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E. J. Antoni, Ph.D.

E. J. Antoni, Ph.D., EJ Antoni is a Research Fellow in The Heritage Foundation’s Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget. He is also a former economist at the Texas Public Policy Foundation whose research focuses on fiscal and monetary policy.

Antoni’s research has been featured with the Daily Caller, Fox Business, the Wall Street Journal, National Review, the Show-Me Institute, the Heartland Institute, the Arizona Chamber Foundation, FreedomWorks, and the Committee to Unleash Prosperity, where he is a visiting fellow. He has taught courses ranging from labor economics to money and banking.

Antoni earned his master’s and doctorate in economics from Northern Illinois University.

Technology

Ransomware attack on Chinese bank highlights fragility of the $33.7 trillion Treasury market

With Treasury markets already nearing the brink, could a cyberattack push them over the edge? A ransomware attack hit China’s biggest bank, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) on Thursday, preventing it from settling some trades in U.S. Treasuries. News of the attack riled some participants in the Treasury market, with news stories citing as...

November 17, 2023

Economy

Orwell Only Got The Year Wrong

George Orwell now seems downright clairvoyant. The messaging from the White House surrounding inflation has been emblematic of the ironically named Ministry of Truth in the dystopian novel 1984, first published in 1949. It is worth reviewing the fluid narrative of the last 13 months before all the doublethink gets memory-holed. In early 2021, the nation...

March 11, 2022

Economy

The Real Cost of Pandemic-Era Policies

It’s bad enough when politicians enact witless economic policies with huge price tags, but it’s even worse when those policies destroy American lives and livelihoods. New research shows that this will be the pandemic-era legacy of the politicians that forcibly closed businesses, made people stay home, then incentivized millions of out-of-work Americans to give up...

March 9, 2022

Economy

The Fed Has Once Again Created An Easy Money Addiction, And Withdrawal Starts This Month

The Federal Reserve (Fed) seems intent on harming its patient, the U.S. economy. On the heels of the highest consumer inflation in four decades, the U.S. Department of Labor’s producer-price index (PPI) shows that inflation is accelerating and the Fed has been downright negligent. The PPI had its second highest increase in the history of the index, both...

March 7, 2022

Economy

Inflation Tempers February’s Strong Job Growth

Abridged Summary February’s jobs report showed widespread strong jobs growth but lower real wages. Although the number of jobs in the nation is at 99% of its February 2020 level, inflation has risen much faster than wages, making people demonstrably worse off. Headline Numbers February’s jobs report showed better-than-expected jobs growth, with 678,000 nonfarm jobs added...

March 7, 2022

Economy

Biden’s Latest Blame Game On Inflation — Russia Made Me Do It

The last year has been full of economic Orwellian newspeak from the White House. The first talking point denied inflation’s existence, the second claimed inflation was transitory and the third laughably asserted that inflation was good. The current sleight of hand by the White House and their media sycophants simultaneously reverses the claim that inflation is good...

February 25, 2022

Economy

The Real Cause Of Inflation Is Insane Government Spending

Watching the screen on a gas pump while filling your vehicle’s tank is liable to induce a panic attack. Paying for a used car almost requires taking out a second mortgage. Speaking of mortgages, members of the middle class are being priced out of the housing market as home prices march relentlessly upward. Many price increases are...

February 23, 2022

Economy

Don’t Believe Your Lying Eyes — Inflation Is Even Worse Than It Appears

The latest inflation report from the U.S. Department of Labor showed an acceleration in price increases, with the consumer-price index (CPI) rising 0.6% from December 2021 to January 2022. The annual increase, measured without seasonal adjustments, was 7.5% — a four-decade high. As troubling as these numbers are, the truly scary figure is hiding behind them. A recent change...

February 10, 2022

Economy

U.S. Labor Market Improved in January

January’s jobs report showed better-than-expected growth, with 467,000 nonfarm jobs added last month. The unemployment rate rose 0.1 percentage points to 4.0%, and the labor force participation rate climbed to 62.2%. The number of unemployed increased 194,000 to 6.5 million. There are now 602,000 more unemployed people than in February 2020, the last month before...

February 4, 2022

Economy

Shrinkflation is at Large in the U.S. Economy

President Joe Biden’s poll numbers have been plummeting, and the mishandling of the economy may be the primary reason. With inflation raging at a four-decade high, it’s understandable that only 33% of Americans are satisfied with the economy. If you’re having trouble making it from paycheck to paycheck these days, you’re not alone. Families’ budgets...

February 3, 2022

Economy

It’s a Wild West Train Robbery

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki recently mocked the idea that soft-on-crime policies have negative consequences, saying, “What does that even mean?” In short, soft-on-crime means a return to lawlessness, à la the Wild West, and all the costs that come with it. True to form, California has been leading the charge in ignoring or...

February 3, 2022

Economy

Government ‘stimulus’ didn’t stimulate job growth

We were promised job growth—after all, that was the main selling point for the March 2021 American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) from President Biden and the congressional Democrats. Promise made—promise broken. In February 2021, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued its economic outlook and projected 6.252 million jobs would be added in 2021 without ARPA....

January 25, 2022