No Matter How You Look at It, the Big Beautiful Bill is a Monstrosity
Here are three views of the bill's horrific distributional consequences.
26 articles
“Free Trade” and Jobs
It’s easy to forget, decades into the era of neoliberal economic policies and “free trade” agreements, that these policies
Beyond Deficit Scare-Mongering
Conservatives' real aim in their fiscal brinkmanship is to gut Social Security and Medicare.
Dear Dr. Dollar:
Can you explain how poverty is defined in government statistics? Is this a realistic definition? —Susan Balok, Savannah, Ga.
Dear Dr. Dollar:
Supposedly, countries should produce what they are best at. If the United States makes computers and China produces rice, then the theory of free trade says China should trade its rice for computers. But if China puts tariffs on U.S.-made computers and builds up its own computer industry, then it wi
Dear Dr. Dollar:
Can you explain what trade deficits are? Who owes what to whom or is it just an accounting device? —Jack Miller, Indianapolis, Ind. I see that the United States has had a negative international trade balance for years. What happens to those dollars we've sent overseas? —Bill Clark, Chillicothe, Ohi
Dear Dr. Dollar:
A Republican friend tells me that the huge new tax cuts will actually produce more revenue than the government would have collected before the cut, because once rich beneficiaries invest the money, they will pay taxes on every transaction. He suggested that the increase could be as much as 50% more
Dear Dr. Dollar:
I have been hearing quite a bit about the dangers of deflation to the United States economy. I have even heard warnings that "spiraling deflation" could cause a global depression such as occurred in the 1930s. But wasn't the Great Depression caused by hyper-inflation, not deflation? Is deflation rea
Dear Dr. Dollar:
Bush's budget has the federal government running huge deficits for years to come. Democrats say this will cause high interest rates and low growth. Republicans argue that deficits don't matter at all. Isn't this the exact opposite of what the two parties usually claim? Is my memory shot or am I miss
Dear Dr. Dollar:
What are the merits of the argument that rent control hurts tenants by limiting the incentives to create and maintain rental housing? —Sarah Marxer, San Francisco, Calif.
Dear Dr. Dollar:
Free-traders claim that free trade will increase U.S. exports, providing more jobs for Americans. So I would expect that NAFTA increased U.S. exports and reduced our trade deficit. I would also expect to see employment increase both in our country and in our trading partners. Has that in fact happen
The Great Stock Illusion
The enormous paper wealth "created" by the stock market was bound to dissolve, because it never existed, save as a kind of mass delusion.
Dear Dr. Dollar:
Since the United States is a representative democracy, it seems only natural that its citizens would look to their elected officials for answers to economic problems. However, given the limited number of things that the government is allowed to do today to influence the economy (such as comparativel