recession

We have experienced unprecedented economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing policies. Twenty two million Americans lost jobs in four weeks.

The United States has taken unprecedented actions to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus and the illness it causes, COVID-19. How bad will this be for the economy?

Economic contractions harm human health, so governments should take that into account in their coronavirus policies

In a recent survey of business economists, only 4 percent said they expected a recession to begin by the end of the year.

In the coming weeks, Congress will again debate increasing the debt limit. 

The Great Recession and its aftermath produced a sharp decline in employment. Almost eight million more Americans would be working today if the labor force participation rate were unchanged from 2007.  Some economists suggest that video games may explain this decline.

Today we have assembled a panel of independent experts with unique perspectives. We are recording this in late January, and it has already been a dramatic year. After rebounding from a brutal start, the U.S. stock market is still down 5%, while Europe, Japan and China have all declined approximately 8%.

In today’s episode of The Heartland Daily Podcast, managing editor Jesse Hathaway talks with University of Arkansas-Little Rock economics professor Erick Elder about a new study, published by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, about how well state lawmakers are preparing for the next economic recession.

In today’s episode of The Heartland Daily Podcast, managing editor Jesse Hathaway talks with Mercatus Center monetary policy program director and Bentley University economics professor Scott Sumner about the American stock market’s recent up-and-down volatility, the increasing threat of an international economic recession, and how our country’s centralized banking policies make the problem worse.

There was a time when the Supreme Court of the United States defended and upheld the Constitutional protections for economic liberty in America. This year marks the 80th anniversary of one of the Supreme Court’s finest hours, when it overturned Franklin Roosevelt’s agenda for economic fascism in the U.S.

Pundits largely agree that those who cast ballots last week had more or less one idea in mind – Washington is broken and must be fixed. So imagine the surprise that online customers will receive when Senators Reid and Durbin lead the just voted out Senate to massively expand government power in their last few days at the helm of Congress.

Policy analysts and pundits alike seem to enjoy downplaying the U.S. economy’s recovery since the recession of 2008/9. It is time for them to wake up and smell the roses: The U.S. economy clearly is the dominant economy of the world. The European Union’s death rattle continues, while China is encountering a litany of unforeseen problems.

“Government is the great fiction through which everyone endeavors to live at the expense of everyone else,” wrote the celebrated French legislator, economist, and political theorist Frederic Bastiat 165 years ago. With recent reports out of the Census Bureau indicating nearly half of all Americans are receiving some form of direct government subsidy – Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, unemployment benefits, housing assistance, veterans’ benefits, etc. – can there be any doubt he was right?