Economics in Action: Wal-Mart Raises Wages Then Closes Stores
Higher wages are nice, but not when it costs you your job.
Data That Suggest a Coming Recession
The country has experienced three recessions in the past 30 years, and in each instance, median household income began to decline about a year to 18 months prior to the start of a recession. A 2013 report showing how median household income began to again decline hints that a recession may be around the corner.
Obama Prepares to Defend His Failed Record
A president’s last State of the Union Address is often about defending his legacy. And he will have to because no one else will.
When 'Full Employment' No Longer Is Full Employment
The U.S. is approaching what economists call "full employment," in which everyone who wants a job can find one. So why are so many people unemployed and desperate for work?
Can Social Security and Medicare Be Counted as Part of Seniors' Wealth?
Future Social Security and Medicare benefits can't be counted as part of seniors' wealth because they don't own those accounts. But if seniors did own them, they wouldn't just be "counted" as wealthy, they would be wealthy.
Should Food Stamps Be Restricted to Healthy Food Products?
Maine Governor Paul LePage wants to make the food stamp program more of a safety net and less of a hammock. Former Texas Senator Phil Gramm would have agreed.
Hillarycare Tried to Put Everyone in an HMO, Obamacare Is Succeeding
The Clintons tried to put every American in an HMO and the public soundly rejected that attempt by voting Democrats in 1994; Obama is succeeding where the Clintons failed and the public is punishing Democrats for it.
What Bernie Sanders Can Learn from a New York Times Reporter About French Tax Policy
Will one socialist learn from another socialist about marginal tax rates? Probably not.
The Minimum Wage and the Entitlement Mentality
Minimum wage increases, like welfare benefits, expand the entitlement mentality.
Budget Deal Perpetuates the Social Security Trust Fund Fiction
The budget deal perpetuates the Social Security trust fund fiction by borrowing from one trust fund that has loaned its assets for IOUs to save another trust fund which has spent its IOUs.