Category Archives: Fiscal Policy

Disposable real per capita income rose 5.5% in 2020, the highest rate since 1984, due largely to transfer payments. By Phil Gramm and Mike Solon Feb. 2, 2021 6:17 pm ET Even among economists who strongly support President Biden, a consensus is growing that the economy emerged from last year set for a...

Before the shutdown, the economy was booming. Credit Trump’s policies, not Obama and Biden’s. By Phil Gramm and Mike Solon July 8, 2020 1:10 pm ET The year began with a recovery that belied every negative cliché about the Trump tax cuts and regulatory reform. Tax cuts demagogued as giveaways to the rich...

Banks’ excess reserves limited the money supply after 2008, but looser rules today might give way. By Phil Gramm and Mike Solon May 28, 2020 7:08 pm ET Is there any limit to the power Congress is willing to give to the Federal Reserve? Since 2008 lawmakers have granted the Fed the ability...

Federal borrowing this year is set to pass 20% of GDP. That will raise costs across the private economy. By Phil Gramm and Michael Solon April 14, 2020 12:44 pm ET A democracy’s greatest challenge arises when it confronts a major crisis during an election, since the critical need for serious...

Taxpayers who didn’t go to college, didn’t take on debt, or paid it off already. By Michael Solon June 26, 2019 6:47 pm ET Democrats have begun a bidding war over student-debt forgiveness. Joe Biden proposes to expand it for public-school teachers. Elizabeth Warren wants to forgive 75% of all...

The central bank has less control over market interest rates today than at any time in its history. By Phil Gramm and Thomas R. Saving June 17, 2019 7:17 p.m. ET When the Federal Open Market Committee’s meeting concluded last month, reporters focused on the federal-funds rate, announcing that it would...

Elizabeth Warren and others seek corporate ‘reforms’ that resemble medieval royal charters. By Phil Gramm and Michael Solon April 15, 2019 6:19 p.m. ET The 18th-century Enlightenment liberated mind, soul and property, empowering people to think their own thoughts, worship their own gods, and benefit from the fruits of their own...