recent data about the...

Investors are feeling the most pessimistic about the health of the global economy in a decade, according to a survey from Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The gloom is spreading, with a growing number of data points that point to risks for the economy. Fund managers surveyed by BofAML said they are holding onto cash instead of risking it in a frothy market, and 85 percent of them said that the economic expansion is in its late cycle. 38 percent of them said that they expect growth to slow over the next year, the highest share since November 2008, which...

Updated 1 hour ago It’s official: Elliott Group has announced its intention to locate a test facility at the former Jeannette Glass site after months of silence. Construction on a proposed cryogenic pump test stand could begin next year and become operational by 2020, said Carol Gatewood, Elliott Group vice president, legal affairs and general counsel in a news release. The new facility and added manufacturing operations at Elliott’s current U.S. headquarters facility Jeannette will add between 110 and 140 jobs to the company’s workforce in the city. “Elliott’s decision to expand our business in Jeannette is based upon our...

I have spent some three decades railing against faulty budgetary scoring of tax bills, but the latest charade from the Congressional Budget Office and Joint Tax Committee takes the cake. The story of fiscal phony math is so indefensible when it comes to the Trump tax cut that you may not believe it could be true. Alas, it is. The story starts with the CBO forecast in 2017 that over the next decade the national debt will double to 150 percent of GDP in about 20 years. Those are debt numbers that don't have a happy ending – just ask...

The global debt level is reaching shocking new heights. The Institute of International Finance recently estimated the current total world debt is roughly $247 trillion—a truly unprecedented figure.But as frightening as the global debt has become because of the dangers it poses to the world’s economic stability, Americans should be far more terrified of what this problem might mean for them, especially if the globe endures another major financial collapse before the United States can get its fiscal house back in order. Put simply, America is on the verge of experiencing an absolutely catastrophic period of economic change, and it’s...

Well, for liberals, year one was the darkest era in human history. It was the return of Lord Voldemort, the resurgence of Sauron from the land of Mordor, or the Galactic Empire reigning hellfire from the Death Star, whatever terrible cultural villain suits the narrative that was it. Frankly, it was probably the former because liberals seem to really gravitate towards the Harry Potter universe, but I digress. CNN and MSNBC ventured into Ohio and Pennsylvania respectively to speak with Trump voters. CNN’s Martin Savidge spoke with five Trump supporters from Youngstown, Ohio in Mahoning County. It was a...

CNBC conducted a survey before Christmas. Economic optimism is soaring. The network noted that for the first time in over a decade, more than half of the respondents said the economy was good or excellent. The results of this survey were released on December 18, four days before President Trump signed the most extensive tax reform into law in nearly 30 years. The good economic news has not been able to buoy Trump’s approval numbers, but this survey suggest that the president could be yielding some dividends on that front as well (via CNBC): The CNBC All-American Economic Survey...

Now that we are a full year into President Trump’s increasingly consequential first term, it is long past time to give him complete ownership of the American economy. If it seems odd to do so after only a year, that is due to former President Barack Obama, who never stopped blaming his predecessor for a recovery that never arrived because Obama could not stop sabotaging it with his anti-growth policies and anti-free market rhetoric. Even lying conspiracy theorists in the media and Democrat Party backed by a special prosecutor, even the gale force wind of hate and lies, have not...

The mayors doing their utmost to get Amazon's second headquarters for their cities are having a grand time informing Jeff Bezos of everything they have to offer. They should enjoy this part of the chase because what comes next won't be much fun. They are about to get some insight into how the search for talent goes in Major League Baseball. St. Louis Cardinals general manager Michael Girsch noted the crucial moment in pursuing a coveted free agent player. "We sometimes call it your 'puke point,'" he told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "Sometimes you make an offer and you're not...

All around the Federal Reserve building, someone for years has been riding his horse—a la Paul Revere—crying out in excitement over the notion that 2 percent inflation is finally coming. This week, Janet Yellen has finally gotten to where many other Central Bankers around the world already are—it’s not happening. We’re not even close. Especially since we haven’t seen any real, sustainable increases in the Producer Price Index (PPI) or the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Indeed, the European Central Bank leaders (along with the Fed) have been throwing everything they possibly can at inflation, and it doesn’t seem to move....

Links only, per agreement with Gannett Trump's accomplishments Gary Varvel's Wall Street cartoons

Remember President Trump's "terrible" budget cuts? "Promises Little but Pain," warned The New York Times. "Harsh and shortsighted," cried The Washington Post. Then Congress passed a budget. President Trump signed it. Do you notice the "pain"? I follow the news closely, but until I researched this column, I didn't know that Congress actually raised spending on the very agencies Trump wanted to cut. Trump called for a $4.7 billion dollar cut to the Agriculture Department. Congress increased the department's appropriation by $12.8 billion. He called for a $15 billion cut to Health and Human Services. Congress instead gave them...

Every day, legions of economists dismiss Donald Trump's economic agenda and forecast of 3 percent growth as a wild-eyed fantasy. The consensus is that the economy "can't possibly grow at 3 percent," according to The Wall Street Journal. "Slow growth is the new norm, so get used to it," wrote Rucir Sharma, chief global strategist at Morgan Stanley, in Foreign Affairs magazine this month. Question: Why does anyone bother to listen to economists anymore? The profession has become an embarrassment, and the most respected economists have shown themselves to have as much predictive power as a deck of tarot...

The growth rate of America’s gross domestic product might rise by more than 200 percent by 2018 under President-elect Donald Trump's economic plan, according to a new analysis. CNBC cites a Deutsche Bank forecast that claims Trump’s economy-boosting agenda could drive 2.4 percent growth in 2017 and 3.6 percent in 2018. Under President Barack Obama, the economy grew by an average of 1.6 percent during his eight years in office. CNBC noted Obama is the first president since Herbert Hoover who has not overseen the economy grow by at least 3 percent in one year of their administrations. The Deutsche...