President Obama is in the Middle East this week, two years and three months after Tunisian street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi unleashed the Arab Spring by protesting against his lack of economic freedom. Mohamed’s father died when he was three years old. When his stepfather became ill, Mohamed quit school to …
This week, President Obama travels to the Middle East, including his first visit to Israel since becoming commander in chief. The trip comes at a challenging time of declining U.S. leadership abroad and waning economic freedom and prosperity at home, a regrettable combination that the President’s own policies have created. …
Congressman Paul Ryan’s (R–WI) budget outline calls for federal employees to contribute more to their pensions, but the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is none too happy about it. In noting that total federal employee compensation is currently excessive, Ryan is on solid empirical ground. But instead of trying …
Today, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced that Japan will officially join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). This comes a day after Prime Minister Abe received the okay to join TPP by his Liberal Democratic Party, a month after visiting President Obama and discussing the partnership, and more than a year since …
March 15 marks the first anniversary of the Korea–U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA). Over the past 12 months, a growing number of businesses in both countries have taken action to capitalize on the expanded opportunities created by the free flow of products, services, and ideas through the KORUS FTA. …
At the height of the recession, one in 10 Americans who wanted to work could not find employment. Since then, the unemployment rate has gradually fallen. Typically, when the unemployment rate goes down, it’s because more people find jobs. In this recession, however, employment rates have been flat. In February, …
Although Hugo Chavez just died last week in Caracas, economic freedom predeceased him in Venezuela by at least a decade. When Chavez took power in 1999, the Venezuelan economy was rated at 54 points out of 100, according to The Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal’s annual Index of Economic Freedom. This …
