Op-Eds
No, There Was No Public Offering Made (Letter to the Editor)
In attempting to defend Massachusetts’s censorship of hedge-fund speech to the public, Mike Liles Jr. (Letters, Jan. 22) makes a circular argument that mischaracterizes my…
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Repeal Dodd-Frank’s Senseless Volcker Rule
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Financial Info: Banned in Boston
“Banned in Boston.” Those words became a catch phrase in the mid-20th century, as the city was notorious for suppressing works by authors such as…
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The Fed’s Christmas Gift: Reduced Fees for Fat-Cat Merchants
On a snowy Thursday in the nation’s capital – with little more than a week to go until Christmas – the Board of Governors of…
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Fed Interchange Price Controls Leave Consumers Paying Big
On Thursday, the Federal Reserve — at the direction of Congress in the Durbin Amendment to the Dodd-Frank financial “reform” bill — will give a…
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Crying a River for Years
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GM Bad Deal
In his 1953 confirmation hearing for Secretary of Defense in the incoming Eisenhower administration, former General Motors CEO Charles “Engine Charlie” Wilson was asked how…
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Obama’s GM Numbers Are Not Adding Up
Before Thanksgiving, President barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden did a victory lap at friendly venues across the country in the wake of the…
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Obama includes Toyota, Hyundai and Kia in 75,000 jobs “created” by GM bailout
President Barack Obama and his administration have cited numerous job statistics after last week’s successful initial public offering of General Motors. John Berlau, director of…
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What’s Good for GM Is Now Terrible for America
In his 1953 confirmation hearing for Secretary of Defense in the incoming Eisenhower administration, former General Motors CEO Charles “Engine Charlie” Wilson was asked how…
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The Free Checking Restoration Act
Having largely abandoned attempts to defend ObamaCare in the run-up to next week’s election, President Obama and his allies are now warning that opponents will…
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Obama’s War on Free Checking
“Free checking as we know it is ending,” says the lead paragraph of a widely read and tweeted story from The Associated Press. Noting…
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The Firemen Next Time
“So the question is, do you want to live in the kind of society in which this happens?” So wrote New York Times columnist…
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Washington Ideas Forum
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Response to How Would GOP’s ‘Pledge’ Affect Economy? – Pledge Takes On Overregulation
Though much of the commentary on the GOP’s “Pledge to America” has forcused on the areas of taxes and spending, the provision that may contain…
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Pledge Takes On Overregulation
Though much of the commentary on the GOP’s “Pledge to America” has forcused on the areas of taxes and spending, the provision that may contain…
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No Regulation Without Representation
Having excoriated the Bush administration and Republicans in Congress — on this site and elsewhere — for falling short of principles on TARP…
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What’s the best way to create more jobs?
Unleash the power of small business. The US Senate just passed a bill called the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act. The thrust of…
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A Real Small Business Assist
In his 45-minute lecture/speech in Cleveland last week — which mostly consisted of blaming his predecessors for the state of the economy and…
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Credit Card Regulation: Big Government vs. Small Business
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Tightening Credit Hurts Small Businesses
The Sept. 1 editorial “On better terms” conceded that overall interest rates have risen on credit cards after the passage of the Credit…
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Fannie and Freddie Must Go
After ramming through a “financial reform” bill that increases government controls on such ”ants” (hat tip to House Minority Leader John Boehner’s comments — distorted…
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Obama Cripples Ford’s Funding, Then Subsidizes It
At the 1986 White House Conference on Small Business, President Ronald Reagan offered these famous remarks about politicians’ views on business in the 1970s. Reagan…
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Obama Cripples Ford’s Funding, Then Subsidizes It
At the 1986 White House Conference on Small Business, President Ronald Reagan offered these famous remarks about politicians’ views on business in the 1970s. Reagan…
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Kagan and the Agency-Exhaustion Doctrine: A Response to Media Matters
Well, who’da thunk it? George W. Bush’s Justice Department is now considered a citadel of wisdom by the legal eagles at Media Matters for America.
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In Defending Kagan, Media Matters Embraces Bush Justice Department
Well, who woulda thunk it?! George W. Bush’s Justice Department is now considered a citadel of wisdom by the legal eagles at the liberal Media…
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Elena Kagan’s War on Small Business
Solicitor General Kagan urged against letting a small firm challenge a regulatory agency in court. Would a Justice Kagan do the same? Now that Congress…
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Obama’s Latest Monstrosity
The 2,315 page Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill that President Obama will sign today should not be called “financial reform.” Instead the bill, which…
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Have We Really Been Stimulated?
