Category: U.S. economy

Capitol Report (Sept. 23): House GOP Outlines Vision Before Midterms; Biden Makes Election Promises in DNC Speech

House Republicans showcased their “Commitment to America” plan—their promise to the people in the run-up to the midterms. We’ll hear from the House Republican leader himself to find out more about the GOP’s plan for a “new direction.” President Joe Biden pushed back against the Republicans’ proposed agenda Friday, attending an event by the Democratic…


This Economic Destruction Is Man-Made

Commentary It’s codified now: Europe and the UK are in recession. The United States is too, at least technically, and we are only awaiting an admission. The Federal Reserve has reduced its economic growth expectations to near zero but the emerging housing meltdown will likely seal the deal: it’s an inflationary recession also called stagflation….


The Economists Self-Censored and Inflation Is a Result

Commentary Consumer inflation rate in the United States has remained above 4 percent since April 2021, 5 percent since June 2021, and 8 percent since March 2022. This last month’s inflation report came in at 8.4 percent, above analysts’ forecasts, disappointing hopes that the inflation rate might start to subside. A significant part of the current inflation is a rather…


Capitol Report (Sept. 20): Democrats Push for New Election Law; Inflation Key Issue for Americans

Weeks away from the midterms, Democrats are ramping up a last-ditch effort to change the way campaigns operate. They say it’s exposing dark money, while Republicans call it an effort to federalize elections. Interest rates are expected to see another rate hike by the Federal Reserve this week. How will that affect consumers and living…


Biden and the Big Government Socialists’ Cost-of-Living Crisis

Commentary The scale of the Joe Biden-Big Government Socialists’ disaster is becoming more obvious. Scott Rasmussen has reported that 88 percent of Americans agree we are in a cost-of-living crisis. In fact 66 percent—two of every three people—said it is a serious crisis. On Tuesday, economist Steve Moore, in his invaluable Unleash Prosperity Hotline, reported…


Inflation: Where Are We Now?

Commentary Well, that left nothing to the imagination. The August CPI report, in fact, buried the idea that inflation is abating and that new “juice” from the Fed is just around the corner. Again, the trusty 16 percent trimmed mean CPI, which removes short-term fluctuations from the trend, made it abundantly clear that inflation has…


Biden Is Truly Clueless About Inflation

Commentary Yesterday, sitting at the airport, I bought a small 16-ounce bottle of water. The bill: $6.00. To be sure, this was the airport where the elasticity of demand is more vertical. Thirsty travellers are going to pay the bill. Also it was Las Vegas, a lovely and exciting town but certainly a place where…


Joe Biden Has a Versailles Problem

Commentary VERSAILLES, Pennsylvania—As if to emphasize that this river town of 1,200 has zero in common with the royalty that once ruled at the eponymous location outside Paris, royalty far removed from the concerns and the despair of its people, this Youghiogheny River town is pronounced in its own unique Appalachian way: Ver-sales. That pronunciation…


When Will Low-Income Americans Stop Looking to Government?

Commentary New polling data from Gallup show Americans are not having an easy time through this period of rising prices. According to Gallup, 56 percent of Americans say now that rising prices are causing severe or moderate hardship. Drilling down, we see that the hardship is not shared equally. Among low-income households, those with income…


Producer Prices Are Red Hot

Commentary The spin machine on inflation news has been working on overdrive. Yesterday’s CPI release revealed terrible news and that was obvious within seconds of the release. It was a shock so perhaps it is understandable that the pressure of deadlines caused major media to downplay how grim it was. First we were told it…