Hawley/Sanders Credit Card Interest Cap Is a Gift to Payday Lenders and Loan Sharks
A bill that purports to lower borrowing costs will instead drive many people to more expensive lenders.
A bill that purports to lower borrowing costs will instead drive many people to more expensive lenders.
President Donald Trump doubled down on both domestic deregulation and protectionism in his speech to the World Economic Forum.
For all the excitement about the incoming administration and a return to the 2019 economy, market stability rests on the precarious assumption that the government will eventually put its fiscal house in order.
The Treasury Secretary’s debt decisions during the pandemic locked in low rates—but only for two years. Now, taxpayers are paying the price.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac distort the housing market, explains Mike Pence's former chief economist.
A rate cap could leave millions scrambling for alternatives in an increasingly cashless economy.
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.
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.
Increasing the supply of housing requires looser rules and fewer bureaucratic delays.
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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.
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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.
Why aren't politicians on both sides more worried than they seem to be?
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Plus: A listener asks the editors about cancelling student loan debt.
And for good reason: Even at 3.5 percent, inflation is running higher than it did in almost every year for three decades before 2021.
Increased spending does not automatically equate to higher quality—something that is often lost in this debate.
Despite their informal nature, those norms have historically constrained U.S. fiscal policy. But they're eroding.
The Turkish opposition ran circles around President Recep Tayyib Erdogan's party in local elections. It could be the beginning of the end of his 20-year reign.
The question of how best to measure inflation has no single and straightforward answer, but most people know that the president's economic claims aren't true.
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A new economic paper explains why interest rates are the missing piece to understanding why people are unhappy about a seemingly strong economy.
The reality raises questions about the kind of future we want to leave for the next generation.
They will either reduce the ability to spend money or to cut taxes.
Rosy fiscal expectations based on eternally low interest rates have proven dangerously wrong.
Rosy fiscal expectations based on eternally low interest rates have proven dangerously wrong.
Every dollar wasted on political pork, fraud, and poorly considered infrastructure makes the country’s fiscal situation even worse.
In the last 50 years, when the budget process has been in place, Congress has managed only four times to pass a budget on time.
Years ago, when interest rates were low, calls for the federal government to exercise fiscal restraint were dismissed. That was unwise.
Higher rates lead to more debt, and more debt begets higher rates, and on and on. Get the picture?
Especially because the once-dismissed possibility of rising rates is now a reality.
The Federal Reserve's higher interest rates were supposed to trigger changes to fiscal policy. So far, that hasn't happened.
The big spending has fueled higher inflation, resulted in larger-than-projected deficits, and contributed to a record level of debt.
Federal officials ignore repeated warnings, and we all pay the price.
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It's a familiar program. And it will result in higher prices, slower growth, and fewer jobs.
Many politicians offer a simplified view of the world—one in which government interventions are all benefits and no costs. That couldn't be further from the truth.
At a minimum, the national debt should be smaller than the size of the economy. A committed president just might be able to deliver.
Plus: Was Gerald Ford right to pardon Richard Nixon?
Projections of huge savings are making the rounds. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The longer we wait to address our debt, the more painful it will be.
Delayed payments will increase, and companies will respond by raising interest rates—or denying low-income applicants outright.
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In 2019, discretionary spending was $1.338 trillion—or some $320 billion less than what Republicans want that side of the budget to be.
A responsible political class would significantly reform the organization. Instead, they will likely continue to give it more power.
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