Energy & Environment

China Goes All-In On Coal While Telling The Rest Of The World To Reduce Emissions

Greenhouse gas negotiations in Madrid adjourned after two weeks without an agreement, leaving delegates to jet back home in failure. In response, an executive with the Environmental Defense Fund admonished nations to go their own way on carbon markets, setting up rules for “international emissions trading.” A U.N. report released last month said greenhouse gas emissions must...

December 16, 2019

Economy

Employers Add 266,000 Jobs In November, Far Above Expectations, Previous Months’ Estimates Revised Upward By 41,000

American employers added 266,000 jobs in November, far above the 180,000 expected by economists, while the unemployment rate fell to 3.5%, matching a 50-year low. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the employment numbers this morning in their monthly release. Employment rebounded by 54,000 in manufacturing following last month’s decline of 43,000. Most of this...

December 6, 2019

Economy

America Goes Back To Work: A Key Measure Of Unemployment Hits A Record Low

The numbers are good—and suggest our nation’s economic expansion continues apace. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today that the number of people who were unemployed at any time in 2018 as a proportion of the number of persons who worked or looked for work—called the “work-experience unemployment rate”—was 7.8%, down by 0.8%...

December 3, 2019

Taxes & Spending

How President Lincoln Created Thanksgiving

Amidst a raging Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln issued a “Proclamation of Thanksgiving” on October 3, 1863, 74 years to the day after President George Washington issued his first presidential Thanksgiving proclamation. Prior to Lincoln’s proclamation, states, mostly in the North, would mark their own Thanksgiving commemorations. The concept for a national Thanksgiving celebrated annually...

November 27, 2019

Economy

U.S. Economy Revised Upward, Defying Expectations of a Slowdown, While Manufacturing Appears Poised to Resume Expansion

The current economic expansion is 10 years and five months old and showing little signs of ending. The U.S. Department of Commerce announced Wednesday that the third quarter grew at a 2.1% annual rate vs. the previously estimated 1.9%. Preliminary data from the fourth quarter looks steady as well. The good economic news comes amid widely...

November 27, 2019

Economy

Businesses (And Workers) Are Thankful For Texas As Charles Schwab Calls It Quits On California

California’s population is 38% larger than Texas’, but since 2008, Texas has added about 100,000 … [+] TEXAS PUBLIC POLICY FOUNDATION, DATA FROM THE U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS Charles Schwab (NYSE: SCHW), the San Francisco-based financial services firm that pioneered low-cost stock trades, is moving to Texas. The announcement follows news yesterday that Charles Schwab will...

November 26, 2019

Energy & Environment

Blackout-Prone California Is Exporting Its Energy Policies To Western States, Electricity Will Become More Costly And Unreliable

California is again facing widespread blackouts. Politicians are scrambling to assign blame to Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) a heavily regulated utility that can only do what the politically appointed regulators say it can do. In recent years this has meant building a bunch of solar and wind projects, while decommissioning reliable sources of power and...

November 19, 2019

Taxes & Spending

President Trump calls it quits on New York taxes. He’s not alone

In 1975, at the height of New York City’s financial crisis, President Ford announced he would deny federal aid to help the city avoid bankruptcy. The Daily News ran an iconic headline the next day: “FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD.” Today the headline might read: “NEW YORK TO MILLIONAIRES: DROP DEAD.” The latest example of New York’s politicians bitterly...

November 10, 2019

Local Government

Housing alone won’t solve homeless crisis – Drug addiction and mental illness must be treated

Steve Adler, the mayor of Austin, Texas, was on Fox News defending his city’s homeless policies Tuesday during an interview with Bill Hemmer. Last summer, the all-Democratic 10-member Austin City Council voted to lift the city’s ban on sleeping or camping on public property, such as sidewalks and parks – except for City Hall itself. Immediately following the vote, Austin’s...

November 10, 2019

Energy & Environment

California Prof Tries To Shift Blame From Leftist Dumpster Fire For ‘Californiapocalypse’

In “Can You Still #Resist When Your State’s On Fire? A postcard from the Californiapocalypse,” Amy Wilentz, a journalist, writer, and English professor at the University of California, Irvine, details for The New York Times a truthy series of myths about California’s fiery, electric-less travails. She establishes her credentials at the onset by letting her...

November 8, 2019

Economy

Beto O’Rourke had nothing to offer voters but criticism of Trump

Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas – once a rising star in the crowded field of Democratic presidential hopefuls – withdrew from the race Friday after belatedly realizing he couldn’t become president simply by attacking President Trump without offering a better alternative. Although he joined the chorus of Democrats denouncing Trump with ever-growing ferocity and embraced full-blown Trump Derangement...

November 2, 2019

Economy

U.S. Keeps Adding Jobs With Large Upward Revisions For Past Months’ Data Suggesting A Shifting Economy

American employers added 128,000 jobs last month, far above the expected 85,000. In addition, 95,000 more people were hired than initially estimated in August and September. This means that after revisions, monthly nonfarm job gains have averaged 176,000 over the past three months. These gains were seen in the face of employment declining by 42,000 in...

November 1, 2019