They use the phony statistic ‘saved’ or ‘created.’ To say saved or created, who knows if this job would have been eliminated if you…
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Have We Really Been Stimulated
The Lansing State Journal reported last week that the federal stimulus has been working. The White House projects the spending act created or saved between…
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More Muscle for Big Merchants
It’s usually not that easy for big retail chains to win battles on Capitol Hill — particularly if they are trying to secure a benefit…
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Obama’s New Financial Regulation Bill Strangles America’s Economy with Red Tape
The 2,315 page Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill that passed the Senate 60-39 on Thursday and will be signed by President Obama next week should not…
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Who Won Big in the Financial Bill – More Muscle for Big Merchants
It’s usually not that easy for big retail chains to win battles on Capitol Hill — particularly if they are trying to secure a benefit…
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Dodd-Frank is not “Financial Reform,” it’s More Big Government Lunacy
The 2,315 page Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill should not be called “financial reform.” Instead, it should be called what for what it is: pages and pages of…
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Is Scott Brown a Game-Changer on the Financial Bill?
A Yogi-ism for Congress: “It ain’t over until both houses of Congress vote for an identical bill and send it to the president’s desk —…
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Is Scott Brown a Game-Changer on the Financial Bill?
A Yogi-ism for Congress: “It ain’t over until both houses of Congress vote for an identical bill and send it to the president’s desk…
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The Walgreen Amendment
In passing the financial regulation bill, U.S. Senators made a point of how they were going after the “fat cats” on Wall Street.
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Fat Cats Feed on Durbin’s Fee Change
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin never tires of making a show of going after "fat cats," but a recent measure of his could better…
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Fee Free Way to Protect Consumers
The U.S. Senate, in the name of protecting American consumers, passed last month a massive financial regulation bill that creates the Bureau of Consumer…
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Senate Financial Bill Wrong for Main Street
The “Restoring American Financial Stability Act,” that passed Congress last week with 39 senators voting nay, will hurt Main Street investors and entrepreneurs, and worsen…
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Dodd Bank Bill: Brown Folds but Vitter’s Not-Everything’s-a-Bank Amendment Passes
Yesterday, Scott Brown caved, and the Senate passed its “financial reform.” That story is at the top of every news web site.
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Dodd’s Bank Bill: New Nationalization Powers for Fed, FDIC, and Treasury Secretary
There are many bad things contained in Chris Dodd’s "Restoring American Financial Stability Act," the financial regulatory "reform" bill that after filibustering for…
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Dodd’s Bank Bill: New Nationalization Powers for Fed, FDIC, and Treasury Secretary
There are many bad things contained in Chris Dodd’s “Restoring American Financial Stability Act,” the financial regulatory “reform” bill…
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Durbin’s Walgreens Amendment Shifts Costs to Consumers
Give Dick Durbin some credit for his chutzpah. It’s not every lawmaker who, in proposing an amendment to a financial reform bill ostensibly aimed…
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Dodd’s Bank Bill: Worse Than ObamaCare. It’s the Nationalization, Stupid!
