Listening to some politicians recently, you’d think capitalism benefits only those on Wall Street, not Main Street. Yet the benefits of capitalism have proven over history to benefit all of society. The heart of capitalism is the private ownership of property. Without free enterprise, individuals would not be able to have the opportunity to own economic resources and compete in the marketplace. Capitalism provides valuable goods and services, rewards hardworking people and initiatives, creates a higher standard of living for all, narrows the gap between the common person and wealthy, …
Red tape – rules, regulations, restrictions and mandates imposed on America – rose alarmingly in 2009, mirroring the overall decline in economic freedom in the United States, as reported in this year’s Index of Economic Freedom. That’s the conclusion of an upcoming Heritage Foundation report detailing trends in federal regulation. In fact, the cost of new regulations imposed on Americans during fiscal 2009 was the highest in 17 years, weighing in at over $14 billion per year. Perhaps surprisingly, most of these new regulations were adopted by the Bush Administration. …
In a recent poll by the Wall Street Journal and NBC news, a majority of Americans expressed their frustration with the approach our government has taken in response to the financial crisis and economic slowdown. Just 43 percent of the respondents expressed satisfaction with how President Obama has handled the economy, a decline of 13 percentage points from a year ago. The disapproval vividly reflects disappointment toward economic policy decisions and management over the past year. As the downward-trending poll numbers suggest, a majority of our fellow citizens are not comfortable …
After “many months of discussion” in which the National Federation of Independent Business was engaged in efforts to ensure that the high cost of health care was adequately addressed in reform legislation, the organization yesterday came out in full force against the Senate health care bill, declaring it a “disaster for small business:” Small business can’t support a proposal that does not address their No. 1 problem: the unsustainable cost of healthcare. With unemployment at a 26-year high and small business owners struggling to simply keep their doors open, this …
American businesses shed 80,000 jobs in March and 232,000 jobs in the first quarter of 2008, confirming that economy ground to a halt in the first quarter of 2008. The unemployment rate rose to 5.1% — the first time it climbed above 5% since September 2005 — although that’s still lower than the average unemployment rate for the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Heritage’s Rea Hederman offered his analysis on CNBC today: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbj1HyguMuc[/youtube] The bad news is already prompting new calls for action from Capitol Hill. “Democrats are focused on the …
Here’s a preview of the week ahead in Washington. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an2ZGW85Ad0[/youtube] Recent troubles with the financial and housing markets have lead to proposed action by Congress to help distressed homeowners and to find a government solution to the Bear Stearns collapse. Massive new billion-dollar handouts to aid homeowners and utilizing sweeping new power for the Federal Reserve will do nothing to change the fact that our economy is in a slowdown. Why doesn’t Congress reduce regulation, reduce taxes and allow for more domestic drilling for oil to lower energy prices? These …
The recent failures of Bear Stearns and the Carlyle Group, coupled with turmoil in the housing markets and overall pessimism about the economy, has Congress rushing to microphones to promise a legislative quick fix. Meanwhile, President Bush and the Federal Reserve are being second guessed by liberal economists for not promising more government intervention. What is the best course of action for the government to take? Today former congressman Ernest Istook, a distinguished fellow at Heritage, sat down with Heritage’s top economists, Bill Beach, David John and J.D. Foster, to …
The campaign to turn the current economic turmoil into justifications for new invasive federal government intervention in the marketplace is in full swing. The Hill reports, “After Bear Stearns bailout, Dems renew push to help homeowners,” and E.J. Dionne comments: “Never do I want to hear again from my conservative friends about … how government should keep its hands off the private economy. … The Wall Street titans have turned into a bunch of welfare clients. They are desperate to be bailed out by government from their own incompetence, and …
