ECONOMIC POLICIES, ANALYSIS, AND RESOURCES
The Economic and Trade Policy Domain tracks and reports on policies that deal with budget, taxation, and finance issues. The domain tracks policies emanating from the White House, Congress, the Department of Commerce and the Department of Treasury.
Latest Economic and Trade Policy Posts
Budget Process Gets Politicized and Government Shuts Down
A 69-hour US government shutdown ended early this week with passage of a short-term spending bill that funds federal operations through February 8. This is the fourth temporary funding measure Congress has passed since it failed to meet an October 1 deadline last year for the FY2018 budget. On January 20…
MoneyGram, AT&T Deals Blocked as US Talks Tough on Chinese Investment
Citing potential “malicious actors” and national security risks, early in the new year the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS) rejected Alibaba Group Holding affiliate Ant Financial’s $1.2b bid to purchase MoneyGram International, a Dallas-based money transfer company. With the deal derailed after a year…
Trump Administration New Tax Bill
The Republican-led Congress passed a sweeping overhaul of the US tax code on December 20th just days before their holiday recess. The bill totals an estimated $1.5 trillion in tax cuts. Its main focus is on cutting taxes on businesses of all kinds and on reducing taxes for wealthy individuals. Highlights of the…
Trump Administration Budget Plan
In March of this year, the White House released what many characterize as a draconian budget plan for the fiscal year 2018. The 1.1 trillion dollar budget would increase spending on defense, infrastructure, paid leave, and a few other items, but would reduce overall spending substantially compared to the current federal budget. The plan would…
Raising the Debt Ceiling
In a meeting with Congressional leaders on Wednesday, September 6, Trump proposed potentially eliminating the national debt ceiling. The conversation began with plans in the House to temporarily raise the debt limit in order to provide financial aid for states affected by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Republican leadership…
Budget Lessons from Kansas
Earlier this June, the Kansas state legislature voted to pass Senate Bill 30, a bill that would override many of the large tax cuts that were championed by Governor Brownback. Governor Brownback attempted to veto the passage of S.B. 30, but was overridden by the legislature in a surprising move by the State senators in his party. The Brownback…
The CHOICE Act
The House of Representatives voted on Thursday, June 8 to pass the Creating Opportunity for Investors, Consumers, and Entrepreneurs (CHOICE) Act, a bill that repeals many of the regulations imposed by the Dodd-Frank Bill of 2010. The Dodd-Frank bill was itself a response to the 2007-2008 financial crisis, which many…
Implications of Trump’s Budget
Last Tuesday, President Trump’s White House released the Trump’s Budget proposal for the 2018 fiscal year. The document, titled “A New Foundation for American Greatness,” does not detail the sweeping tax cuts that are being pursued as part of the American Health Care Act (AHCA), but does assume that they have…