Jonathan Miltimore is the Editor at Large of FEE.org at the Foundation for Economic Education.
In August 2005, a little-known financial analyst named Richard Bove issued an eight-page report for Punk, Ziegel, and Company, a boutique investment bank based in New York City. The report, titled “This Powder Keg Is Going to Blow,” noted that federal mortgage policies, including agencies like the Federal Housing Administration that “guaranteed the banks against...
The Biden administration took a major action in 2022 to show it meant business in a war that had quietly raged for years. The action was not related to the war in Afghanistan, which had just ended, or the conflict in Ukraine, which was about to begin. The administration’s action related to a battle of...
In late December, after US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen borrowed $90 billion in just one day, the federal government’s public debt eclipsed $34 trillion for the first time in history. The steady accumulation of public debt has become a mainstay in modern America, seemingly as inevitable as death and taxes. But something strange happened when...
For the last 2 1/2 years, price inflation has been eating away the paychecks and savings of the public. Consumer prices are up roughly 20% since 2020, according to consumer price index data, and recent polls show the public believes inflation is the single biggest problem facing the country. Unfortunately, many are so concerned about...
In March 2020, Dr. Robert Kadlec addressed a House committee to confirm his role and responsibilities as the federal government’s top preparedness official coordinating the government’s COVID-19 response. As assistant secretary for preparedness and response at the Department of Health and Human Services , Kadlec offered a lengthy statement to lawmakers on the “four principal...
President Joe Biden’s approval rating is tanking, and he’s now trailing former President Donald Trump in national polls, as well as in some key swing states . Vox blames the economy for Biden’s plunging popularity — or at least voters’ perception of the economy. A new Gallup poll shows that just 32% of people approve...
In November 2021, former US Representative from Georgia Bob Barr wrote a little-noticed political column claiming that buried inside President Joe Biden’s $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure legislation was a dangerous provision that would go into effect in five years. “Marketed to Congress as a benign tool to help prevent drunk driving, the measure will mandate...
ew data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show COVID-19 cases are again rising in some parts of the country. The CDC’s map indicates that several states are experiencing a “substantial increase” in cases (more than 20%), including Texas , New Mexico, Kansas, and Nebraska, which saw a 57.3% spike from the previous...
Credit cards can be useful and beneficial, but they need to be managed responsibly. When I got my first credit card at age 24, I felt like a new world had opened up to me. Just that fast, I could swipe a card and purchase anything I wanted. Well, not anything, of course. My credit...
Mr. Beast’s philanthropy, which is all voluntary and profit-driven, surpass government-led efforts by miles. And that’s what his critics can’t handle. James Stephen “Jimmy” Donaldson, better known by his professional moniker “Mr. Beast,” has made a name for himself — and hundreds of millions of dollars for humanitarian causes — by leveraging his social media...
n November 1986, Lawrence W. Reed arrived at the Warsaw-Okecie Airport in Poland to catch a plane back to the United States after a two-week visit to the Soviet satellite state. The 33-year-old economist was hoping to be back in time for Thanksgiving, but his plans for turkey dinner hit a snag when a customs...
In a 2016 interview, Stephen King was asked if he had “a personal favorite” film adaptation of one of his stories. The first movie out of the bestselling author’s mouth was not Carrie or Misery. It was not The Shining, the Stanley Kubrick film King famously hated. It wasn’t Pet Semetary or It. The film...
New government data emerged recently shows that food prices in Canada continue to climb. Though year-over-year inflation of consumer prices overall cooled to 3.8% in September, food prices increased 5.8% from a year ago, driven by surging prices of bakery products (up 8%), fresh vegetables (7.6%), pasta products (10.8%), and poultry (6.5%). Food prices have...
During a 2021 earnings call with stockholders, Pfizer Chief Financial Officer Frank D’Amelio discussed how the company was using “pandemic pricing” to charge $19.50 per COVID-19 vaccine dose, a product it expected to make $15 billion on in 2021. “[There’s] significant opportunity for those margins to improve once we get beyond the pandemic environment that...