Taxes and Hauser’s Law
Hauser’s Curve Image Credit: Wikimedia commons/Sugar-Baby-Love With a Republican tax bill having passed both houses of Congress and certain to be signed by the President, taxes … Read More
Tag: Budget Deficit
The difference between government spending and revenues.
The Divisive Issue of Foreign Trade
Container shipping has revolutionized foreign trade by greatly reducing costs of transportation by ship, rail, and truck. Wikimedia Commons / Hafiz343 I have written several times about why foreign trade … Read More
Federal Expenditure and Revenue Realities
Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Brady’s controversial plan for “border adjustment” taxes are being fiercely opposed. Wikimedia Commons / Office of Congressman Kevin … Read More
The Federal Government’s Projected Bankruptcy
Which Way Can We go! (c) Can Stock Photo / svanhorn There is no doubt about it! Unless the federal government drastically reduces mandatory entitlement expenditures in the near future, … Read More
President Trump Faces a Divided People
Donald Trump giving his victory speech early this morning YouTube / RT.com Donald J. Trump’s victory yesterday to become the President-elect of the United States is a fitting surprise for … Read More
Does Trump Have a Chance?
Screen shot from last night’s final Presidential Debate As aired by C-SPAN Donald J. Trump is certainly not an articulate man, a weakness that is especially troubling for an aspirant … Read More
The Consequences of a Hillary Clinton Presidency
Imagine Hillary Clinton here. The Oval Office during the administration of William Jefferson Clinton Wikimedia Commons/National Archives and Records Administration I hate to say it, but it sure looks like … Read More
How Is the Weather Like a Country’s Economy?
Hurricane Isabel, a category 5 hurricane, seen from the International Space Station in September 2003. This deadly storm had many of the same system characteristics in the planet’s weather that … Read More
Hillary and The Donald On the Economy
Our sad choices: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump Photo Credits Left to Right: WikiMedia Commons/Voice of America, Wikimedia Commons/Michael Vadon On the day when Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are … Read More
The U.S. Federal Government Budget
Total U.S. Federal Government Debt in millions of dollars (blue curve with scale on the left), and its share of GDP in percent (maroon curve with scale on the right). St. … Read More
Economic Freedom in the United States
World Map of the WSJ/Heritage Foundation Index of Economic Freedom Image Credit: Heritage Foundation It would distress many Americans to learn the United States does not have the greatest economic freedom … Read More
The U.S. Economy and Stock Markets, June 2016
Real quarterly, annualized GDP growth rate in percent from Q1 of 2008 to Q1 of 2016 Image Credit: St. Louis Federal Reserve District Bank/FRED Having just updated my Leading Economic … Read More
The Thoughts that Haunt Me
A profligate government bureaucrat with you behind him! (c) Can Stock Photo More and more, the words haunting me are the ones I wrote in the final sentence of my … Read More
The Decay of U.S. Armed Forces
U.S. Army soldiers in Ramadi, August 2006 Wikimedia Commons/Air Force Tech Sgt. Jeremy T. Lock One of the major reasons for the weakening of U.S. alliances has been the decay … Read More
Donald Trump’s Lack of Knowledge
Sweeping up Hungarian banknotes after the Hungarian pengö was replaced in 1946. Wikimedia Commons/Mizerák István – Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum Történeti Fényképtára, Budapest Donald Trump’s loose lips could sink a whole … Read More
Economic Plans of Trump, Sanders, and Clinton Are Fantasies
Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders: A rogues gallery of economic ignorance Image Credits: Top Left to Right: Wikimedia Commons/Michael Vadon, Wikimedia Commons/Voice of America Bottom: Wikimedia Commons/Gage Skidmore … Read More
The Long-Term Economic Stagnation the World Faces
Alvin Hansen (1887-1975): Keynesian economist who invented the Keynesian idea of secular stagnation Photo Credit: Rugusavay.com Larry Summer’s project to revive Alvin Hansen’s idea of secular stagnation is gaining in … Read More
Compromise Between the Right and the Left
Compromise: Are our arms long enough to reach across the chasm? Image Credit: CanStockPhoto/photocreo A commenter on the post Economic Questions: Is Everyone Fooling Themselves? was concerned about the ability … Read More
The Political Defense of US Capitalism
Storm Clouds of Socialism (c) Can Stock Photo / leedsn This essay is a continuation of my previous … Read More
Can U.S. Capitalism Be Supported Politically?
A collective life under socialism. (Of course, Bernie Sanders would say this is capitalism!) The Last Judgement, Hell By Fra Angelico (circa 1395–1455) – The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der … Read More
U.S. Stock Markets and the Economy, February 2016.
Investors in the stock market getting their thrills! Wikimedia Commons/Boris23 The last few weeks with the stock markets have certainly been an exciting roller coaster … Read More
Federal Budget Deficits to Rise Again in 2016
Budget Stops Growing! (But not for long.) Image Credit: International Liberty It was not supposed to be this way! Federal spending and budget deficits … Read More
The Hard Work: Cutting Entitlements
FDR quote on Social Security Image Credit: Flickr.com/Donkey Hotey The hardest political job in cutting federal spending – … Read More
Cutting Government Expenditures
Federal government budget considerations (c) Can Stock Photo/robwilson39 I have been promising for some time now, most recently in What to Do About Keynesian Secular Stagnation, to discuss how the … Read More
What to Do About Keynesian Secular Stagnation
“I’m here from the government, and I’m here to help!” Image Credit: FreeImages.com/Daniel Perry In the preceding post The Keynesian Excuse: Secular Stagnation, I described the Keynesian revival of the … Read More
The Rahn Curve, Hauser’s Law, the Laffer Curve and Flat Taxes
Hauser’s Curve Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Sugar-Baby-Love If you were to plot federal government tax revenues as a fraction of GDP versus time, … Read More
Is It Even Possible for the Fed to Raise Rates?
Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellin with Sec. of Treasury Jack Lew PD-USGov Janet Yellen and other members of the FOMC have expressed their desire to raise interest … Read More
The Insuperable Problems of the Democratic Party
Sisyphus and his rock. Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Titian(1490-1576), Prado Museum, (PD-US-no notice) In the post Democrats’ 2016 strategy assumes America is lurching left. Are they wrong? in this morning’s theweek.com … Read More
Will the U.S. Have Troubles Soon Financing Its Debt?
US Treasury Department Building, Washington, DC Photo Credit: Flickr.com/romanboed A nightmare seems to be stalking the executive and legislative branches of the U.S. government. Is it possible they soon may … Read More