Yesterday before the Joint Economic Committee, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke made a clear case as to why federal action is needed: home mortgages and car loans had become harder to get, commercial credit was becoming scarce for many businesses and consumer spending had already declined. Leaders in both parties …
There is no doubt that past government intervention in the market, particularly by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, is largely to blame for the current financial turmoil. And while past government intervention cannot be used to justify further government interference, we also have to ask how much unnecessary pain the …
As a general principle, conservatives believe government should not intervene to protect those who have made poor business decisions — even if those decisions have been influenced by excessive government regulation. But there can be rare situations where the cumulative effect of many bad decisions in one sector of the …
Heritage’s Rea Hederman discusses three problems with the proposed Economic Stimulus Bill currently before Congress. In July, the Bill was projected to cost $25 billion dollars. Since then, the projected cost has doubled due to spending projects that should have been taken care of with the Budget process. The Bill …
There is a lot of information about the national debt, but misconceptions cloud the debate. There are five common misconceptions about the national debt. This video explains them, as well as why they are not accurate guides to measure the debt. Heritage’s Brian Reidl also mentions the real threat to the National Debt – unfunded entitlement …
Heritage’s James Sherk says the employment estimates for August are being affected by the collapse of the housing bubble and the high cost of energy. The unemployment rate rose to 6.1%, a five-year high, primarily the result of large job losses among automobile manufacturers. He talked about the August employment …
Time magazine ran a story back in 2007 on “The Case for National Service.” The story described the positions of the candidates for president on expanding “public service” programs. Two of the Democrat candidates favored mandatory community service by all high school students. And two others — Hillary Clinton and …
Skyrocketing gas prices are rapidly changing Americans’ priorities. Voters routinely identify energy costs as either the second or third most important issue. Considering that any economist will tell you that high energy prices are a major cause of recent economic sluggishness, and that the economy has been the No. 1 …
