Category: Economy
Republicans Made Children More Expensive: Here’s How to Fix the Problem
by Steven Pressman | May 4, 2026 | EconomyThe Department of Agriculture estimates that in 1960 it cost middle-income families $259,711 (in 2025 dollars) to raise a child. In 2015, it cost $414,000 (again, in 2025 dollars), an increase of over 50 percent—substantially more than median household income increased over this time period. As a result, women are having fewer children. During the […]
Trump Gets an F on Housing Affordability: Democrats Can Easily Do Better
by Steven Pressman | Mar 5, 2026 | EconomyAffordability is Donald Trump’s Achilles Heel. Running for President in 2024 he vowed to reduce prices. This dumb promise lacks even the most basic understanding of the US economy. Average prices rarely fall. Over the past century, inflation went negative only during the Great Depression. Another depression would be needed to bring prices down to […]
Tariff Man Tumbles, Fumbles and Bumbles on Trade
by Steven Pressman | Feb 4, 2026 | EconomyWhen it comes to economics, we know two things about Donald Trump. He is obsessed with the US trade deficit. And he thinks tariffs, or import taxes, will solve the trade deficit problem. Trump is wrong on both counts. The trade deficit is not a pressing problem facing the US economy. And to the extent […]
Two Firings—and Signs of Danger Ahead for Social Security
by Steven Pressman | Oct 24, 2025 | EconomyGeorge Bernard Shaw quipped that if you lined up every economist, they would never reach a conclusion. Pshaw has always been my response to this. In August Donald Trump decisively proved Shaw wrong. He fired Erika McEntarfer, Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and claimed to fire (its legality is being litigated) Federal Reserve […]
The Secret Life of Tax Cuts
by Larry Beinhart | Jun 20, 2025 | EconomyThere have been five major tax cuts since the income tax was established in 1916. When this new Republican/Trump tax bill passes, it will be the sixth. Every major tax cut bill has been sold as good for the economy. Since Ronald Reagan, they even have promotional titles—The Economic Recovery Act; Economic Growth and Tax […]
Bad Faith Documentary
