By Steve Pociask, American Consumer Institute To retitle the familiar song by Prince, it now appears the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is going to “party like it’s 1914.” The well-known consumer welfare standard – the principle that has focused antitrust enforcement onto whether consumers are harmed – is getting shelved by the […]
By William Yeatman, Cato Institute All told, Congress has authorized about $5.9 trillion in spending to address the social and economic fallout from the pandemic, of which $4.1 trillion has been disbursed or committed through the present, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget’s “COVID Money Tracker.” By now, more than […]
By Will Yepez, National Taxpayers Union Senators Rob Portman (R-OH), Michael Bennet (D-CO), and Angus King (I-ME) recently introduced the Broadband Reform and Investment to Drive Growth in the Economy (BRIDGE) Act of 2021 (S. 2071). This well-intentioned legislation would provide $40 billion in funding to states, Tribal governments, U.S. territories, and […]
By Ryan McMaken, Fundación Internacional Bases In the context of trade and immigration, borders are often explained as a means of excluding foreign workers. Thinking in a certain way, borders offer an opportunity for states to exclude private actors, such as workers, merchants and entrepreneurs. On the contrary, borders can also serve a […]
By Will Yepez, National Taxpayers Union House Democrats are planning to introduce five pieces of antitrust legislation in the coming days. One such proposal is a radical “Glass-Steagall” style legislation aimed at forcing structural separation policies that would harm consumers and disrupt the economy. Contrary to its mission, the proposed legislation would have […]
By Andy Blom, TES Washington Editor Joe Biden is bumbling through Europe, getting greeted (for better or worse) as “not Trump”. Benjamin Netanyahu gave his exit speech as Prime Minister of Israel and sounded more like Arnold Swarzenegger than Golda Meir (“I will be baaacckk!”). Aren’t political leaders fun? While our leaders […]
By Brian Giesbrecht, Frontier Centre for Public Policy Great events in history usually have one picture that manages to capture their essence. The iconic photo of the American troops planting the flag on Iwo Jima does it for WWII and the disturbing picture of the naked little girl running for her life from […]
By Andy Blom, TES Washington Editor Our Vice President deals with immigration by flying over the border…but she still hasn’t visited Europe. The Senate is at a standstill, gas prices are rising and inflation is starting to show its ugly head. Welcome to summer 2021. But have hope…free market thinkers and doers […]
By Robert Genetski Today’s employment report for May confirms that the economy continues to soar. Average hourly earnings rose at a 10 percent annual rate from the first quarter, a further indication of upcoming inflation. The Week That Was Economic news this past week continue to show business activity soaring in May. […]
ByOliver McPherson-Smith. American Consumer Institute Commuters in California will be familiar with radio ads that ask them to ration electricity when they get home from work. The campaign begs consumers to power down between 4 pm and 9 pm, when renewable energy generation dips and utilities struggle to power the grid. […]