Scott Lincicome

For more than a century, the Jones Act has survived on purported economic and security grounds. Its waiver by the Trump administration for Operation Epic Fury reveals serious flaws in both rationales.

The main culprit for labor’s shrinking share of the economic pie is government policy, not greedy corporations.

For more than a century, the Jones Act has survived on purported economic and security grounds. Its waiver by the Trump administration for Operation Epic Fury reveals serious flaws in both rationales.

The main culprit for labor's shrinking share of the economic pie is government policy, not greedy corporations.

Processing is not paying, and close attention should be paid to potential cuts to the bottom line. The onus will be on the government for anything less than the full $166 billion (plus interest) returning to importers.

The big meetup between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping elicited a big yawn from financial markets and a dearth of economic headlines. Readouts from each side said the parties agreed China would increase imports of US farm products and aircraft, and that they’d establish working groups to facilitate new investment and tariff reductions on “non-strategic” goods. Contentious issues such as export restrictions on Chinese rare earths and advanced US semiconductor technology were left for later

Scattershot US trade policy has, coupled with an ill-conceived war in Iran, weakened Washington's hand on China.

Watch the Event Submit a Question Cato Institute, 1000 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, DC Rep. Adrian Smith (R‑NE)

labor regulation and the health insurance tax exclusion—for depressing wages by discouraging both employers from hiring/​firing and workers from changing jobs. Among the research I cited was a 2022 paper by NYU economist Niklas Engbom on the strong relationship between wage growth and labor market fluidity, which regulation stymies in places like Europe. Engbom just published an update of that paper with even more dramatic findings: Labor market fluidity has even broader effects than previously thought.

More than a year since “ Liberation Day ,” the US trade deficit looks much the same—despite a historic increase in tariffs that were ostensibly intended to reduce it.