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Tag: economy

Tony Gentile/Pool via AP

Don’t Expect Pope Francis to Condemn U.S. Capitalism

Everyone knows that Pope Francis is capitalism’s number one critic, and he has been waiting for his U.S. visit to scold Americans on the economy, right? Not so fast. The fact is, that Francis has never been an enemy of capitalism and actually believes the free market is a good thing, as long as it has “limits.”

Obama speaks during a town hall meeting on college accessibility on September 14, 2015 at North High School in Des Moines, Iowa. AFP PHOTO/MANDEL NGAN (Photo credit should read

Stop ‘Talking Down America,’ Obama Warns Presidential Contenders

Obama criticized presidential candidates for not offering solutions to economic problems, choosing instead to blame his presidency. Obama appeared to address political candidates of both parties, as he did not specifically single out Republicans. “I’m here to say that there is nothing particularly patriotic or American about talking down America,” he said, citing the United States economy as a source of economic strength in the world.

Years Of Economic Decline Leave One Third Of Atlantic City's Resident In Poverty

Age of Obama: Low-Income Workers See Greatest Decline in Wages

We all know what the standard liberal snake-oil response to stagnant wages is: job-killing minimum wage hikes, which also tend to be a big part of the reason income increases grow scarce in the workplace, producing the understandably frustrating wage stagnation people complained about to the NELP researchers and the New York Times. Nothing kills upward mobility for lower-income workers deader than high minimum wages and mandated labor costs like ObamaCare.

AP Photo/Paul Sakuma

Fear the Low-Productivity Economy of the Future

In fact, one of the worst things about politicized economics is the false promise that politicians know what the ideal economy looks like, never mind having solid plans for getting there. Is the ideal economy one in which everyone’s basic needs are covered? Welcome to the endless grey fog of the collectivist welfare or communist state, which always proves unsustainable and fails to deliver on those promises anyway.

AP Photo/Paul Sakuma

President Obama’s Economy Faces Thousands of Looming Layoffs

The Obama economy is facing thousands of looming layoffs, according to multiple media reports. For example, the Associated Press reports ConocoPhillips is expected to layoff roughly 1,810 employees — 10 percent of its workforce — due to a decrease in oil prices, which are nearing all time lows.

Mike Huckabee

Mike Huckabee: ‘Quit Importing Cheap Labor’

As White House spokesperson Josh Earnest is blaming China and Chinese policies for the on-going market crash and selloff, GOP presidential candidate former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee says strong economic policies aren’t built by empowering Washington, D.C. and Wall Street elites.

Factory workers 1956 (Three Lions / Hulton Archive / Getty)

U.S. Factory Construction Hits Highest Level Since 1958

Investment in new U.S. factory plant and equipment just hit the highest level since 1958. After 100 years of economic dominance due to cheap and abundant oil, U.S. politicians turned against domestic oil production in the 1970s and the Middle East oil production took off. For the next 40 years, the budget deficit and income inequality soared as high-paying manufacturing jobs went offshore. But with fracking re-establishing America as the planet’s largest energy producer, U.S. manufacturing is back.

rick perry donald trump

Brains & Brawn: Perry Outlines Reform, Issues Trump a Physical Challenge

Perry and Trump have been engaged in a rhetorical battle for weeks. At the end of Perry’s speech Wednesday at the Yale Club in New York City, he was questioned about Trump’s remarks. Grinning as he listened to the question, Perry quipped, “Let’s get a pull-up bar out there and see who can do more pull-ups,” as the audience roared with cheers.

AP Photo/Jim Mone, File

The Minimum Wage Is a Tax Increase

The realistic response to minimum-wage increases involves some combination of making do with less labor – cutting hours, firing people – or passing the cost increase along to consumers. Rarely do we find such a clear-cut example of the latter as the hefty price increase at Chipotle restaurants in San Francisco. As the Chicago Tribune reported, the company was quite direct about raising its prices to cover the cost of local minimum-wage hikes, above and beyond the general price increase imposed on numerous markets to account for the rising cost of food supplies, particularly beef.

AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall

Hillary Clinton Blames GOP for Everything in Economic Speech

What she didn’t say: Many Americans have dropped out of the labor force during the Obama presidency, and even those still working have seen wages stagnate or their full-time jobs turn into part-time. Even Clinton’s Democratic competitor, Bernie Sanders, has recognized that the “true” unemployment rate is far higher than the figures pushed by the Obama administration, due to those who have given up looking for work.