Commentators right and left disagree about the short term outlook for the U.S. economy, but they agree almost unanimously on the long term – living standards for nearly all Americans will maintain and extend the huge increase they have enjoyed since at least 1900. Regrettably the long term future, as well as the short term, […]

Gosh, this is exciting! The Dow Jones Industrial share index peaked at 11,722.98 on January 14, 2000. Its rise in the past few weeks has brought it within shouting distance of the best known of all stock charting patterns, the double top reversal. If you believe the charts, the stage is being set for a […]

Bruce Bartlett’s book “Imposter – How George W. Bush bankrupted America and betrayed the Reagan legacy” met with an enthusiastic reception at the Cato Institute Tuesday, as well as with predictable derision from Bush-supporting commentators elsewhere. However, Bartlett’s scathing criticisms of Bush didn’t include much on what a “good” President might have done instead. I […]

The financial services business in the past 25 years has been repeatedly deregulated, and has benefited from immense advances in technology, all in the interests of greater efficiency. Yet its employment has increased, as has its share in value added terms in the U.S. economy — from 4.55 percent of the economy in 1977 to […]