The former president, who turns 100 Tuesday, gets too little credit for making America competitive again. By Phil Gramm Sept. 30, 2024 1:26 pm ET Jimmy Carter, who turns 100 on Oct. 1, doesn’t get enough credit for the quarter-century economic boom from 1983 to 2008 and the underlying resilience of...
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Category Archives: Uncategorized
WSJ-Welfare Is What’s Eating the Budget
Means-tested programs, not Medicare and Social Security, are behind today’s massive debt. By Phil Gramm and Jodey Arrington Sept. 11, 2024 5:02 pm ET Ask any budget expert in Washington to explain the ballooning deficit and debt, and Social Security and Medicare will be high on the list of causes. That’s...
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WSJ-Housing Is the Sleeper Issue of the 2024 Campaign
Harris promises to double down on Biden policies that have made it more expensive to buy a home. By Michael Solon Aug. 25, 2024 3:22 pm ET Vice President Kamala Harris cast tie-breaking votes that ensured passage of the American Rescue Plan Act, the Inflation Reduction Act and the Biden budget. In doing...
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WSJ-We All Pay the Price for Protectionism
Industrial policy intrudes on our sovereignty as consumers to protect politically favored jobs. By Phil Gramm and Donald J. Boudreaux Aug. 12, 2024 5:11 pm ET Since Adam Smith debunked mercantilism in “The Wealth of Nations” (1776), the political appeal of trade protectionism has centered on its ability to benefit a privileged few...
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WSJ-Who Pays Corporate Taxes? Look in the Mirror
Costs are passed on to consumers. If you work for and invest in companies, you get hit three times. By Phil Gramm and Mike Solon April 23, 2024 1:48 pm ET In his call for Congress to repeal the 2017 tax cuts and increase corporate tax rates, President Biden asked: “Are...
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WSJ-Biden Wants to Put AI on a Leash
Bill Clinton’s regulators, by contrast, produced prosperity by encouraging freedom on the internet. By Ted Cruz and Phil Gramm March 25, 2024 4:22 pm ET The arrival of a new productive technology doesn’t guarantee prosperity. Prosperity requires a system, governed by the rule of law, in which economic actors can freely implement...
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WSJ-The ‘Gender Pay Gap’ Is a Myth That Won’t Go Away
The difference in wages is the natural consequence of choices that men and women freely make. By Phil Gramm and John Early March 8, 2024 5:30 pm ET Tuesday, March 12, is “equal pay day,” according to the National Committee on Pay Equity, a coalition of advocacy groups. Originally, the date...
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WSJ-The High Cost of the Trump-Biden Tariffs
The evidence shows they benefited a politically connected few, while U.S. consumers and producers paid the bill. By Phil Gramm and Donald J. Boudreaux Jan. 17, 2024 11:45 am ET ‘National conservative†protectionists portray themselves as the adults in the room. They allege that free traders’ focus on consumption imperils...
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WSJ-A Fiscal Commission on the National Debt? Good Luck With That
The best way to avert a crisis is to reform entitlement spending. The next best way is growth. By Jeb Hensarling and Mike Solon Jan. 11, 2024 6:21 pm ET As Congress begins a new session, the price of government expansion during the pandemic is coming into sharper focus. The...
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WSJ-Social Security Was Doomed From the Start
The fatal flaw was FDR’s decision to make it a pay-as-you-go benefit. We should have fixed it by now. By Phil Gramm and Mike Solon Dec. 19, 2023 6:29 pm ET Americans imagine that the Social Security benefits they are promised belong to them. That’s by design. In 1935, President Franklin...
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