By Jeff Ferry, CPA Chief Economist This morning the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) published the May consumer price index, and once again inflation has undershot Wall Street expectations. Headline inflation came in at 1.8% for May 2019 (compared to May 2018). The core rate of inflation (i.e. removing volatile food and energy prices) was…
Editor’s note: Former WSJ reporter John Carney shows why the “tariffs are taxes on consumers” line is false. Donald Trump’s declaration that tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods would jump to 25 percent in May gave rise to a firestorm of claims that the import taxes hurt U.S. consumers. [John Carney | June 11,…
Excerpt: China’s leaders simply reneged on an initial commitment to start opening their markets and to halt such aggressive practices as IP theft, hacking and forced technology transfer. There’s an important point to remember in the current U.S.-China trade conflict: Beijing started it. For the past 20 years, China has been at war with the U.S. economy, using…
Editor’s note: Senator Scott joins the growing ranks of those that support the trend towards China decoupling. Last month I traveled to Panama, Colombia and Argentina. The purpose of my trip was to get an update on the fight for freedom and liberty in Venezuela, to highlight the important economic relationships between Latin America and…
For Immediate ReleaseJune 6, 2019 Media Contact: Bill Bullard, R-CALF USA CEO [email protected], (406) 252-2516 Billings, Mont. – According to R-CALF USA, the proposed implementation of a five percent tariff on Mexican imports will benefit U.S. cattle producers. Last year, the R-CALF USA board of directors unanimously called upon President Trump to impose new tariffs…
Editor’s note. Part of the reason Vietnam’s trade surplus with the US has increased recently is because it is being used by China for tariff evading trans-shipment. Some Chinese exporters are going to extreme lengths to avoid the hit from Donald Trump’s tariffs. [Mai Ngoc Chau and John Boudreau | June 8, 2019 | Bloomberg] Vietnam…
Excerpt: “For all their differences, Rubio and Warren have done something important: They have jointly raised the flag of Economic Patriotism.” When Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts agree on anything, that’s news in and of itself. After all, Rubio’s most recent legislative rating by the left-leaning Americans for Democratic Action is…
Editors note: Trade cheating, currency manipulation, IP theft, concentration camps, and military adventurism were not enough to get American newspapers to support China disengagement. Maybe this will change their minds. Websites of The Washington Post and the Guardian appear to now be blocked in China as the country’s government further tightens its so-called “Great Firewall”…
Excerpt: “Essentially, this comes down to fairness. In 2018, 60 Fortune 500 companies paid no taxes on a total of $79 billion in profits. That means multinational entities are still managing to avoid paying the taxes that domestic companies continue to shoulder.” It’s been a year-and-a-half since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) was signed by…
Excerpt. “We must disentangle our supply chain today so that China cannot use economics to leverage better military or geopolitical outcomes.” With President Trump recognizing the 75th anniversary of D-Day in Europe this week, I found myself wondering how the historic giant of that era, Winston Churchill, would view the present day, particularly the West’s…