There are many bad things contained in Chris Dodd’s Restoring American Financial Stability Act,” the financial regulatory “reform” bill that after filibustering for three…
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Dodd Financial Bill Attacks Main Street
As Congress prepares to vote on debating Sen. Chris Dodd’s “Restoring American Financial Stability Act,” a broad spectrum of conservative and free-market groups expressed…
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Wall Street Bill Targets Nevada Incorporations
Over the past year, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has made pointed efforts to show Nevadans his advocacy on their behalf. In defending new…
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The Obama-Dodd-Frank-Everthing’s-A-Bank-Bill
Liberal pundit Michael Kinsley once defined a political gaffe as an instance of a politician accidentally telling the truth. House Financial Services Committee Chairman…
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Over the Counter Goes Under
"They won’t be so opposed to it once they see what’s in it." That’s the rationalization House leaders had given skittish Democrats to get…
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Fannie, Freddie Finally the Focus of Crisis Commission
The congressionally chartered Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, after several months, finally is visiting the role of the government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac…
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The Other Individual Mandate
In the continuing debate over the recently signed health care bill, the flash point is the individual mandate—the requirement that nearly all American adults…
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I Got People Too
Like John, I "got people" too. Here is a summary of points made in response to the question by my Competitive Enteprise Institute colleague,…
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Aussie Securities Case May Make U.S. Litigation Magnet
Headquartered in Melbourne, the second largest city of the land down under, National Australia Bank is firmly attached to its home country. The primary…
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‘Seeing’ Red at Reconciliation over Medicine Cabinet Tax
The rallying cry for opponents of Obamacare has been “Hands off my health care.” In addition, they now could say, “Hands off my medicine cabinet."…
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Obamacare Creates Windfall for Big Pharma
“They won’t be so opposed to it once they see what’s in it.” That’s the rationalization House leaders have given skittish Democrats to get…
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Dodd’s Main Street Punishment Bill
With the focus this week on health care’s “home stretch” and concerns about government limiting the ability of ordinary Americans to make choices about…
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Real Competition Among Health Plans
The flash point of last year’s health care debate was the public option. The proposal, which calls for a government-created health insurer to compete…
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The Corker-Dodd-Alinsky Bill? : Center-Right Coalition Letter Warns about “Proxy-Access”
Capitol Confidential and Jim Hoft have done an excellent job laying out concerns with the potential “compromise” bill that comes out of Sen. Bob…
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Proxy Access: The Obama-Dodd-Alinsky Shareholder Jujitsu
What would Saul Alinksy do? In the wake of defeats for the Obama administration last month both with Scott Brown’s stunning Senate…
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Credit Card Act Hits Cardholders, Entrepreneurs
Today, the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009 goes into effect and is being hailed as a boon for consumers.
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Why do Liberal Environmentalists put Their Agenda Above the Safety of America and it’s Citizens?
Environmentalists, with the help of politicians and other government officials, have an agenda that has cost thousands of American lives. In the…
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Obama can Aid Small Businesses by Providing Regulatory Reform
In news accounts about fights over new regulation, the story is almost always the same. The media portray the drama as that of well-intentioned…
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The Corporate Library: Servant of Special Interests
Full Document Available in PDF Labor unions, left-leaning foundations and activists declare their support…
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Did Ben Fold?
Looking back at the Federal Reserve Board’s attempts at self-justification after the Great Depression in Free to Choose, Milton and Rose Friedman concluded that…
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Obama’s Bank-Busting Regulation Full of Bugs
President Obama’s proposal on Thursday to bring back 1930s-era separation of commercial and investment banking would do little to prevent the problem of financial…
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Obama Plan to Split Banks Could Crash Economy
President Obama’s proposal today to bring back 1930s-like separation of commercial and investment banks, dubbed Glass-Steagall II or Glass-Steagall 2.0, would do…
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Crisis Management
One of the more confusing aspects of the great economic meltdown of 2008-09—even more confusing than collateralized debt obligations—has been the tortured…
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The Bank Tax and the Bay State
As the race for the late Ted Kennedy’s seat goes into the home stretch, financial-services policy has suddenly emerged as a top issue in…
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SarBox Might be Coming to an End
Prospects for substantial relief from or repeal of one of the most burdensome corporate regulations in recent memory have suddenly grown in Congress and…
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Obama’s Penalty Tax Could Hit Banks that Refused TARP Funds
President Obama’s so-called Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee is a tax in search of a target. Today, the president declared, “We want our…
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Financial Crisis Hearing Is Partisan Sham
Today marks the first-ever meeting of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, which is charged with investigating the causes of the mortgage meltdown.
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Sarbanes-Oxley: Albatross to Growth
Many economists, policy makers, and members of Congress of both parties are questioning whether what is good for the Big Four accounting firms is…
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Letter to the Editor: Retailers Want to Shift Their Costs onto Consumers
It’s a real pity that The Examiner’s Nov. 27 lead story – billed with the screaming front-page headline "Credit cards show no pity" –…
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“Gifted Hands” Surgeon Rips into Obamacare
As the Senate Finance Committee completed its work on a bill that would greatly expand the government’s role in health care – requiring nearly…
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Don’t Let 7-11 Give Card Users a “Big Gulp” of Big Govt
If Congress acts on 7-Eleven's misleading petition to put price controls on interchange fees, consumers will pay the price through the reduction of credit card…
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Retailers Shortchange Customers in Credit-Card Fee Fight
Today, 7-Eleven Inc. and other big retail chains will hit Capitol Hill to offer Congress members and their staffs a supersize serving of hypocrisy.
