Michael Chapman Henry Hazlitt (Wikimedia) Henry Hazlitt died 32 years ago this week, but his economic insights remain stubbornly relevant. His 1946 classic, Economics in One Lesson, has sold more than a million copies and continues to attract readers with its clarity, logic, and unapologetic defense of capitalism. While many economists have tackled the myths of interventionist policies, few have done ...

Thomas A. Berry, Brent Skorup, and Charles Brandt Shortly after taking office, President Trump issued a series of executive orders imposing new duties on imports from dozens of countries, resulting in rapid increases and (partial) decreases in tariff rates, from 10 to 145 percent. The president claims the tariffs are necessary to combat illegal drug trafficking and trade imbalances, both ...

Justin Logan US Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby. Today, Politico published an attack on Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby that was fueled by anonymous rumors and unsubstantiated claims. It’s clear that policy disagreements with Colby are fueling the attacks, so it’s worth taking them on. The article claims that Colby has “made a series of rapid-fire ...

Colin Grabow Shortly after the Trump administration announced a ninety-day pause on its “Liberation Day” tariffs, White House economic advisor Peter Navarro floated the possibility of the United States concluding ninety trade deals before the tariffs snapped back into effect. Faced with a looming July 9 deadline, the thinking was that US trade partners would eagerly sign new agreements to ...

Nicholas Anthony The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has released its 2024 “Year in Review” report, and things are not looking good. Once again, the agency has highlighted lackluster statistics in an attempt to justify financial surveillance in the United States. Let’s start at the top and work our way down. Under the Bank Secrecy Act, banks and other financial ...

Andrew Gillen and Neal McCluskey There are many things to like and dislike in the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) enacted last week. One of the best things the law does is eliminate Grad PLUS, the worst of all the federal student loan programs. It is a type of loan available only to graduate students (e.g., master’s degree and above), ...

Alex Nowrasteh The Trump administration recently revoked Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians. TPS was a federal designation that allowed some Haitians in the US to stay and work legally when they otherwise couldn’t. The government issued TPS in response to terrible conditions in Haiti caused by the 2010 earthquake and the collapse of the civil government. Presidents Obama, Trump, ...

Colin Grabow Earlier this year, President Donald Trump stated that US tariff policy would be based on reciprocity. “Whatever countries charge the United States of America,” he wrote in a social media post, “we will charge them—No more, no less!” Well, so much for that. Announcing a new trade agreement with Vietnam last week, Trump indicated that tariffs between the ...

Chris Edwards Congress has passed the One Big Beautiful Bill, which trims spending on Medicaid and food stamps. More spending cuts are needed—both because we have large budget deficits and because many federal activities would be better handled by the states and the private sector. The Trump administration has proposed reforms to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), ...

Peter Van Doren The Federal Reserve Bank recently proposed to liberalize capital standards for large banks. Since 2014, the eight largest banks have had to maintain capital that was at least 5 percent of their total assets. The change would reduce that ratio to a range of 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent, a reduction in capital requirements of $13 billion, ...