Peter Morici - Page 3

The economy added 223,000 jobs in April—well below the 260,000 averaged during 2014—pitching cold water on forecasts of stronger economic growth this spring and complicating Fed plans to raise interest rates.

Tuesday, the Commerce Department is expected to report the March deficit on international trade in goods and services was $42 billion, up from $37.8 billion in February.

In this century, economic growth has averaged 1.9 percent per year—down from the 3.4 percent the prior two decades—and anemic growth is a major force squeezing wages, the middle class, and the working poor.

Federal Reserve policymakers meet Tuesday to consider when to raise interest rates, but the strong dollar and inflation risks put them between a rock and a hard place.

Politicians have manipulated the income tax to salve voter angst about fairness but in the process are destroying the work ethic and corrupting public judgement about the appropriate limits of government.

The nuclear deal with Iran will prove unenforceable. Ultimately, Tehran will become the dominant economic and military power in the Middle East and, if it chooses, build nuclear weapons. The United States was successful in assembling an international coalition to

Friday, the Labor Department is expected to report the economy added 247,000 jobs in March, down from 295,000 in February and 324,000 during the fourth quarter.

The Federal Reserve will likely raise interest rates later this year, and foreign central bank policies may compel it to sell off Treasury and mortgage-backed securities—reversing Quantitative Easing.

In the 20th Century, isolationism proved costly—protectionism exacerbated the Great Depression and strategic disengagement pulled America into an even more bloody Second World War. Now, neo-isolationism may prove America’s last reasonable choice.

Federal Reserve policymakers are meeting to consider whether to open the door to raising interest rates as early as June. Falling unemployment favors higher rates, but inflation remains well below the Fed target of 2 percent.

The Federal Reserve economic policy committee meets next week to consider whether to open the door to raising interest rates in June. Falling unemployment favors higher rates, but weighing in the opposite direction, inflation remains well below the Fed target of 2 percent.

The job market has improved, but only momentarily, and it won’t force the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in June. That should keep a lid on rates banks charge for consumer loans and mortgages.

To listen to President Obama, the U.S. economy is firing on all cylinders. Yet it is hardly creating jobs at a breakneck pace, and too many able-bodied men have grown lazy and show no interest in working.

The Supreme Court could improve American health care by striking down federal subsidies offered through HealthCare.com—the federal exchange that sells insurance in states without government-run marketplaces.

America and the entire West are at war with jihadist terrorism and radical Islamism—on the battle fields of the Middle East with ISIS and al Qaeda but more importantly in coffee houses, the basements of mosques, and on the internet for the hearts and minds of young people.

Since 2008, the Federal Reserve has been giving banks virtually free money by keeping their short term borrowing rates near zero.

Fighting racism, prejudice, and the violence those can beget is everyone’s job. Muslims would do well to respond to President Obama’s invitation to combat extremist ideas in their communities, but too often Washington’s broader policies toward minorities encourage just the opposite.

Free trade is undermining American prosperity, and Congress should deny President Obama authority to negotiate new deals in Asia and with the European Union.

Moderate Islam may be guilty of terrorism by its silent acquiescence, and that is the issue President Obama and other leaders in the West refuse to address.

Greece will soon default on its sovereign debt and mercifully loosen Germany’s grip on European economic policy.

The newly elected Greek government is quite correct to eschew austerity and seek reductions in what it owes northern European governments. The Euro is punishing the South, and solving Mediterranean states’ chronic financial problems would require moving some industry from the North to the South. More austerity would only bleed the patient further.

The economy added 257,000 jobs in January, down significantly from the 324,000 fourth quarter average monthly gain. Overall, the economy is creating jobs, but lower oil prices and a strong dollar are slowing the pace.

Reading the president’s State of the Union and Budget Message, Americans are on the cusp of the second Age of Pericles. The economy is booming and with new taxes on the wealthy and free community college for all, lasting prosperity can be assured.

Posturing as champion of needed public investments and fairness, President Obama wants new taxes on the overseas earnings of American businesses. That would kill jobs and punish retired Americans.

In 2014, GDP growth bounced back in the spring and summer from a tough winter, but in the fourth quarter, it fell off to 2.6 percent. History indicates the country should be doing a lot better—simply, too many prime working-age Americans are despondent and have permanently dropped out of the workforce.

By electing Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras to be premier, Greeks voted to end the draconian economic measures imposed by Germany and other international lenders.

The European Central Bank has announced a €60 billion ($69 billion) monthly government bond buying program—Quantitative Easing—but that won’t do much for the moribund continental economy.

In his State of the Union address, President Obama will propose much he knows the Republican-controlled Congress will not enact, but his real agenda is to set the table for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls has declared France is at war with radical Islam, but his government may have to take on Islam altogether. Certainly, it must abandon its pell-mell accommodation of immigrant cultures that threaten French civilization.

The economy added 252,000 jobs in December—down from 353,000 in November. With GDP growth slowing, prospects for jobless Americans are worsening.

It was one thing to get elected but it will be another for the Republican Congress to work with a president best known for his imperious style and a hard left agenda.

The American people now have a censor–North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un–and they can thank President Obama’s failure to defend their rights to free speech and privacy. After hacking Sony’s computer network and subjecting its employees to identity theft and

The U.S. economy can handle higher interest rates, and the Federal Reserve’s policymaking committee has signaled such a move is likely by summer. The Fed has kept short term borrowing rates near zero since December 2008 to support recovery from

Federal Reserve policymakers meet Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss when to raise interest rates and how they will communicate those intentions without upsetting financial markets or the economic recovery. Unfortunately, the Fed is constrained by its own past missteps, and

Falling gas prices add to holiday cheer, but those are not an unvarnished good for the U.S. economy–thanks to bad economic policy. Oil selling at about $65 a barrel gives consumers and many businesses a lot of additional buying power,

The economy added 321,000 jobs in November–a dramatic jump from October. Overall the economy is creating many more jobs, but the outlook remains guarded. Unemployment stayed constant at 5.8 percent because the jobs count is based on the survey of