• Guaranteed Income for Children Could Define the Midterm Elections
  
  A guaranteed annual income - at least for children - is likely to be a big campaign issue in 2022. With opposition to aggressively higher corporate and personal income taxes on the wealthy emerging among some moderate Democrats, a focus on benefits-specifically, an...
• The Economy Is Set to Take Off. Inflation Will Be a Major Problem.
  
  Although there has recently been an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases, the administered vaccines should reach 70% of the population before summer begins. If that happens, the virus will be mostly contained so that economy of every state should fully reopen. That will...
• $1,400 Stimulus Checks Helped March Retail Sales Soar 9.8 Percent
  
  Newly vaccinated and armed with $1,400 stimulus checks, Americans went on a spending spree last month, buying new clothes and going out to eat again.
• US Consumer Prices Jump by Most in Nearly 9 Years
  
  U.S. consumer prices climbed in March by the most in nearly nine years as the end of pandemic lockdowns triggered a rebound in travel and commuting that pushed up the cost of gasoline, car rentals and hotel stays.
• More Stimulus May Overheat the Economy
  
  Recently released data by the Labor Department shows that more than 916,000 jobs were added in March. That means of the 22 million Americans that became unemployed last March and April, only 8.4 million remain unemployed. In the last 11 months, the economy added more than...
• How Deficit Spending Could Hand Congress to the Republicans
  
  President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion American Recovery Act scored 75% public approval, and it is full of goodies for reliable Democratic constituencies - money for state budgets, union pensions, universities, and the like - often having little to do with the pandemic.Now his...
• Jobless Claims Rise to 744K as Virus Still Forces Layoffs
  
  The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week to 744,000, signaling that many employers are still cutting jobs even as more people are vaccinated against COVID-19, consumers gain confidence and the government distributes aid throughout the...
• Biden's Policies Will Help the Working Class Less Than He Thinks
  
  President Joe Biden offers himself as champion of the working class and minorities, but his policies will leave more jobless and enable Donald Trump or another populist from the right to win in 2024.The pandemic is accelerating changes in where we work and what we buy. That...
• Experts: $15 Wage Will Mean Fewer Jobs for Teens
  
  Raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour might sustain higher teen unemployment rates and stifle economic recovery for less-experienced people entering the workforce, according to economists.
• MMT Has Lit the Fuse on This Inflation Powder Keg
  
  An economic framework called Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) governs the financial world today, but fails to account for the consequences of its practices. In fact, MMT is leading us to an extremely dangerous financial situation that could blow up at any time.What is...
• Yellen and Powell Are Wrong: No More Stimulus Is Needed.
  
  Recently, both Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that although the economy is forecast by them to grow 6.5% this year, more stimulus is needed. That means nearly $6 trillion of already-approved government stimulus is not enough....
• Fed's Powell: Better Outlook Reflects Vaccine Progress, Fiscal Aid
  
  Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell? said the U.S. central bank would wait until the economy has "all but fully recovered" to pull back the extraordinary monetary support it rolled out in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
• Stephen Moore: Biden Tax Hikes Are 'Wet Blanket' on Economy
  
  The economy is in a "strong recovery" from the pandemic shutdown, but the Biden administration wants to throw a "wet blanket" on a hot economy with proposed tax hikes, says former Trump economic adviser Stephen Moore.
• Stimulus Bill Gives a Nod to Popular Employer Health Plans
  
  The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) was signed into law by President Biden on March 11, 2021 and seeks to address the pandemic's impact on the uninsured in the United States.A significant source of people who are uninsured comes from those who have lost their jobs due to...
• Fed's Jerome Powell: US Will Emerge From Pandemic 'Stronger'
  
  Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, recounting his fears a little over a year ago that the pandemic would exact a "grave" cost, said Friday in a Wall Street Journal article the U.S. would pull out of the crisis "stronger and better, as we have done so often...
• Biden's Multilateralism Invites Conflict With China
  
  President Joe Biden wants the world to know America is committed to shared Western values, multilateralism and diplomacy. But our allies and adversaries may not respond as we might like, and this could all end badly.American foreign policy must address existential threats...
• Manage Inflation With Dead Reckoning
  
  All of the talk is about inflation. Gas prices are up. Food prices are up. Interest rates are climbing, and the government is going to pass a $1.9 trillion spending bill. This will be the largest spending bill in American history. The Federal Reserve is suggesting we need...
• Retail Sales Declined in February as Weather Impeded Demand
  
  U.S. retail sales declined in February, when inclement winter weather settled over large swaths of the country, representing a temporary setback in demand that's poised to accelerate in coming months.The 3% decrease in total retail receipts followed an upwardly revised 7.6%...
• Limiting Competition in the Mortgage Industry Will Only Harm Consumers
  
  Competition is the foundation of our free-market economy and has helped build our nation into the global hegemon and force for good in the world that it is today. American capitalism though is only able to flourish when competition is encouraged - not banned - yet when it...
• New Normal: High Unemployment, Near-Zero Interest Rates, and Out of Control Inflation
  
  Since the pandemic began a year ago, the term "new normal" has become part of the American lexicon. Not "new" as in better or improved. But rather "new" as in contrast to the way things used to be.Much of the mainstream discussion argues that returning to the "old" normal...
• Biden Plans First Major Federal Tax Hike Since 1993
  
  President Joe Biden is planning the first major federal tax hike since 1993 to help pay for the long-term economic program designed as a follow-up to his pandemic-relief bill, according to people familiar with the matter.Unlike the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus act, the...
• Biden's Immigration Reforms Won't Address Critical Needs
  
  America needs immigrants to make its economy run but also needs systemic reforms to address the number and composition of new arrivals.
• Consumer Prices Up 0.4 Percent Last Month, Biggest Rise in 6 Months
  
  U.S. consumer prices increased 0.4% in February, the biggest increase in six months, led by a sharp jump in gasoline prices.
• Banks Lobby Fed to Extend $600B Balance-Sheet Leeway
  
  Thanks to the pandemic, U.S. banks won a long-sought regulatory break that let them expand their balance sheets by as much as $600 billion without adhering to profit-denting safeguards. Now, firms are frantically lobbying to extend that relief before it expires at month's...
• More Stimulus Is Not Needed
  
  Recently released data about jobs, retail sales, and industrial production indicate that not only is more stimulus not needed but any more stimulus will be counterproductive and will cause more severe problems in the future. That's probably not enough to stop Congress from...

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