The debacle of 1932 is the most famous example, but Republican losses span the period 1842 through 2020. By Phil Gramm and Donald J. Boudreaux May 21, 2025 1:37 pm ET The Trump administration is looking for an exit strategy from the most destructive parts of its trade war. The uncertainty...
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Category Archives: Uncategorized
WSJ-Yes, the U.S. GDP Decline Is an Ominous Sign
It isn’t a statistical artifact but a warning of a real slowdown. By Phil Gramm and Donald J. Boudreaux May 6, 2025 5:04 pm ET U.S. gross domestic product shrank by 0.3% in the first quarter of 2025, according to an April 30 report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The...
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WSJ-In Google’s Antitrust Case, a Guilty Verdict—for Advertising
Biden’s officials wanted the company cut down to size for ideological reasons. But why didn’t Trump drop the case? By Phil Gramm April 28, 2025 5:33 pm ET A federal district court last year found Google guilty of “maintaining a monopoly in two product markets in the United States—general search services...
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WSJ-Trump’s Tariffs Are as Bad as Bidenomics
Both models of state-directed capitalism misallocate resources and make the nation poorer. By Phil Gramm and Donald J. Boudreaux April 14, 2025 4:35 pm ET Not since Herbert Hoover signed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff has a president chosen to disregard a larger body of informed opinion than President Trump did when he instituted his...
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WSJ-The Census Defines Poverty Down
Its flawed income measure leads to the overpayment of welfare, including Medicaid, to recipients. By Phil Gramm and John Early April 2, 2025 12:54 pm ET The Trump administration recently promised that it “will not cut Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits.” The determination not to reform retirement benefit entitlements is politically understandable....
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WSJ-Trump’s Tariffs Have McKinley Turning in His Grave
The 25th president used reciprocity to press for an expansion of trade. The 47th is going backward. By Phil Gramm and Donald J. Boudreaux March 13, 2025 12:37 pm ET Equities markets roared in anticipation of the deregulation, tax cuts and fiscal restraint the second Trump administration promised. But the tariff...
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WSJ-Congress Can Repeal the Inflation Tax
‘Bracket creep’ is gone—unless you’re on Social Security, have capital gains or pay state taxes. By Michael Solon Feb. 26, 2025 5:08 pm ET As the debate heats up about whether and how to extend the 2017 tax cuts, the jury is out on a key question: Did the cuts generate...
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WSJ-Trump’s Myth of the Trade Deficit
Economic growth depends on deregulation, tax cuts and the budget deficit, not on the balance of trade. By Phil Gramm and Donald J. Boudreaux Feb. 20, 2025 5:05 pm ET It seems to be a matter of faith among protectionists that trade deficits make the U.S. an economic loser. President Trump...
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WSJ-Gramm and Summers: A Letter on Tariffs From Economists to Trump
Like our predecessors in 1930, we oppose the use of tariffs as a general tool for economic policy. By Phil Gramm and Larry Summers Jan. 30, 2025 1:55 pm ET In an extraordinary act of unity, 1,028 American professional economists in the spring of 1930 signed a letter urging Congress to reject and...
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WSJ-A Government Funding Bill Republicans Can’t Oppose
Johnson can keep the GOP united by proposing a bill ending every Democrat-supported malady at once. By Michael Solon Jan. 23, 2025 2:39 pm ET Now that Mike Johnson has been narrowly re-elected speaker, House Republicans are focused on using the reconciliation process to extend President Trump’s 2017 tax cuts and control the...
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