Heritage and the Wall Street Journal released the 2012 Index of Economic Freedom on Thursday, ranking 179 countries on 10 benchmarks that gauge their economic success. This year Heritage introduced a new interactive feature that gives you the opportunity to create a comparative graph. This week’s chart shows how the United States stacks up against Canada and the United Kingdom. As recently as 2009, the United States led both countries in economic freedom. But after four years of decline, the United States is heading in the wrong direction. This year …
Greece continues to dominate the headlines as the country faces an increasingly dire economic situation and now political uncertainty as well. Prime Minister George Papandreou plans to resign once an interim government is formed, but there’s no telling if the political leadership will be able to avoid expulsion from the euro zone. Greece’s troubles might seem a world away from what the United States is experiencing, but a new report and video from the Joint Economic Committee suggest the two countries have troubling similarities. (Click to watch.) Here’s how Sen. …
When it comes to crushing debts, unsustainable entitlements and ballooning deficits, Americans and Europeans are all in the same sinking boat. Where they part ways is in their response to the looming crisis. Faced with out-of-control government spending and the prospect of a bleak economic future, Americans from across the country have rallied under the banner of the Tea Party and sent a clear message to Washington: Enough! In a vigorous manifestation of that greatest of all checks on government—the “vigilant and manly spirit which actuates the people of America”—citizens …
Speaking to the media this weekend, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told CBS’s Bob Schieffer that at NATO’s Lisbon Summit this weekend, many European states including Germany, Poland and the Baltic states had pressed the Administration on the ratification of New START. During one of the summit’s many news conferences, President Obama also stated, “Unprompted, I have received overwhelming support from our allies here that Start — the New Start treaty — is a critical component to U.S. and European security.” However, Czech defense minister, Alexandr Vondra revealed that it …
It’s difficult to forget the drama—including riots, fires, and even deaths—that unfolded during Greece’s recent fiscal crisis. But what would happen if bad budget policy led to a financial crisis in the United States? A recent report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) points out the economic casualties of a fiscal crisis in the US would be devastating. First, fiscal crises trigger significant spikes in interest rates, which devastated business investment and consumer spending alike.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has completed a visit to Turkey with a passionate defense of Ankara’s aspiration to join the European Union. The charismatic young leader, who also completed a successful Prime Ministerial visit to Washington this month, has joined leading figures, such as U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, in accusing Brussels of not playing fair with Turkey. They’re right. When negotiations with Ankara began, Brussels set out 35 chapters of EU law for Ankara to discharge before a final vote on …
The Washington Post reported today that the International Monetary Fund and various world governments warned U.S. officials years ago that “escalating financial problems” in the United States “had to be addressed quickly to forestall a larger threat to the world economy, but those urgings were discounted.” The Post went on to observe that by the time U.S. officials finally responded, “the price tag for stemming the financial contagion had soared.’ Truth to tell, the Post story was not about the U.S., but about Europe’s debt crisis beginning with Greece. But …
There’s nothing funny about the state of America’s finances, or those in even more dire straights in Europe. Greece has lined up a bailout from other European countries and the International Monetary Fund. The European Union has announced a trillion dollar defense fund to ward off attacks on the Euro that are sure to come as other countries like Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Ireland come under the debt markets merciless microscope. And all that is holding the ball of wax together is faith that the Germans will be willing and …
Today, 154 Republicans joined me on a letter to the President’s debt commission asking them to stand against a new value-added tax, or VAT. I’m proud to see our Conference unite against a tax that’s being pushed by Paul Volcker, John Podesta, and Nancy Pelosi. The VAT is clearly a job killer. While in the last 20 years American businesses created 45 million jobs, the European economy only created 10 million. The healthcare bill moved us toward European levels of government, but now liberals want European taxes to pay for …
Greece’s recent escapades in economic disaster are a sobering example to the United States of the consequences of allowing government spending to far exceed revenue. But though Americans’ concern regarding the financial outlook of the federal government grows, those with the power to act something seem largely unaffected. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently released a report that the United States’ debt could surpass 100 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as early as 2015. According to the Hill, “The IMF predicts that the U.S. would need to reduce its …
