Category: U.S. economy

Republicans Must Beware Globalist Pre-Election Gas and Stock Price Manipulation

Commentary “Gas is over $5! For regular?!” conservative talk show host Sean Hannity exclaims incessantly to his extensive radio audience. “Never in my life have I seen anything like that! Five dollar gas!” Only it’s not. It might have been a month ago but today, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), the national average…


What’s Driving the Labor Market Mess?

Commentary A small business owner with whom I was speaking raised an odd point. He has many jobs open right now and advertises them. Many people apply and he clicks through on the online portal to offer interviews. Then something odd happens. He never hears from them. Maybe they took some other position. That’s what…


What If We Define Recession Away?

Commentary Another word has lost its traditional meaning. It’s the word recession, which is a postwar neologism in any case. The word depression—from the idea of depressed economic condition—became unsayable following the disaster in the 1930s. So the wordsmiths got busy and invented this new term based on the idea that the economy is merely…


Blue States Are Still Bloating Their Budgets With Federal COVID Dollars

Commentary The federal government has doled out well more than $1 trillion in COVID-19 aid to the states over the last two and a half years. It was money that most red states didn’t need because they kept their economies open. But blue states shut down and begged Congress to give them money to balance…


The Strangest Recession of Our Lifetimes

Commentary The evidence of economic weakness and decline fill the headlines day by day, with major banks reporting lower earnings, big box stores with excess inventories, home sales skidding, and consumer sentiment crashing. Meanwhile, inflation in all sectors is raging so high and hot that it has overtaken every other issue that polls say matter…


Capitol Report (July 14): Last World War II Medal of Honor Recipient Honored; Investigation: US Emergency Oil Shipped to China

President Joe Biden is wrapping up his visit to Israel, yet he’s faced with complicated geopolitical questions as pressure from inflation mounts at home. What’s he saying about Iran and his next stop—Saudi Arabia? Service members could see around a 5 percent raise in their salaries, as the House spent hours of floor time passing…


The Great Squeeze in Profit Margins

Commentary It’s beyond me why the Consumer Price Index (CPI) garners so much attention from the press, but the statistical release the following day barely makes a dent in the news cycle. That is the Producer Price Index (PPI). In many ways, the PPI is more important because it forecasts the plight of the consuming…


12 Questions on Economic Issues for the Next Congress

Commentary We are now experiencing an economic crisis that could get worse. Financials are in bear markets. Inflation is roaring. The recession could soon become official. Many voters are looking to their elected representatives to address the problem. What follows are questions that I would like to pose to any and all candidates for office…


CPI Wednesday Delivered Very Bad News

Commentary Yesterday afternoon, the financial markets were roiled by an early release of the Consumer Price Index that turned out to be a fake. It looked real and markets were flooded with sellers because the number came in at 10.2 percent year over year. That would imply more extreme efforts by the Fed to crack…


Is a Serious Financial Crisis Next?

Commentary Be grateful for what did not happen. Two and a half years ago, governments around the world took the unprecedented step of “shutting down” their economies, which means the extreme control of people and their choices. This has proven to be devastating to prosperity, education, culture, health, and the prospects for liberty. Anyone could…