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Retailers Shortchange Customers in Credit-Card Fee Fight
7- Eleven and other retailers, who rightly complain about costly government mandates in health care and other areas, are hitting Capitol Hill…
Washington Times
Solutions: How to Reduce Unemployment
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke recently said the recession is probably over, as third-quarter growth in gross domestic product will likely be positive. But…
Washington Times
Meryl’s Mad Green Meanderings about Julia
In the new movie "Julie & Julia," Meryl Streep does well portraying the late Julia Child, but one can say Streep also benefits from…
Washington Times
Meryl Streep’s Attack on Julia Child Ironic, Ungrateful
In the new movie “Julie & Julia,” Meryl Streep does well portraying the late Julia Child, but one can say Streep also benefits from…
Washington Times
Kennedy’s Lasting Gift to America: Airline Deregulation
Tributes are pouring in for Edward M. “Ted” Kennedy, who lost his battle with brain cancer late Tuesday evening at the age of 77.
Washington Times
Don’t Ban but Expand Them
In proposing his new financial regulations this summer, President Obama pledged to get tough on the big Wall Street banks whose risky practices are…
Washington Times
U.S. Swiss Bank Deal a Partial Victory for Financial Privacy
After a long and protracted battle between the United States and Swiss governments, Swiss bank UBS AG has agreed to turn over 4,000 names…
Washington Times
Swiss Bank to Reveal Account Holders to U.S.
Lawyers for the United States government and the Swiss bank UBS AG have announced that they have reached a deal on releasing to the…
Washington Times
Obama Should Stay Mum on Cambridge Arrest
One lingering question surrounding the recent arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr. by the Cambridge (Mass.) Police and the subsequent White House “beer summit”…
Washington Times
Holding Paulson Accountable For This Mess
As much as conservatives criticize President Obama, legitimately in my view, for federal meddling in business and dictating who should serve on the auto…
Washington Times
Hank Greenberg’s Home Run Against AIG and Its Big Government
Once again, the team of politicians and corporate bureaucrats pursuing the witchhunt against former American International Group CEO Maurice "Hank" Greenberg have struck out.
Washington Times
Sink Schumer’s dangerous ‘Shareholder Bill of Rights’: It’s micromanaging madness
If deceptive labeling of bills in Congress were punishable by government agencies, Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Maria…
Washington Times
Standing Athwart Nationalization
My organization, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, has frequently been accused of being "in denial" regarding important issues. It’s a charge we most often wear…
Washington Times
Nationalization Review
Given the Obama administration’s rapid takeovers of General Motors and Chrysler, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to conservatives that, in the…
Washington Times
Someone Has to Pay the Piper
As the cliché goes, the piper must be paid. And when the government decides that some folks are paying the piper too much,…
Washington Times
GM vs. GGP: Bankruptcy the Way It Ought to Be
On the surface, given the economic turmoil we’ve had, there was nothing that remarkable about the bankruptcy of shopping mall owner General…
Washington Times
The Late Jack Dreyfus Really Roared
Jack Dreyfus, the mutual fund pioneer who died March 27at 95, was known as "the Lion of Wall Street." And for decades, the…
Washington Times
Speak out against ‘fishing expedition’
Sir, Kudos to former ambassador Faith Whittlesey for her valid points about the Obama administration exerting “raw Goliath power” and breaching a bilateral tax agreement…
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Don’t Punish the Shareholders, Too
In justifying a change of policy on negotiating corporate penalties, the new chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mary Schapiro, stressed the…
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The SEC’s new chief-to-be
President-elect Barack Obama‘s choice of Mary Schapiro to head the embattled Securities…
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Geithner is spelled P-a-u-l-s-o-n
President-Elect Barack Obama has received surprising praise from some conservatives for his economic team. After running a successful populist campaign against Wall Street…
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Which Way Is Wise?
If there is one phrase to describe the events in the subprime meltdown, it is “collective stupidity.” Looking back on the poor underwriting…
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Obama’s Clinton Problem
Republicans had many things going against them this election, but the financial market implosion in September proved to be the final blow that…
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Dealing with the Threat of Global Recession
Fred L. Smith Jr. and John Berlau on the upcoming Global Economic Summit: Governments should agree to a timetable to end the bailouts.