The U.S. Innovation and Competition Act is a lobbyist-crafted proposal that funnels emergency spending to politically connected special interests. Before the end of the week, and possibly as soon as later today, the Senate will vote on a major industrial policy bill that spends $195 billion, with much of it funneled to high-tech manufacturing. The […]
The United States used to be the only big, rich nation to have above-replacement fertility. That stopped being true during the Great Recession, and our birthrates keep slipping. The latest data put expected lifetime fertility at about 1.6 births per woman, a record low — and this was the trend before the pandemic. Nor does this reflect a delay […]
And this is only the beginning of his big-government aspirations. Some emergencies require an increase in government spending, but that comes with an understanding that the higher levels of spending are unusual and will not be sustained. Unfortunately, this understanding seems to be lost on the Biden administration. Exhibit A is his proposed $6 trillion budget […]
A president’s budget proposal is a political document, the first step in a months-long negotiation with Congress. While it’s not surprising that President Biden’s first budget includes new spending seemingly aimed at pleasing key voting blocs, the scale of his $6 trillion spending plan is both unprecedented and risky. Biden’s budget would rack up record-shattering […]
Summary The federal debt is $28.3 trillion and rising. The trade deficit is worsening. Inflation has arrived. The US dollar is depreciating. Photo by DNY59/E+ via Getty Images This article considers the present plight of the US dollar with respect to the federal debt, the trade deficit, inflation and depreciation. Investors should pay […]
The annual budget deficit has already hit $1.9 trillion and counting for the fiscal year that will end in September, according to the U.S. Treasury’s April statement, and it will reach as high as $3.6 trillion this year, says the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Comparatively, in 2020, the deficit totaled about […]
History will not remember President Biden for his frugality. The president has already signed into law a massive multi-trillion-dollar “COVID” stimulus spending package and proposed trillions more in “infrastructure” spending. Now, the White House has released its budget request for Fiscal Year 2022—a stunning $6 trillion. “President Biden will propose a $6 trillion budget on Friday that would take the […]
Conservative lawmakers have proposed slashing $14T from the nation’s budget Congress should reject any effort by lawmakers to slash funding for Social Security and Medicare in order to reduce the nation’s ballooning budget deficit, AARP said Wednesday. “Targeting Social Security and Medicare to pay down the national debt is the wrong approach and is strongly […]
Most GOP backers of a resolution to declare the national debt a ‘national security threat’ also backed Donald Trump’s tax cuts. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) wants Congress to declare the U.S. national debt a “threat to the national security of the United States” and to commit to “addressing the fiscal crisis.” But he and most […]
London (CNN Business)Central banks were the superheroes of the early phase of the pandemic, taking dramatic steps to save the economy and financial markets from ruin. Now, as the recovery kicks into gear, they’ve become a major risk for investors. What’s happening: The latest reading of the Back-to-Normal Index from CNN Business shows that the US economy’s comeback is […]
