Daily Policy Digest
Economic Issues
| Why Saving Less Is Costly The savings rate fell to roughly 6 percent in the late 1980s (from 8 percent in the early 1980s), to 4 percent in the 1990s and to almost 2 percent in 2007 before the housing collapse... |
| Licensing Requirements Are Biggest Barrier for Small Businesses Forty percent of small businesses surveyed reported being subject to licensing requirements at more than one level of government... |
| Risky Loans Could Create Second Bubble Loosening loan qualifications will help more first-time home buyers into a house, but if the homeowners begin to default, the economic recovery from the last housing crisis might falter... |
| Farmland: Yet Another Bubble? With prices rising by double-digits in six of the last seven years, farmers are witnessing the value of their farms skyrocket -- Iowa land selling for $2,275 per acre in 2003 is now selling for $8,700 per acre... |
| Republicans Must Provide Clear Economic Outlook Republicans need to provide a fresh outlook on the benefits of conservative economics while explaining the Great Recession in terms of the free market... |
| Food Stamp Use Swells as Unemployment Recedes The number of people receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits rose 70 percent between 2008 and December 2012 to a record 47.8 million individuals... |
| Falling Fertility Rates The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that the lifetime costs of medical care, primary education, clothing and food for a child are over $200,000 alone... |
| Third Edition of Freedom in the 50 States In the Mercatus Center's Freedom in the 50 States' overall freedom ranking, North Dakota comes in first followed by South Dakota, Tennessee, New Hampshire and Oklahoma... |
| Cyprus Deposit Tax Sets Dangerous Precedent Cyprus' deposit tax amounts to fraud and reveals the immense danger the European Union's banking system is still in... |
| Loan Guarantees Distort Free Market Loan guarantees deny capital to more competitive companies that would receive a loan if a failing business was not kept afloat by a guarantee... |
