Category: government spending

Ex-Fed Official Says Stimulus Spending Main Cause of Red-Hot Inflation, Not Supply-Side Bottlenecks

Former Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker said that supply chain snarls were “more of a symptom than a cause” of surging inflation, with the key factor driving up prices being massive government spending on pandemic emergency programs that caused demand to balloon against a backdrop of squeezed supply. “Simple sayings are often…


Stimulus Spending Main Cause of Red-Hot Inflation, Not Supply-Side Bottlenecks: Former Fed Official

Supply chain snarls are “more of a symptom than a cause” of surging inflation, with the key factor driving up prices being massive government spending on pandemic emergency programs that caused demand to balloon against a backdrop of squeezed supply, according to former Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker. “Simple sayings are often…


Federal Government Tax Collection Hits Record $2 Trillion in 6 Months

The U.S. federal government has collected record high taxes exceeding $2 trillion during the first half of the fiscal year, from October 2021 to March 2022, according to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service. In the first six months of fiscal year 2022, which began Oct. 1, 2021, tax collections totaled $2.12 trillion, up over…


A Budget That Voters Want? We’ll Find Out

The most striking feature of Tuesday’s 2022-23 federal budget is how well the Australian economy is performing. Whereas two years ago we were facing a catastrophe, the outlook now is rosy and enviable. We have passed out of the pandemic storm into calm waters very quickly. The unemployment rate is heading below four percent—its lowest…


Congressman Norman: Tackling the Unfunded Liabilities Ticking Timebomb

We sat down and spoke with Congressman Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), and we discussed the balancing act that America has found itself in: how do we be punitive towards Putin’s government without pushing Russia closer into China’s orbit, while at the same time dealing with the skyrocketing national debt that, if you include unfunded liabilities, sits…


Governments in Canada Were Already Bigger Than Optimum Size Pre-COVID: Study

The size of governments in Canada increased enormously during the COVID-19 pandemic, but even before that, the size of the federal government and almost all provincial governments had already grown beyond the optimal point to benefit citizens, a new study says. “It’s important to understand just how much governments across Canada have grown in recent…


Deeper and Deeper in Debt

Commentary In his State of the Union address, President Biden claimed he would, be “the only president to ever cut the deficit by more than $1 trillion in a single year.” While this is technically true, he ignores the fact that the reduction in the deficit will be due to the decreased expenditures associated with COVID-19…


Heritage Foundation Gives US Lowest-Ever Economic Freedom Score

The United States has fallen to its lowest-ever ranking in the annual Economic Freedom Index, published by The Heritage Foundation, as the country struggles to rein in debt and budget deficits. Overall, the world economy remains “moderately free,” according to the 2022 report (pdf), but the situation in the United States is worrying: “Quite notable…


Heritage Foundation Gives United States Lowest-Ever Economic Freedom Score

The United States has fallen to its lowest ever ranking in the annual Economic Freedom Index published by the Heritage Foundation as the country struggles to rein in debt and budget deficits. Overall, the world economy remains “moderately free” according to the 2022 report (pdf). But the situation in the United States is worrying. “Quite notable…


States, Local Governments Now Flush With Cash Even Without Federal Aid

What a difference two years—and $5.7 trillion in federal money—makes in fostering dramatic reversals of fortune for state and local budget managers. In spring 2020, governments were confronted with cascading costs in managing the public health response to the COVID-19 outbreak, spiking unemployment, and steep revenue declines resulting from business disruption and restrictions. Two years…