JQI Rises Slightly Amid Disappointing Monthly Job Growth

WASHINGTON — The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) today announced that the U.S. Private Sector Job Quality Index (JQI) rose marginally to 81.17 in December, up 0.08% from the previous month, reflecting slightly faster growth in high-wage jobs than low-wage in the month. The small rise of the JQI was driven mainly by growth…

Trillion-Dollar Capital Flows Into the U.S. Are Driven By Tax Avoidance, Trading, and a Tiny Bit of Real Investment

Global capital flows are the driving force behind the rise of the dollar, which rose 3.9% in 2021. In the last ten years, the dollar is up 25.5%[1]. The US attracts capital for many reasons, including tax avoidance, speculative trading, and a relatively small amount of genuine investment. The deregulation of financial markets in the…

U.S. Trade Policy: Over Half a Century of Unreciprocated Tariff Cuts

U.S. Trade Policy: Over Half a Century of Unreciprocated Tariff Cuts By Amanda Mayoral, CPA Economist   Summary Points: The US held high tariff rates from 1816 until the middle of the 20th century The US then cut tariffs more than most countries, often unilaterally, without also requiring tariff reductions by others Today, the US has…

The Global Bicycle Market: A Comprehensive Plan to Re-Shore the U.S. Bike & E-Bike Industry

The United States bike industry is in the midst of an unprecedented boom, triggered by the COVID pandemic. Bike sales rose sharply in the spring of 2020, as gyms, yoga studios and other exercise centers shut down and Americans sought outdoor activities like biking, a relatively safe form of exercise. In 2021, the sales surge…

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

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] 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…

Generic Drug Shortages and How a Race to the Bottom in Price has Upended 30 years of Hatch-Waxman

CPA’s report, titled “Generic Drug Shortages and How a Race to the Bottom in Price has Upended 30 years of Hatch-Waxman,” details how a loophole in the Hatch-Waxman Act has led to generic drug shortages in the U.S., offshoring of America’s domestic production of generic pharmaceuticals to China and India, and price gouging by foreign…