Liberty
Probing the link between oil and gas prices
Robert Romano writes for the Daily Torch about the impact of falling oil prices on gas prices. “The big Oil Companies are not dropping their price at the pump commensurate…
Federal Reserve Bank Of St. Louis
Federal Reserve Bank responsible for the eighth district, headquartered in St. Louis, United States
Research Brief
Budget, Taxation & Economy
Reservations for 7 Billion: The General Assembly’s Budgetary Reserve Shell Game
In addition to the $30 billion of General Fund spending in the 2023 budget, the General Assembly also appropriated over $7 billion that’s hardly being reported. Setting aside money in…
Budget, Taxation & Economy
2022 Saw Both Economic Recovery and Downturn, What’s Next?
It’s been quite a year for the state and national economy. Looking back on 2022, North Carolina saw economic growth and recovery from lockdowns but also indications of a recession. …
Research Brief
Budget, Taxation & Economy
Four Expensive Covid Policies That Overstayed Their Welcome
During the Covid pandemic, government concocted many costly, “temporary” policies. Many of those have lingered well past their originally promised dates and expanded beyond their stated intentions, such as progressives…
Budget, Taxation & Economy
Now that’s what I call a V!
There’s been lot’s of speculation about whether recovery from the COVID-19 resession will be rapid or slow. Recessions with rapid recoveries are often called “V-shaped,” and this chart released by…
Budget, Taxation & Economy
North Carolina Teachers’ and State Employees’ Retirement System
Executive Summary North Carolina’s Teachers’ and State Employees’ Retirement System (TSERS) is widely recognized as being among the nation’s healthiest pension plan systems, currently almost 90 percent funded at a…
Education
Colleges offer plenty of reasons for outrage
Jack Hough explains for Barron’s why the recent college admissions bribery scandal bothers him less than other stories linked to higher education. My personal outrage meter ought to be registering…
Budget, Taxation & Economy
A warning about the federal deficit
David Ader’s “Economic Beat” column in Barron’s focuses on the latest bad news associated with the federal deficit. In short, the federal budget deficit is about to explode. Our interest…
Elections & Public Integrity
One place where Trump’s lament about lost manufacturing falls flat
As Indiana voters head to the polls, Scott Lincicome explains in a Federalist column why they should be less susceptible than most to Donald Trump’s stump speech about American manufacturing…
Regulation
Former FDIC chair shares concerns about costly new regulations
Sheila Bair explains for Fortune readers why the new federal Volcker Rule could create problems for smaller companies that lack the resources to deal with its complexities. Regulators at last…
Liberty
How much government oversight does capitalism need?
Nicole Gelinas is a senior fellow with the Manhattan Institute, which promotes ideas ?that foster greater economic choice and individual responsibility.? So you might be surprised to learn that her…
Liberty
Note to Obama: the real world has scarcity, not tooth fairies
Cato senior fellow and former St. Louis Fed president William Poole points out here that the scarcity of health care resources makes it simply impossible to achieve the dream-world Obamagoal…