Can the MAC Make the Federal Funds Rate More Effective?

Background When inflation threatens America’s stability and economic growth, the Fed raises the Federal Funds Rate (FFR). This reduces domestic demand for borrowed funds, and that reduces the growth of domestic money in circulation and thus the rate of inflation. This approach worked reasonably well from the 1930s when the FFR became an official policy…

Not All Tariffs Are the Same: A Case to Consider Optimal Tariff Policy

Not All Tariffs Are the Same: A Case to Consider Optimal Tariff Policy   By Amanda Mayoral, CPA Economist   Summary Points: Despite popular misconception, economic theory has long suggested that tariffs can benefit a country, particularly one like the US. The most advantageous tariffs are optimal tariffs. This is because optimal tariffs balance the…

Tariff Incidence in the Real World: Why Consumers (Mostly) Didn’t Pay the Steel Tariffs

Summary points: The import price of steel fell in the period following the 2018 imposition of a 25% steel tariff, an indicator that steel tariffs were not passed entirely onto consumers. Steel tariffs did not lead to a proportional rise in consumer prices of steel-intensive goods, such as automobiles. In many instances, firms will internalize…

Worker-Centered Trade Means Reshoring U.S. Industries

In June, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai gave a speech in which she outlined her vision of worker-centered trade, a popular phrase among Biden administration officials. According to Tai: “Build Back Better starts by growing the economy from the bottom up and the middle out and putting workers at the center of our economic plans…In…

U.S. June Trade Deficit Hits New Record of $75.7 Billion As Imports Surge

Goods Deficit Also Sets Monthly Record at $93.2 Billion Department of Commerce figures published this morning show that in June the U.S. reported a trade deficit of $75.7 billion, a new record for U.S. and world history. The deficit was 6.7 percent higher than the May figure, and 49.4 percent worse than the year-ago June…

Comprehensive ITC Study Finds Little or No Benefit For U.S. From Trade Agreements

The US International Trade Commission (ITC) recently released a comprehensive analysis of the economic impact of all trade agreements the United States has entered into since 1985. Trade agreement negotiation, passage and implementation has been controversial throughout this time period. The ITC report is significant as the first recognition by a federal government trade agency…

The Negative Impact of GSP and Trade Liberalization on Developing Countries: A Review of the Economic Literature

The United States government has pursued trade liberalization for several decades. A substantial driver of this liberalization has been the assumption that more global trade would help developing countries become wealthier. However, there is considerable research that shows how trade liberalization policies have not always been the best tool to help support economic growth and…