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NAFTA: The Great Success Story
As we enter the fourth decade of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and now its successor, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), it is worth taking a quick look at the track...
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Washington Post Doesn’t Have Access to Data on U.S. Energy Production
That’s what readers must conclude after reading this Washington Post’s piece on President Biden’s plans to increase corporate taxes and taxes on the rich. At one point the piece gives the response to...
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The Labor Price of Gas Is at Trumpian Levels
The media have told us endlessly how people can no longer afford things due to higher prices and the fact that wages have risen more doesn’t matter. I wouldn’t want to disagree with the experts, but...
View ArticleThe Washington Post Wants You Think the Economy Is Awful #45,706
Even though we have had the longest streak of below 4.0 percent unemployment in 70 years, and real wages are rising, especially at the bottom end of the wage distribution, the major media outlets...
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Donald Trump Wants Coal Mining Jobs to be a Big Election Issue and It Seems...
As a major proponent of global warming, Donald Trump apparently thinks it benefits him to be perceived as a savior of jobs in the coal industry. This is likely not because he can do much to protect the...
View ArticleContrary What Republicans Claim, Tax Credits for Electric Vehicles Will Not...
The New York Times had an article on the prospects for investment in clean energy if Donald Trump gets back in the White House. At one point the piece quotes Senator John Barrasso, a Republican from...
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The Economy Is Awful #32,706: Multiple Jobs and Remote Work
One of the standard refrains from people pushing the bad economy story, in spite of the extraordinary streak of low unemployment, is that because of inflation everyone has to work two jobs. This...
View ArticleNYT Finds Atypical Low-Wage Worker to Tell Bad Economy Story
Low wage workers have seen large real wage gains since the pandemic, so naturally as we come to the July 4th holiday the New York Times gives us a piece telling us how they are hurting. The piece is...
View ArticleTime for the Fed to Cut Rates
Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell has been saying for some time that he needs to see more evidence that inflation is under control before he lowers interest rates. We can never be certain of...
View ArticleAI, Guaranteed Income, and the “Which Way Is Up?” Problem Afflicting Our Elites
Leading media outlets like The New York Times, The Atlantic, and The New Yorker have about as much concern for intellectual consistency as TikTok videos. In very serious and somber tones they will warn...
View ArticleDecision 2024: Would People be Willing to Pay Higher Taxes to Make Elon Musk...
That is a question that should occur to people who read through the Republican Party’s platform. Not only does the platform promise to extend the 2017 tax cuts, which will potentially put tens of...
View ArticleAdjusting the Washington Post’s Biden-Trump Scorecard
The Washington Post published a scorecard that evaluated the economy’s performance during the Trump and Biden administrations. While it has much useful information, there are a few areas where it needs...
View ArticleA Tribute to President Biden
I’m not generally one to get teary-eyed over politicians. They mostly spend their careers trying to appease people with money and power. That’s how you get ahead in American politics. (There are...
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Why Do People Lie to CNN Pollsters About Their Financial Situation?
I don’t have the answer to that question, but if I was CNN’s pollster I would be concerned. They just did a poll on households’ financial situation and the responses they got are clearly out-of-line...
View ArticleIs There Some Reason Marketplace Radio Can’t Say Republicans Block Minimum...
This really is kind of mind-boggling. It had a nice piece pointing out that it has now been 15 years since the last hike in the federal minimum wage. This is the longest stretch since the federal...
View ArticleBloomberg Says Things are Almost as Bad as 2019, When Trump Was in the White...
Seriously, they probably don’t want readers to walk away with that impression, but that is the implication of the piece they did complaining about people working multiple jobs. The piece told readers:...
View ArticleSaving Marketplace Radio from Spreading Misinformation on Saving
Marketplace radio had a piece on the drop in the saving rate reported for the month of June that committed two major sins. One was ungodly ignorant but inconsequential. The other was more...
View ArticleThe High Cost of Protectionism: AI Edition
Economists go on endless diatribes against tariffs and quotas as costly policies that raise prices to consumers and slow economic growth. There is considerable truth to this story, even if economists...
View ArticleThe Biden-Harris Economy: GREATEST ECONOMY EVER!
That’s what Trump would be saying if we had the exact same economy, and every Republican and politician in the country would be repeating some variant of that line. The media would be filled with...
View ArticleMcDonald’s Profits Are Up 31% Since the Pandemic, NPR Tells Us It Is a Victim...
I am not joking. A piece on All Things Considered carries the headline on NPR’s website “McDonald’s is losing customers to inflation.” The gist of the piece is that the economy is so bad that people...
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