Free Republic

During an interview with CBS’s “The Takeout” podcast that took place before the release of the February inflation numbers, acting Labor Secretary Julie Su said that there is price gouging and “One reason for inflation is that companies are taking advantage of market forces or just charging more in a way that increases their profit, but has nothing to do with worker’s wages.”

The average transaction price for a new vehicle in America hit a record of $45,031 in September. It's the sixth consecutive month of record vehicle prices, according to Kelley Blue Book. That price represents a 12.1% increase (or $4,872 in cold, hard cash) over the same month a year ago and a 3.7% increase over the prior month.(The federal government, meanwhile, calculates new-car prices are up 8.7% year over year.)The reasons for the rapidly increasing prices of new vehicles are well documented, with inventory shortages caused by a lack of microchip availability cited as the latest problem. Last month, however,...

Donald Trump embraced coal during his 2016 campaign. The crowd at a Charleston rally four years ago broke into wild applause when he told them, “I’m thinking about miners all over this country. We’re gonna put the miners back to work. We’re gonna get those mines opened.” It has not worked out that way. In fact, employment and production are levels are behind where they were when he took office. We will get to the reasons for that in a moment. But first, the Trump administration has tried to lend a helping hand to coal. Taylor Kuykendall, energy and mining...

A recent report by the Economic Policy Institute blamed trade with China for the loss of 3.4 million manufacturing jobs since 2001. Don Boudreaux of George Mason University analyzes this claim in detail here, where he points out that innovation and automation are more likely culprits. But whether the jobs are lost as a result of international trade or domestic commerce, his most important point is that this is creative destruction. Stifled Creativity It is to creative destruction, a process first properly recognized by Joseph Schumpeter (whose 134th birthday it is today), that we owe much of human progress and...

Markets work. But sometimes they take time. That's the uncomfortable lesson that proprietors of America's colleges and universities are learning. For many years, market forces didn't seem to apply to them. There was a widespread societal consensus that a college education was a good economic investment. Politicians gave lip service to the idea that everyone should go to college. No one should be stopped by a lack of money. There was historic precedent. The G.I. Bill of Rights vastly expanded college populations and helped build prosperous post-World War II America. Putting even more through college would make us even more...

The price of crude oil has dropped sharply this morning with both Brent Crude and West Texas Intermediate Crude dropping over $4/barrel. As of 11:10 EDT, Brent Crude has sunk $4.34/bl to $116.41 while WTI Crude has dropped $4.67 to $104.57/bl.

Push for higher gas tax could follow chief's death The death of Ric Williamson, the fiery, whip-smart chairman of the state transportation commission, could upend the still-roiling debate over toll roads in Texas in the new year. Mr. Williamson died Saturday of a heart attack at age 55, sending shock waves through the nearly 15,000-employee department he led as well as the political and policy circles where his combative style and pro-toll-road agenda had engendered enormous change – and criticism. Always careful to credit Gov. Rick Perry, a close friend and former roommate, Mr. Williamson emerged as a lightning rod...

As the Senate is mulling the details of a compromise immigration bill hammered together by the odd couple of Sens. Edward Kennedy and Jon Kyl, and as members of Congress hear from their constituents over the Memorial Day recess, it may be worthwhile to put the issue in historical context. For most of our history, the United States had no restrictions on immigration at all. I am told that my Canadian-born grandfather was a "nickel immigrant": He took the five-cent ferry from Windsor, Ontario, north to Detroit roundabout 1896. This situation resulted from America's strong demand for labor, coupled with...

When Bill Clinton made his speech to the Labour Party conference, he bamboozled a few by finishing with the word "Ubuntu".

<p>Amanpour: CNN practiced self-censorship CNN's top war correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, says that the press muzzled itself during the Iraq war. And, she says CNN "was intimidated" by the Bush administration and Fox News, which "put a climate of fear and self-censorship." As criticism of the war and its aftermath intensifies, Amanpour joins a chorus of journalists and pundits who charge that the media largely toed the Bush administrationline in covering the war and, by doing so, failed to aggressively question the motives behind the invasion.</p>

Open-Air Nuthouse I've said before that our poor country sometimes resembles an open-air insane asylum. Alas, here are two more pieces of evidence to support that assertion: 1. New York City has decided to fund a high school strictly for homosexuals. 2. The Pentagon planned to set up a "futures market" in which investors could speculate on such things as terrorist acts, assassinations and the overthrow of governments. As Jack Paar used to say, "I kid you not." Fortunately, enough people in Congress were outraged by this latest wacky idea from the Pentagon that the fearless bureaucrats have backed off....