Category Archives: Uncategorized

A bipartisan proposal to write checks the government can’t cash. By Jeb Hensarling and Michael Solon Jan. 7, 2026 6:12 pm ET Government insurance programs are often tied to budget-busting bailouts and economic crises. But political pressures are again driving their expansion—and when these programs fail, taxpayers are left with the...

The government gives tens of thousands of dollars in benefits to the poor, which it doesn’t count as income. By Phil Gramm and John Early Dec. 17, 2025 3:37 pm ET Something is profoundly wrong with the U.S. welfare system—a problem that runs far deeper and is more dangerous than the...

Other nations are busy expanding commercial ties, as the U.S. economy is increasingly isolated. By Phil Gramm and Donald J. Boudreaux Dec. 8, 2025 3:49 pm ET The 1930 Smoot-Hawley tariffs helped bring about a global depression. Nothing of the sort has happened in the wake of President Trump’s “Liberation Day”...

The growth of industry disrupted old economic patterns but produced undreamed-of wealth. By Phil Gramm and Michael Solon Nov. 2, 2025 4:05 pm ET Most speculation about artificial intelligence has focused on its potential to kill jobs and on the policies that government might implement to control AI and cushion workers...

By Michael Solon Published Oct. 29, 2025, 11:20 a.m. ET Redistricting fervor is gripping our states’ capitals, as red states and blue states one-up each other in a mid-decade battle to redraw congressional lines. When red Texas and Missouri unveiled redistricting plans in recent months, blue states retaliated. Californians are voting on Proposition 50, a measure...

If Democrats get their way, pandemic spending will become permanent and bankruptcy will get closer. By Michael Solon Oct. 5, 2025 4:17 pm ET For Democrats in Washington, the pencils all lack erasers and none of the calculators have a minus button. It’s always addition, never subtraction. The Biden-Schumer-Pelosi spending surge...

America has a choice to make: Do we go back to the policies of Ronald Reagan or of Herbert Hoover? By Phil Gramm and Donald J. Boudreaux Sept. 25, 2025 5:30 pm ET Since President Trump announced “Liberation Day” in April by imposing the highest average tariff rates in 90 years,...

The central bank differs from other agencies in that the power to coin money belongs to Congress. By Phil Gramm By Jeb Hensarling Sept. 3, 2025 11:49 am ET The Constitution gives Congress the power to coin money and regulate its value. Congress, in fulfilling that delegated responsibility, created the Federal...

The president is handing a weapon to trading partners who feel they’ve been bullied into trade deals. By Phil Gramm Aug. 21, 2025 4:22 pm ET The Trump administration is continuing the antitrust lawsuits of the Biden administration’s Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission against Google, Meta, Apple and Amazon. That means the economic benefits...

He agreed to cap Japanese auto imports in 1981 but hated the deal and did it only as a compromise. By Phil Gramm July 23, 2025 5:12 pm ET During a debate that I participated in at the Harvard Club of New York in December, Oren Cass, founder of the think tank...