In his 2013 Inaugural address, President Barack Obama proposed raising the federal minimum wage a whopping 25% to $9/hour. Conservatives typically oppose heavy increases in the minimum wage for a number of reasons. Conservatives look at issues such as minimum wage from a results-oriented point of view. Does a certain law make sense and what […]Continue Reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jobless Americans are paying millions in unnecessary fees to collect unemployment benefits because of state policies encouraging them to get the money through bank-issued payment cards, according to a new report from a consumer group. People are using the fee-heavy cards instead of getting their payments deposited directly to their bank accounts. […]Continue Reading
There’s a super storm raging over our economy that’s been seeded and fueled by the federal government over a period of the past several decades. And it’s literally costing the country trillions of dollars in GDP per year.It’s not merely garden-variety government waste that’s the problem either. It’s monumental stupidity by the government, combined with […]Continue Reading
The Republican Party is picking up the pieces. Speaking of the ticket’s loss for the first time since the election, Rep. Paul Ryan noted that many voters “don’t think or know that we have good ideas” on fighting poverty and “helping people move up the ladder of life.” It’s not surprising that Ryan, who got […]Continue Reading
Dear Ebony, I do not have high hopes, given the way Ebony treats black non-liberals, that you will review my new book, “Dear Father, Dear Son: Two Lives, Eight Hours.” It is, in the end, about the importance of fathers — and the damage done to a child who grows up without one. Why do […]Continue Reading
(Reuters) – Factory activity grew the most in nearly two years in January and the number of new claims for jobless benefits dropped to a five-year low last week, giving surprisingly strong signals on the economy‘s pulse. Financial information firm Markit on Thursday said its preliminary Purchasing Managers Index for manufacturing rose to 56.1 this […]Continue Reading
Economists may not agree on much, but we all agree that economic output is a function of capital and labor. Ask a Keynesian, a Marxist, an Austrian, a monetarist, or any economist, and they’ll all agree that living standards are determined by the quality and quantity of these two factors of production. So it should […]Continue Reading
by Giacomo When the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports their monthly unemployment figures, they reflect only a certain portion of the overall unemployment numbers. Of the six different unemployment figures in their monthly report, only one gets all of the media attention. The BLS lists six categories of unemployment figures, but the media only looks […]Continue Reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — Holiday shopping, strong auto sales and a recovering housing market helped boost the U.S. economy from the middle of November through early January, according to a Federal Reserve survey released Wednesday. The Fed said 12 of its regional banking districts reported “modest or moderate” growth in the final weeks of 2012. Of […]Continue Reading
Paul Driessen Policy integrity. Ethical culture. Environmental protection. Environmental defense. Friends of earth. Defenders of wildlife. Not just their names, but their charter, culture and policies – their very being – represent a commitment to these profound values. Or so we are supposed to believe. The activist groups and government agencies certainly talk a good […]Continue Reading
Wages quietly rebounded last month for U.S. workers, a welcome sign for many Americans that is also likely to have caught the eye of Federal Reserve policymakers watching for any sign of inflation. The abrupt rise in hourly earnings follows the lowest level of wage growth in decades, so the U.S. economic recovery has […]Continue Reading
I wish Obama and the Democrats could be as passionate about jobs as they are about, say, the contents of Happy Meals. Or the dust from cement factories. Or the habitat of the red-cockaded woodpecker. While the wizard of DC remains a master of illusion and delusion, focusing everyone’s attention on the man behind the […]Continue Reading
WASHINGTON – President Obama’s decision to name Jacob Lew, his chief of staff and former budget director, to be his Treasury secretary sent a depressing signal that the economy and jobs won’t be his highest priority in a second term. With unemployment remaining stubbornly high in the fifth year of his presidency, the job of […]Continue Reading