The mayor of New York City recently announced the creation of city-owned grocery stores to make food more affordable for city residents. The first is scheduled to open in late 2027. Essential goods will be priced 30% below market, while other goods will be priced at market rates. Consumers are understandably frustrated with COVID-era food

By Dr. Christopher Douglas Other recent news items overshadowed what should have been a significant headline: the interest rate on current 30-year Treasury bonds reached 5% in July. Interest rates on shorter-term Treasuries also rose from 4% to 4.5%. These interest rates represent what the government pays when it borrows money for a specific period

Politicians in Michigan and other states are proposing the repeal of property taxes. An additional proposal in Michigan would eliminate property tax “uncapping.” Property taxes are based on a home’s taxable value, whose annual increase is limited to 5% or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower. When a home is sold, its taxable value

President Trump and members of Congress from both political parties have proposed suspending the federal gas tax, currently 18.4 cents per gallon, to provide consumers relief from this year’s substantial increase in gas prices. Unfortunately, consumers are unlikely to see much, if any, benefit from this “gas tax holiday.” Instead, oil companies are the most

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which houses the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), remains shut down. TSA agents are being paid through emergency funding, which has stabilized staffing and shortened the lines at airports such as Houston International, where lines exceeded four hours in March. Reforms can prevent this from occurring again. Automatic continuing resolutions

The economic impact of a war with Iran is likely to be significant. The Strait of Hormuz, off the Iranian coast, is one of the world’s most critical supply bottlenecks. Roughly 20 percent of global crude oil consumption, as well as refined petroleum products, passes through it each day. Among these products is nitrogen fertilizer,

The federal government partially shut down on Monday, Feb. 15. Congress could not come to an agreement on a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security due to disagreements over Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is housed within the department. Since the Transportation Security Administration is also housed there, this means these workers will

The Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act of 1978 charges the Federal Reserve with using monetary policy to achieve low inflation and a low unemployment rate. This is known as the Federal Reserve’s “dual mandate.” Usually, only one of these mandates is pressing. When a recession occurs, such as during the 2008–09 financial crisis, the

The 2025 economy was a mixed bag. Economic growth was strong, but job creation weakened sharply after May. Inflation fell from post-pandemic highs but remained above its pre-pandemic trend. I expect 2026 to bring more of the same. Economic growth appears likely to remain robust, with the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank currently forecasting growth of

The 2025 economy was a mixed bag. By several indicators, it performed well: economic growth was strong, with output increasing by about 4% in both the second and third quarters. The unemployment rate remained low throughout the year—4.4% as of September, the most recent month with available data due to the government shutdown. Yet there

Newly elected New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has promised to “freeze the rent” in response to the city’s high cost of housing. This is simply another term for rent control — a policy enacted in the early and mid-20th century that prevented rents from rising according to market conditions. Despite its surface-level appeal as

As of writing this column, the federal government is shut down. It is possible that the state government follows suit. The federal government typically shuts down for one of two reasons: either the debt ceiling has been reached, or the fiscal year has ended without a new budget. In this case, both the federal and