Were awards given for the worst economic idea each year, Donald Trump’s call for a 10% tax on all imports would be the 2023 winner. The tax would damage the US economy as well as propagate climate change and environmental devastation. Trump sees jobs lost to foreign trade as the economic problem facing the US. […]

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College debt is approaching $2 trillion, more than all other types of household debt except mortgages. Fueled by tuition that exceeds $25,000 a year (room and board adds another $11,000), Federal student loan debt averages more than $37,000 among those with any student debt. Following a hiatus of more than 3 years, 45 million Americans […]

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The debt ceiling standoff revealed the presence of an interesting statistic, hiding in plain sight: 70 percent. The House averted financial disaster by passing a debt ceiling compromise with a vote of 314 out of 435—or 72 percent. The Senate passed its measure 63–36. When the chips are down, Americans overwhelmingly choose stability, sanity, and […]

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The debt ceiling—the maximum amount the federal government can borrow—is an anachronistic relic from World War I. Enacted by Congress in 1917, it allowed President Wilson to fight the war without waiting for lawmakers to return to Washington and vote to increase spending. Not wanting to give the president a blank check, Congress limited borrowing […]

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Resolving some hostage crises – as when Putin grabs American basketball players and Wall Street Journal reporters – can require making difficult trade-offs with thugs. But the refusal of Congressional Republicans to lift the debt ceiling is not one of them. The U.S. Constitution is clear that no law, of any kind, trumps the mandate […]

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