Skyrocketing Energy Prices
What to Know: In Britain, families just saw their energy prices rise by 80%. In Germany, leaders are warning residents of a “winter of discontent” with energy rationing and fears of gas riots.
The TPPF Take: This energy crisis is the result of bad policies.
“The problem is that decarbonization doesn’t mitigate a changing climate, but it does result in scarcity of food and fuel,” says TPPF’s Jason Isaac. “Germany declared that it would replace fossil fuels to become 100% renewable, but after $500 billion over 20 years, fossil fuels went from supplying 86% to 79% of the country’s energy. Now, Germans are paying some of the highest energy bills on the face of the earth.”
For more on the energy crisis, click here.
Animal House
What to Know: Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Kimberly Strassel says President Biden’s student loan reallocation scheme will be seen as his “Bluto” moment.
The TPPF Take: “Forgiving” student loans is a transfer of wealth—to the wealthy (or soon-to-be).
“All of that money would have been better spent on well-designed, well-targeted programs like the Pell grant,” says TPPF’s Andrew Gillen. “For context, we spend about $26 billion per year on Pell grants, so the amount being spent on forgiving loans could have financed a decade of Pell grants.”
For more on student loan “forgiveness,” click here.
Stop Digging
What to Know: An emboldened Biden administration is hatching new plans for even more spending.
The TPPF Take: It’s time to stop digging, and to start boosting productivity in our economy.
“At this point, only an increase in the supply of goods and services can reduce inflation,” writes Texas State University economist Massi De Santis in The Daily Cannon. “After all, paper money only has value if we can use it to purchase real goods and services. To produce more, we need to increase the productivity of our economy. However, all the policy actions taken so far are demand-driven policies that have the effect of increasing demand and restricting supply.”
For more on fighting inflation, click here.