Global Investors Are Telling Donald Trump His Deficits and National…
Washington is unnerved these days about budget deficits and the national debt. Deficit angst comes along periodically, often as a pretext for cutting social spending. This time, however, there’s genuine cause for alarm. Outsized deficits are par for the course when the economy is in recession or reeling from a shock like the pandemic or the financial collapse; most of… Continue reading
The US Tax System Cannot Finance Medicare for All
Medicare for All remains the most contentious and consequential issue for 2020 Democrats. It’s easy to see why. A large majority of Democrats—and a slimmer majority of Independents—have said they approve of it. But even larger majorities of Democrats and Independents also want to keep their private coverage or enroll in a public program. Then there’s the cost: A recent…Continue reading
A Fair and Winning Tax Reform for Democrats: Broad Payroll…
The brass ring for a Democratic presidential candidate is a plan that appeals to people’s sense of social justice and to their self-interest. The last two Democrats who won the White House pulled off this feat with promises to hike taxes on high-income people and corporations to pay for middle-class tax relief. But this period of deep economic inequality calls…Continue reading
An Affordable Approach to Universal Coverage
A majority of Americans and virtually all Democrats believe in universal healthcare coverage and the federal government’s responsibility to make it happen. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) had a strategy to achieve it. But the progress stalled when congressional Republicans axed ACA’s penalty for going uninsured and the Supreme Court made the ACA expansion of state Medicaid programs optional. Today…Continue reading
How the economy can shape a president’s impeachment
Reprinted from The Hill - October 25, 2019 President Trump’s two biggest headaches – the impeachment inquiry and a weakening economy – may soon intersect. No one supports impeachment because economic growth and business investment have slowed down. But waning growth deprives Trump of the argument President Clinton used so skillfully during his impeachment ordeal — namely, while his congressional…Continue reading
Trump’s Economic Program Leaves Most Americans Worse Off
This is a reprint from the Washington Monthly, September 24, 2019 issue President Trump’s tax and tariff policies form the heart of an economic program that he’s promised will help average Americans. The hard data, however, show that he’s actually imposed substantial costs on about 70 percent of Americans. That’s because of both the growing burdens imposed by both…Continue reading
The Surprising Public Policy Case for Electronic Cigarettes
Read the report: The Impact of Electronic Cigarettes on Cigarette Smoking By Americans and Its Health and Economic Implications For more than a half-century, federal, state and local governments have adopted a variety of strategies to discourage Americans from smoking cigarettes – from health warnings on cigarette packaging, advertising restrictions and anti-smoking public education campaigns, to multiple taxes and bans…Continue reading
Trump Acts Like a Populist. His Regulatory Record Suggests Otherwise
The administration has consistently favored big businesses over average people. by Robert J. Shapiro At some point, every president has had to grapple with the fact that he is not a king. The unhappy realization usually comes after they’ve been unable to pass one of their biggest priorities through Congress. Recall Bill Clinton with health care, George W. Bush with social…Continue reading
What Your Data Is Really Worth to Facebook
Americans who use the internet—85.5 percent of us—have made a tacit bargain with Facebook, Google, MasterCard, Verizon, and most other sites and products we use regularly. We get access to these companies’ services, and they get to scoop up, analyze, and sell our personal information. Few people question this setup, perhaps because most of us assume that our data isn’t…Continue reading