Public Employees Unions Lose Friends
Public-employee labor unions have long been an unchecked tap upon the public treasury. Sometimes these unions have an aura of moral purpose, like police and firefighters' unions. Others work in hospitals...
Sectors
Oil Drilling Ban Hits Gulf Coast Hard
The Gulf oil spill has caused serious economic problems. Fisherman and those in the tourist industry have been hard hit by the oil spill itself. Those who work on oil rigs...
Little Improvement in U.S. Employment in May
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics just released its employment figures for the month of May, and they would appear to be very encouraging indeed: 431,000 new jobs were created, and...
78 Bank Closings in 2010 — And Counting
Bank closures throughout the United States continue to be telling of the state of the economy. Friday witnessed the closing of three more banks in Florida and one in Nevada and...
Financial Reform Bill in a Nutshell
The Senate Thursday night passed its long-awaited financial reform bill, another critical plank in President Obama’s New Deal-esque agenda to bring the private sector under more comprehensive and stifling control by...
The Breakup of Ma Bell
Ten years into the 20th century, the United States citizenry were still enjoying the afterglow of a remarkable generation of economic growth, innovation, and expansion. ...
Finance Reform
With a congressional battle brewing over what is being touted as the biggest attempt at financial regulatory reform since the Great Depression, most pundits are predicting that, despite token Republican opposition,...
Jobs Up, Unemployment Rate Up
The Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics announced good and bad economic news on May 7: The economy added 290,000 jobs in April compared to March, but the unemployment rate climbed...
Senate Financial Reform Bill: More Bailouts & Fed Power
Senate Democrats beat back a Republican alternative amendment to Connecticut Democrat Christopher Dodd's Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010 (S. 3217) and will soon consider an amendment to audit the...
CEI Files Complaint Against Deceptive GM Ad
The Competitive Enterprise Institute filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission on May 4, saying that General Motors is misleadingly claiming in a TV advertisement that it has already paid...
Newspaper Circulation Continues Decline
Newspapers are dying. That is the message from the latest Audit Bureau of Circulations, an independent firm that checks the average circulation of various print periodicals. The average drop of newspaper...
Global Bank Tax Will Be Subject of June G-20 Summit
The International Monetary Fund proposed a draft of two global taxes — a bank tax, and a “FAT” tax against what politicians deem to be excessive salaries or bonuses in the...
“Orderly Liquidation” Awaits Financial Firms
Some of the opponents of the recently enacted health care legislation may have been premature with their warnings about "death panels." A death panel of sorts can be found in the...
Govt Turns on Goldman Sachs, One of Its Kept Financials
The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit April 16 against New York-based investment bank Goldman Sachs. The SEC alleges that Goldman committed systematic fraud in marketing a package to investors...
Fed Ends MBS Intervention
The Federal Reserve ended its largest intervention in the housing market on April 1, ceasing its purchase of Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS) that began in September of 2008 in order to keep...