Political Paralysis Makes Us Poorer
Calculating the dollars-and-cents costs of policy uncertainty
Calculating the dollars-and-cents costs of policy uncertainty
A Budget to Shortchange Our Future
Obama's plan doesn't do enough to shrink entitlement growth
Obama's plan doesn't do enough to shrink entitlement growth.
Say Yes to the Pipeline—and New Green Regulations
Why triangulation is the answer on Keystone
How to fix the messy politics of the embattled pipeline project.
The Ongoing and Hugely Risky Bailout of the Housing Market
Why the next housing crisis could be worse than the last one
Unless the White House changes course, the next housing crisis will be worse than the last one
Obama's Pivot to Europe
Forget China. An EU trade deal would be the real game-changer.
Forget China: A trade deal with Europe would be the real game-changer.
Two Roads Diverge
The budget fight will determine the fate of the Republican makeover
The Republican Party's reset could fizzle before it even really starts.
Retrenchment Games
Forget Iran—Chuck Hagel's toughest fight will be the Pentagon's budget
Forget Iran. Chuck Hagel's toughest fight will be the Pentagon's budget.
“The chief business of the American people is business,” Calvin Coolidge famously said. But not all business is the same: The policies that assist some may injure others, and the organizations that represent different kinds of business often work at cross-purposes. This reality, which the Republican mantra of “job creators” obscures, could be the key to determining the success of President Obama's second term.
America Can't Afford to Cut Its Discretionary Spending
At the heart of our fiscal challenge is a clash between the present and the future, and the future is losing. Intended or not, the top priorities for Republicans and Democrats add up to a relentless squeeze on discretionary spending. That means less for education, less for research, less for infrastructure—the vital public investments that have nourished innovation and growth throughout our history.
How the Fiscal Cliff Deal Cured Washington's Fuzzy Math Epidemic
As public policy, the fiscal cliff deal has few merits to recommend it. But it does have one positive political consequence that has mostly gone overlooked: It substantially narrows the gap between the policy commitments we have made and the way the budget process officially presents them. Americans can finally have a cleaner—if not necessarily more productive—debate over what to do. Understanding why is somewhat complicated, but worth the effort.
