Betting on Bessent
Plus: Pregnant law student fights a holy war, NYC officials are trying to ruin your holidays, and more...
Economy
Trump's First Term Wasn't Fiscally Responsible. Will His Second Be Different?
Even before the pandemic spending increase, the budget deficit was approaching $1 trillion. The GOP has the chance to embrace fiscal sanity this time if they can find the political will.
Kamala's California Problem
As skyrocketing costs and mass exoduses define the Golden State, Democrats face a crucial reckoning.
Central Planning Won Big on Election Night
The bipartisan embrace of industrial policy represents one of the most dangerous economic illusions of our time.
Don't Blame Me for Not Voting for Your Unbelievably Rotten Candidate
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are polling terribly because they are terrible people representing terrible parties.
Countries With Economic Freedom Are Far Better Off
Even the poorest citizens of free countries fare better than the middle classes in economically repressive nations.
Are American Living Standards In Decline?
David Leonhardt and John Early debate stagnation, inequality, and how people feel about the economy.
The 'Degrowth' Mentality Promises a World of Poverty and Misery
Market-based economies create incentives that unleash human creativity and provide incredible abundance.
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris Keep Making Economically Illiterate Promises
These policies may sound good on paper—but they would be disastrous in reality.
Biden and Harris' Record on Spending and Debt Is a Tragedy of Epic Proportion
When they entered the White House, the budget deficit was a pandemic-influenced $2.3 trillion, and it was set to fall to $905 billion by 2024. It's now twice what it was supposed to be.
I Did Business With China, and America Won
Everyone benefited when I manufactured my invention in China, but Americans benefited more.
Trump's Deportation Plan Would Cost Nearly $1 Trillion
And it would wreck the economy.
The Cruises Will Be Spared
Plus: Israeli troops cross into Lebanon, prayer illiteracy on full display, veeps joust, and more...
Don't Expect a Return to the Trump Economy
If the former president wins the 2024 race, the circumstances he would inherit are far more challenging, and several of his policy ideas are destructive.
Robert Reich Is Wrong About Billionaires—and Almost Everything Else
His ideas would leave us poorer and less free.
Trump Dodged My Question About the Federal Debt
Reason's Nick Gillespie asked former President Donald Trump about how he plans to bring down the national debt.
No, Trump-Style Tariffs Do Not Grow the Economy
The America of the past grew in spite of tariffs, not because of them.
The Government's Permitting Regime Is Choking the Economy
Housing costs, job availability, energy prices, and technological advancement all hinge on a web of red tape that is leaving Americans poorer and less free.
Hair-Braiding Business Denied Permission To Operate Over Fears of Competition
Since when do government officials get to decide that a market is “oversaturated”?
Kyla Scanlon: What's Actually Wrong With the Economy?
Economist and author Kyla Scanlon discusses inflation, economic narratives, and the housing market.
Trump and Harris' Economic Plans Are Depressingly Similar
Both campaigns represent variations on a theme of big, fiscally irresponsible, hyper-interventionist government.
Kamala Harris' Affordability Agenda Is a Good Idea Backed by Terrible Policies
Americans need a politician dedicated to unwinding decades of government interventions that have driven up the cost of middle-class living.
If Joe Biden Saved the Economy, Why Do We Need Kamala Harris' Price Controls?
Democrats are pushing a jarringly disconnected economic message.
Americans' Support for Tariffs Plummets When They See Prices Rise
A new poll challenges the protectionist narrative currently dominating both sides of the political aisle.
The Real Economic Catastrophe Will Be Caused by the U.S. Debt
Should we blame Biden and the politicians applauding him for their unwillingness to address our looming fiscal disaster?
Recession Is Not Inevitable, Despite Stock Market Slump
A few reasons to remain calm about the economy
J.D. Vance Wants To Control You With Taxes
People making the same income should be paying the same level of taxes no matter how they choose to live their lives.
RFK Jr. Pays Lip Service to the Debt While Pushing Policies That Would Increase It
It's good to hear a candidate actually talk about our spending problem. But his campaign promises would exacerbate it.
The 'Pro-Worker' GOP Is Anti-Worker
The New Right talks a big populist game, but their policies hurt the people they're supposed to help.
Here's How To Pay for Trump's Tax Cuts
There seems to be general bipartisan agreement on keeping a majority of the cuts, which are set to expire. They can be financed by cleaning out the tax code of unfair breaks.
Trump Promises To Get Rid of Bad Regulations. Can He Deliver?
Growth of regulation slowed under former President Trump, but it still increased.
Republicans Hammer Biden on Inflation. But Do They Have a Better Plan?
Opening night of the Republican National Convention programmed a central issue with a Trumpian twist: "Make America Wealthy Again."
The 2024 GOP Platform Promises To 'Make America Affordable Again.' So Why Are They Embracing Fiscal Insanity?
Although former President Donald Trump's deregulatory agenda would make some positive changes, it's simply not enough.
The National Debt Is Crossing an Ominous Line
The U.S. has successfully navigated past debt challenges, notably in the 1990s. Policymakers can fix this if they find the will to do so.
America Is in a Debt Crisis. Will Trump or Biden Address It at the Debate?
The candidate who grasps the gravity of this situation and proposes concrete steps to address it will demonstrate the leadership our nation now desperately needs. The stakes couldn't be higher.
The Supreme Court May Be on the Brink of Radically Restricting Bureaucrats' Power
Chevron deference, a doctrine created by the Court in 1984, gives federal agencies wide latitude in interpreting the meaning of various laws. But the justices may overturn that.
Biden Keeps Blaming Others for His Economic Mistakes
The president has tried to shift blame for inflation, interest rate hikes, and an overall decimation of consumers' purchasing power.
The Economy Biden Wants
Plus: Trump wants to cut federal spending, Mike Solana wants to save San Francisco, Canada wants to throw thought criminals in jail, and more...
The GOP Once Claimed To Be the Party of 'Fiscal Responsibility.' So Why Not Reform Social Security?
Reasonable options include gradually raising the minimum retirement age, adjusting benefits to reflect longer life expectancies, and implementing fair means-testing to ensure benefits flow where they're actually needed.
The Congressional Budget Office's Alternative Scenarios Forecast a Dire Economic Picture
Why aren't politicians on both sides more worried than they seem to be?
California's $20 Fast Food Minimum Wage Law Is Already Having Disastrous Unintended Consequences
Many have seen their hours reduced—or have lost their jobs entirely.
The Best of Reason: Not Even Artificial Intelligence Can Make Central Planning Work
Revolutionary AI technologies can't solve the "wicked problems" facing policy makers.
No, Politicians Can't 'Fix' Prices—and That's OK
Price controls lead to the misallocation of resources, shortages, diminished product quality, and black markets.
No, Unions Aren't Having a Resurgence—and That's Good for Workers
Private unions have every right to exist, but that doesn't mean they're actually beneficial on net.
Not Even Artificial Intelligence Can Make Central Planning Work
Revolutionary AI technologies can't solve the "wicked problems" facing policy makers.
No One Can Make Government Work
If businesses don't serve customers well, they go out of business. Government, on the other hand, is a monopoly.
Nick Gillespie: Keep America's Borders Open
"We should be building a wall around the welfare state, not the United States," Nick Gillespie argued at a recent immigration debate.
Capitalism Makes Society Less Racist
In the Jim Crow South, businesses fought racism—because the rules denied them customers.
