President Trump appears set to press for a mixed bag of fiscal and trade policies that will likely have contradictory effects. In addition to taking pages from President Ronald Reagan’s agenda to lower corporate and personal tax rates, trim government spending and deregulate business, President Trump also seems committed to pushing a version of the Democrats’ 1980s “New Industrial Policy” agenda.
Asset performance patterns are not always easy to explain, even over longer time frames. For instance, stock and bond prices are positively correlated, but they are also negatively correlated at various times. Asset prices also move differently in periods of uncertainty than in quieter times.
There is no more important bilateral relationship than that between the United States and China. Yet the Congressional Research Service warns that ties have “become increasingly complex and often fraught with tension.” Relations appear likely to become even more fractious with the election of Donald Trump as president. Every four years the People’s Republic of China (PRC) becomes a presidential election issue, but Americans deserve a better explanation of the importance of U.S.-China political and economic relations than candidates’ sound-bytes.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is a federal agency created by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to protect consumers from “unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices” by financial institutions. On June 2, 2016, the CFPB proposed federal regulations for the short-term loan industry.
Washington recently put Wall Street back into its crosshairs when Representative Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) introduced a bill to levy a 0.03 percent tax on transactions involving stocks, bonds and derivatives. His goal …
The ride-hailing service Uber is only six years old, yet it has already inspired a host of imitators, such as Lyft, Wingz and Taxify. It has also sparked fierce opposition from the …
In 2014, the California State Legislature passed, and Gov. Jerry Brown signed, Senate Bill 270, a statewide ban on plastic bags scheduled to take effect in July 2015. Before this bill …
The claim that women only make 77 cents for every dollar a man makes is usually followed by a call for a whole new wave of regulations and pay mandates …
Gold is a useful hedge against inflation and uncertainty, but investing in it speculatively is not always a good strategy. In 2011, the price of gold climbed to historic heights; but since …
The American economy is growing. But compared to other recessions in the post-World War II era it has not bounced back to its long-run trend. Optimistically, if real gross domestic product (GDP) per …
John Maynard Keynes said, “When my information changes I alter my conclusions. What do you do, sir?” For Keynesians and non-Keynesians alike, it is excellent advice — essential, in fact — …
The U.S. Department of Labor has updated Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime regulations, raisingthe threshold at which salaried employees are exempt from overtime pay, effective December 1, 2016. Salaried employees …
The Financial Services Committee of the House of Representatives has a plan to offer reforms as a pro-growth, pro-consumer alternative to the Dodd-Frank Act, which is harming the economy and consumers. Dodd-Frank …
Since the Great Recession, the unemployment rate has steadily fallen from a high of 10 percent in October 2009 to the current rate of 4.9 percent. However, job gains and a …
From early times investors have rightly worried about the instability of the price level. Inflations large enough to wipe out real returns from stocks and bonds are all too common. Does that require that the rate of inflation be a vital consideration in investment decisions? Not necessarily. It is not so much inflation itself, but its instability or unpredictability that hardest hits investment performance. Egged on by statisticians, the Federal Reserve, pundits and the press, investors spend scarce time and resources arguing about the degree of inflation. Yet the facts suggest much of the fuss is unnecessary.
There has been much debate over the past few years about raising the national minimum wage to $10 or even $15 an hour. In areas where the minimum wage is at or …
Supporters of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) among Canada, the United States and Mexico predicted the pact would boost Mexico’s economic growth and raise the living standards of its people. However, …
New York Times columnist Josh Barro took obvious pleasure last Christmas reporting on one of modern economics’ most settled arguments: that in-kind gift-giving, especially at Christmas, involves a lot of “waste,” or, more …
In the 17 years since the NCPA published Michael Cox and Richard Alm’s report, “Technology and Economic Growth in the Information Age,” the technology landscape in the United States has changed dramatically, with …
The U.S. Constitution protects interstate commerce from discriminatory state taxes.1 Yet the growing e-commerce market and potential revenue from sales and use taxes prompts questions regarding expectations for online retailers. The 2015 Remote …
The 2008 financial crisis was one of the most severe economic breakdowns in the history of the world.2 The crisis was a classic financial bubble with all the classic attributes thereof: greed, …
The financial crisis of 2007-2008 was a shock to the American economy. The federal regulatory response of 2009-2010 was equally shocking to the financial system. The reforms enshrined in the Wall Street …
Global markets today seem irresistible to central bankers with plans for better times. Planning is the central bankers’ baleful vanity since, for them, markets are a test tube in which to try …
Most experts agree that relaxed lending practices, which allowed people to buy homes they could not afford, led to the creation of a housing-price bubble prior to 2007. The 2008 financial crisis …
From the telegraph to the telephone to the iPhone, innovation has always been at the heart of the American spirit. In an era of rapidly increasing globalization, protection of the inventions and …