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Two Key Economic Lessons in One BillHoosiers face trade-offs and opportunity costs in the wake of SEA1.

Time to Fix Economic Development PolicyAllocating tax dollars to land development won’t cause economic growth.

The Unanticipated Effects of SB1Businesses, governments and households may all feel the effects.

The Stupidest of PoliciesThis whipsawing of tariff rates has unnerved financial markets, which on Wednesday, were toying with a liquidity crisis.

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Commentaries tagged with trade

April 13, 2025 The Stupidest of PoliciesThis whipsawing of tariff rates has unnerved financial markets, which on Wednesday, were toying with a liquidity crisis.
March 16, 2025 What to Expect in This RecessionThere is risk of a lot of pain.
December 1, 2024 Time to Learn a Real-World Lesson from TariffsTariffs are designed with the hope of pushing down our trade deficit.
February 11, 2024 Some More Truth About Manufacturing and TradeManufacturing employment peaked decades earlier than manufacturing production.
September 17, 2023 Thoughts About Trump’s Tax PlanIn considering any tax change, first ask how it might eventually reduce the debt.
September 10, 2023 China Is a Poor and Failing NationChina is getting in the way of its own economic growth.
January 1, 2023 The CHIPS Act Was Wise LegislationSemiconductors are a key part of national defense, among other industries.
December 25, 2022 Storm Costs on ChristmasThis storm comes amidst some of the busiest travel days of the year.
August 7, 2022 It Is Time to Face the Facts About Factory JobsThe education and skills of today’s displaced factory workers don’t match the many available jobs nationwide.
October 31, 2021 Who Can Fix Our Supply Chain Issues?Congress could ease logistics problems in any number of ways; the private sector is already at work.
September 27, 2020 COVID May Amplify Factory Job TrendsFor manufacturing, production continues to grow and employment continues to decline.
July 5, 2020 More Presidential Confusion on TradeThe Trump Administration is accelerating the trade imbalance in the quickest way possible.
June 7, 2020 What Long-Term Changes Might We Anticipate from These Crises?The first half of 2020 has given us a trade war, global pandemic, economic downturn, and protests.
May 24, 2020 Don’t Expand the Trade WarTrade allows us to buy things we cannot efficiently produce ourselves.
October 20, 2019 Automation Risk, Trade Risk, and Public Policy We have 6 million fewer factory jobs since 1969.
September 15, 2019 Causes of a Possible RecessionEconomic shocks cause recessions.
September 8, 2019 The Costs of Natural DisastersNatural disasters impose costs on society, businesses, households and government.
August 11, 2019 Trade and the Division of LaborThe elemental essence of human interaction is trade.
July 28, 2019 The Trade War Is Slowing Our EconomyEconomic performance has slowed domestically and abroad.
November 4, 2018 China Is a Poor and Backward NationChina may ultimately prove a significant strategic threat to the United States.
September 2, 2018 The NAFTA Deal Is Pure BaloneyNAFTA effects were mitigated by changes in productivity.
July 22, 2018 Worsening Effect of TariffsTariffs have already affected the local economy.
July 8, 2018 Donnelly’s Automation Adjustment Act Should Be EnactedMost workers were not eligible for assistance because of job losses to automation, not trade.
June 10, 2018 We Are on the Cusp of Relearning the Impacts of Trade WarsLet me explain briefly and plainly what trade is and what it is not.
May 27, 2018 The Opposite of War Is Not Peace, It Is TradeTrade forces us to move beyond benign coexistence into cooperation.
May 6, 2018 Indiana at Huge Risk in Trade DisruptionsBetween 1818 and 2018, technology essentially killed every existing job and created every new one.
January 21, 2018 Carrier Illustrates the Big Economic Shifts of Our TimeMachines eliminate some labor and shift the skill and educational requirements of the surviving jobs.
September 10, 2017 Trade Deficits and the Dollar Safe HavenIn reality, trade consists of tens of billions of small transactions between businesses and households
July 23, 2017 Automation, Trade and Urbanization Require More Resilient People and PlacesOur study implies that regional inequality might be poised for a big increase.
February 5, 2017 The Makings of a Trump Economic PolicyDabbling in trade deals only shifts employment, not generate new.
January 29, 2017 Trade Deals Won’t Change Manufacturing EmploymentChanges to trade policy won’t have a meaningful effect on manufacturing employment.
November 27, 2016 The Origins of American Free TradeThe US created the first free trade zone.
August 21, 2016 The Importers Benefit from TradeUnbalanced trade activity points to an unbalance in efficiency.
March 13, 2016 Manufacturing Production, Manufacturing Jobs and Snake-OilAmerican manufacturing production has been booming, while manufacturing employment has been in decline.
June 7, 2015 Hoosiers Should Fret About GreeceA Greek bankruptcy would lead to tough times for the EU and likely the US.
May 26, 2013 International Trade Is the Opposite of WarWhat flummoxes me is not the academic debate, but the casual discussion about trade.
April 7, 2013 Bad Ideas Still ReignToday I see three bad intellectual influences that merit noting—one each from the political right, the left and bipartisan folly.
July 18, 2011 Free Trade and the Campaign for Village IdiotAny contention that the U.S. economy has shrunk, wages dropped or manufacturing production declined following NAFTA are simply untrue.
September 21, 2009 Chinese Tariffs Missteps toward Trade WarsIs the President willing to spawn a trade war and dampen foreign investment?
April 20, 2009 Cap and Trade a Double Edged SwordCap and Trade can lead to a much cleaner, more prosperous future or devastate our economy
May 12, 2008 Blocking Free Trade is ExpensiveTrade benefits all but the protected special interests.
December 10, 2007 Exporting From Indiana"Indiana's exporting firms are heavily concentrated in just a few manufacturing sectors."
February 25, 2005 In Defense of Free Trade Agreements "We should never make the mistake of accepting the idea that we are worse off today, economically, than we used to be."
August 1, 2003 We Restrict Trade At Our Own Peril "... extra dollars being collected by Indiana steelmakers are being paid by automakers, appliance manufacturers, and countless other industries who buy the product."
December 31, 1969 Silly Bands and Value Theory. . . It is the desire and scarcity for an item that generates its value in a market exchange.

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