Free Republic

The stock market is rebounding on the news that the Federal Reserve is considering an interest rate decrease, but some commentators are spinning this as a sign of economic calamity.“We are closely monitoring the implications of these developments for the U.S. economic outlook and, as always, we will act as appropriate to sustain the expansion, with a strong labor market and inflation near our symmetric 2 percent objective,” Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Tuesday.Experts widely interpreted this as an indication that the Fed may soon implement a rate cut after raising rates steadily over the entire course of Donald...

It's time for a victory lap. As the great Mohammed Ali said, "It ain't bragging if you can back it up." Since literally the day Donald J. Trump declared his candidacy for President (almost three years ago), I’ve predicted that he would turnaround the miserable Obama economy and produce the biggest economic boom since Ronald Reagan. I even gave this Trump economic turnaround a catchy name: "The Trump Miracle." I’ve compared Trump to Ronald Reagan hundreds of times in print and thousands of times on my national radio and TV shows. Well don’t look now, but Trump is our...

A boogeyman is usually thought of as an imaginary figure causing fear. However, in the case of President Obama, the figure is real. He is causing a loss of confidence in the future among American businessmen and consumers.

Ronald Reagan once said an economist is someone who sees something that works in practice and wonders if it would work in theory. So why is it that when confronted with a concept that works in both practice and theory, so many people refuse to believe it? The Laffer Curve, popularized by economist Arthur Laffer, says the government can maximize tax revenue by setting the tax rate at ... The logic is obvious on the ends of the spectrum: if the tax rate is 0%, the government collects no money. If it is 100%, people have no reason to earn,...

The Most Important Economic News of the Year By Arnold Kling 29 Dec 2005 "[P]roductivity is the best single measure of what leads to differences in economic performance. Even though GDP per capita is the all-encompassing measure, GDP per capita is determined primarily, almost entirely, by productivity. People basically work in order to have a place to sleep and something to eat and so on and so forth. The huge differences around the world are the efficiencies with which they work -- their productivity." -- William Lewis Politicians and pundits re-assess the state of the economy often. They look at...

"Among successes the White House claims in 2005: A bankruptcy law that made it harder for Americans to wipe out their debts, legislation to discourage multimillion-dollar class-action lawsuits and confirmation of John Roberts as chief justice of the United States. Bush also won a free trade pact with six Latin American countries. There was a highway bill, at last, to modernize the transportation network. He also got major energy legislation — the first such national plan in more than a decade — although the act does little in the near-term to ease gas prices, which topped $3 a gallon after...

US job creation rate speeding up US job creation appears to be quickening The US economy created 262,000 new jobs in February, the biggest gain in four months and a sharp increase on January's revised 132,000 figure.According to the Labor Department report, the increase can be attributed to carmakers and recovery in the construction industry. The 262,000 job creation figure was better than analysts' predictions. US stocks rallied after the news, with the main Dow Jones index closing Friday up 107.5 points to 10,940.5. Although the separate US unemployment rate rose to 5.4% in February from January's 5.2%, this...

WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) - With most major economic indicators out of the way until the beginning of next year, economists can't resist peeking under the Christmas tree to try to get a sense of how strong the retail season will be. And while hard data is admittedly scarce, economists are sensing a strong shopping season. "It is hard to be conclusive. But from what I see and feel - confidence moving up...it seems like it is going to be a pretty good Christmas," said Stephen Gallagher, chief U.S. economist at Societe Generale Corporate and Investment Banking. The holiday season is critical...