The U.S. economic response to the coronavirus pandemic has been entirely ass-backwards and is doomed to cause greater economic pain in coming months. It relied on antiquated state unemployment insurance systems that Republican states have specifically designed to be hard to use to dissuade the unemployed from filing for benefits to which they are entitled, … Read more
The sheer volume of tax credits, tax cuts, tax shifts, and miscellaneous tax giveaways in this Legislative session is mind boggling. Will the Arizona House pass one billion dollars in tax giveaways in 2020? It could happen. To say that this behavior is fiscally irresponsible is a gross understatement. The House Ways and Means Committee … Read more
President Trump cites massive tax cuts, his signature legislative achievement (sic), among wins that should dissuade voters from supporting his impeachment, and supporting his reelection. But several conservative economists now say the Trump tax law, which turns two years old Sunday, so far has fallen short of its central promise to spread prosperity broadly — just … Read more
Mr. “trade wars are easy to win” is blowing up the world’s economy with his 19th Century trade war with China, and is ensuring a global recession. The day began with Beijing’s announcement that it would levy new tariffs on $75 billion in goods, including reinstated levies on auto products, starting this fall. It all … Read more
Adding to the mountain of statistical evidence showing the severity of U.S. inequality, an analysis published last Friday found that the top one percent of Americans gained $21 trillion in wealth since 1989 while the bottom 50 percent lost $900 billion. Jake Johnson writes at Common Dreams, ‘Eye-Popping’: Analysis Shows Top 1% Gained $21 Trillion … Read more