Perhaps buyers are waiting for President Obama’s proposed $10,000 tax credit for the Chevy Volt. Despite government bailout money and incentives, GM temporarily halted Volt production and laid off 1,300 Detroit employees as lackluster demand resulted in low sales. Unfortunately, this is becoming a routine ordeal that inspires a glut of political debate. This is not the way business should be. The Volt’s sales, employment, price tag, and safety features automatically have become the fodder of larger political debates—not because politicians in Washington especially care about the happiness of manufacturers … More
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President Obama has announced that he ordered the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to cut in half the fee paid by homeowners whose mortgages the agency guarantees. The good news is that this reduction will save those homeowners who are able to refinance their homes about $1,000 annually. The Administration says that the reduced payments will help about 3 million homeowners refinance their homes. The bad news is that this fee cut would also make a taxpayer bailout of FHA more likely. The agency’s latest annual report shows that it has … More
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By Michael F. Cannon
That’s how Charlie Arlinghaus, president of New Hampshire’s Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy, describes the decision confronting states about whether to create an ObamaCare Exchange in this op-ed for the New Hampshire Union-Leader.
‘We Are Not Deciding …
‘We Are Not Deciding between Regulation and Autonomy, We Are Deciding Whether or Not We Want a Puppet Government’ is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde has been talking up the need for greatly expanded resources to bail out ailing European economies. European nations have offered to channel about $200 billion of their own funds to themselves through the IMF (a kind of gentleman’s money-laundering to avoid restrictions in their own treaties). Lagarde wants others to add $300 billion to that kitty. The U.S. Treasury has said no, and rightly so. Replacing current euro-debt with IMF loans, no matter how rigorously structured, will only prolong the agony. The failing euro-zone economies … More
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By Daniel Ikenson
Writing in today’s Washington Post, Charles Lane posits that the time is now for the U.S. Treasury to divest of its remaining 500 million shares of General Motors stock. I agree with that conclusion, but not with Lane’s rationale or his recommendation for a heavy-handed, government-imposed exit strategy. Just to recap: the Treasury recouped $23 [...]
Let’s Divest of GM Yesterday is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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