Category Archives: Fiscal Policy

WSJ-Biden’s Plans Are Already Hurting the Recovery

Posted in: Fiscal Policy | May 19, 2021 at 1:24 pm , by mariel

As anti-production policies take hold, supply and worker shortages appear and inflation looms. By Phil Gramm and Rick Scott May 19, 2021 12:49 pm ET The April Consumer Price Index rose by 0.8%, or 9.6% on an annualized basis. On an annual basis the inflation rate for the past three months has been...

WSJ-The Biden Tax Mirage

Posted in: Fiscal Policy, Tax Policy | May 12, 2021 at 1:02 pm , by mariel

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Marginal rates have been a lot higher, but the actual share the top 1% pay stays remarkably constant. By Phil Gramm and Mike Solon May 12, 2021 12:39 pm ET With deficits at levels not seen since World War II, the March $1.9 trillion stimulus only beginning to spend out, and President Biden...

WSJ-Biden Aims at Profit, Hits Workers

Posted in: Fiscal Policy, Tax Policy | April 6, 2021 at 10:13 pm , by mariel

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The 2017 corporate tax cuts triggered the blue-collar wage boom. Higher rates would reverse it. By Phil Gramm and Mike Solon April 6, 2021 6:18 pm ET The Biden administration has proposed an array of corporate tax increases with a goal of raising some $1.33 trillion over the next 10 years. That’s three...

WSJ: The Risks of Too Much ‘Stimulus’

Posted in: Fiscal Policy | February 2, 2021 at 9:19 pm , by mariel

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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...

WSJ: Voters’ Choice: Growth or Stagnation

Posted in: Fiscal Policy | July 8, 2020 at 2:50 pm , by mariel

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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...

WSJ: Why the Fed May Not Duck Inflation This Time

Posted in: Fiscal Policy | May 29, 2020 at 12:15 am , by mariel

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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...

WSJ: More ‘Stimulus’ Would Crush the Recovery

Posted in: Fiscal Policy | April 14, 2020 at 2:13 pm , by mariel

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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...

WSJ: The Plot to Politicize Banking

Posted in: Financial Services, Fiscal Policy | January 15, 2020 at 11:21 am , by mariel

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Liberal lawmakers and activists want banks to lend to favored groups and deny the ‘undesirables.’ By Phil Gramm and Michael Solon Jan. 14, 2020 6:59 pm ET To resist President Trump’s campaign of economic reform and deregulation, his critics usually attempt to portray long-overdue, common-sense policies as assaults on the poor....

WSJ: Warren’s Assault on Retiree Wealth

Posted in: Financial Services, Fiscal Policy, Sectors, Tax Policy | September 11, 2019 at 12:07 am , by mariel

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Her vision of ‘accountable capitalism’ would destroy savings built over a lifetime—and sink the economy. By Phil Gramm and Mike Solon Sept. 10, 2019 6:41 pm ET Who owns the vast wealth of America? Old folks. According to the Federal Reserve, households headed by people over the age of 55 own...

WSJ: How to Balance the Budget—Again

Posted in: Fiscal Policy, Tax Policy | August 4, 2019 at 9:58 pm , by mariel

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A GOP Congress and a Democratic president struck an unlikely deal in 1997. It succeeded. By Michael Solon Aug. 4, 2019 5:48 pm ET The budget deal between the president, the Democratic House and the Republican Senate eliminated the risk of debt default, government shutdown and a spending sequester for...