by Fiona Harrigan, The reasonOctober 2, 2024.
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The bill included some changes, such as additional work- and family-based visas and work authorization for family members of certain visa holders. It would help protect Dream Writers, who are brought to the US legally as children by parents on non-immigrant visas and may have to remove themselves if they don’t get a green card before they turn 21. It also included protection for Afghan immigrants. to the US following the August 2021 Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
But it would also undermine the — deeply flawed — asylum-seeking process and jeopardize due process and humanitarian protections for vulnerable migrants. The main provision of the bill will be limited access to the shelter if the transgressors exceed a certain threshold. It would have given Immigration and Customs Enforcement billions to fund more detention capacity and deportation flights. It would create a faster vetting process and deny immigrants the opportunity to appear before an immigration judge.
DRH Comment: Fiona Harrigan is one of my favorite authors The reason. You always do a great job reporting on immigration issues.
by Kimberly Clausing and Maurice Obstfeld, Peterson Institute for International Economics, October 1, 2024.
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Cost of prices. Tariffs are taxes on imports, and they will raise prices for households and, more importantly, for businesses that rely on imports to make their products. Not only will the prices of imported products rise, so will the prices of domestically produced goods that compete with imports. Simply put, protectionism reduces the benefits of trade; we choose to pay more than necessary for certain goods (imported and domestic substitutes) instead of focusing on those goods that we produce more efficiently than other countries.
One explanation: When they say “we choose to pay more than necessary for certain goods,” what they really mean is that because our government imposes these taxes called tariffs, we pay more. But “we” do not choose the prices. It’s true that we choose to pay those high prices when we shop, but I think that’s not what they’re getting at. I think they write as if they think the American people and the government are one. Collected language is often subject to finer analysis.
Obstfeld, by the way, is the co-author, with Paul Krugman and Marc Melitz, of the textbook. International Economics: Theory and Policyone of the best books on international economics.
by JD Tuccille, The reasonOctober 4, 2024
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“Income from the federal government is the fastest growing portion of personal income for Americans,” according to a September report from the bipartisan Economic Innovation Group (EIG). “Nationally, Americans will receive $3.8 trillion in government transfers by 2022, making up 18 percent of all income in the United States. That share has more than doubled since 1970.”
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Separately, the Foundation for Government Accountability finds that “the amount spent on expanding Medicaid exceeded $1 trillion nationwide — $574 billion more than expected.”
Still, the EIG report emphasizes that “Medicaid expansion had only about a third of the effect on annual spending as a one percent increase in the share of people age 65 and older.” Seniors are growing as a proportion of the US population, receiving income from Social Security and Medicare, and that is the main driver of dependence on government payments.
by Andrew P. Napolitano, antiwar.com, October 4, 2024.
In addition, the Pentagon’s prosecution team has warned against public disclosure of “all” the evidence in the case because the evidence of the torture of the stomach will reveal a war crime that has no statute of limitations.
Put differently, if this case is tried in the traditional way against the introduction of a plea agreement with the defendants under oath of their knowledge of the crimes, George W. Bush himself and others in his administration, in the CIA and in the military could be indicted and tried in foreign countries for war crimes.
Protectionism Fails and Is Wrong-headed: An Assessment of Post-2017 Transitions Towards Trade Wars and Industrial Policy.
by Michael R. Strain, by Strengthening America’s Economic Dynamismedited by Melissa S. Kearney and Luke Pardue. Washington, DC: Aspen Institute.
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The rise in protectionism stems from the perception that free trade has led to less employment opportunities. This conclusion is incorrect. Economic theory suggests that trade liberalization should not affect the level of employment. And the evidence from the “China shock,” taken as a whole, suggests that trade with China has not affected the aggregate number of jobs in the United States.
It is also based on the misconception held by many elected officials and analysts that free trade is about jobs. But open trade is not about jobs. It is about wages and consumption. Gaining comparative advantage allows countries to carry out their productive activities. Technology makes their workers more productive, putting higher pressure on their wages and salaries. Professionalism increases global productivity, increases the level of consumption and the quality and variety of consumer goods and services.
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