Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) spent eight minutes berating me at a Senate Budget Committee hearing yesterday. He disliked the facts I presented on austerity, so he called into question my professional honor and integrity. My testimony pointed out that structural reform and well-designed spending cuts are the best policy for stabilizing …
Trade promotion authority (TPA) does several positive things. For one, it gives the President a window where Congress agrees to an up-or-down vote on trade agreements, without the possibility of amendments. It therefore raises the chances of a vote in favor of a deal and is generally welcomed by free …
Last Thursday’s revisions to the first-quarter growth estimates showed little change: Gross domestic product (GDP) had grown at a 2.4 percent rate, not 2.5 percent as reported in the initial estimate. For those who mistakenly equate GDP and “the economy,” this is bad news—and an excuse to kvetch about sequestration. …
Jim Yong Kim, president of the World Bank, faces perhaps the most critical decision in his presidency so far. He must defend the Bank’s annual “Doing Business” report from attacks by China and some nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). His failure to do so will have far-reaching negative impacts on the World …
The presidents of the “Pacific Alliance” (Chile, Colombia, México, and Perú) met last week in Cali, Colombia, to sign an agreement removing tariffs on 90 percent of their merchandise trade. This is good news. Congress and the Obama Administration should pay more attention to this trade bloc—one that is considerably …
