198 Items

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He talk in front of the US and China flags.

AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

Analysis & Opinions - Project Syndicate

Will the US Capitulate to China?

| Feb. 25, 2019

The most important problem that a bilateral deal between the United States and China needs to resolve is Chinese theft of US firms’ technology. Unless the Chinese agree to stop stealing technology, and the two sides devise a way to enforce that agreement, the US will not have achieved anything useful from Trump's tariffs.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump

AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

Analysis & Opinions - Project Syndicate

There Is No Sino-American Trade War

| Jan. 29, 2019

The current conflict between the United States and China is not a trade war. Although the US has a large trade deficit with China, that is not the reason why it is imposing high tariffs on imports from China and threatening to increase them further after the end of the current 90-day truce on March 1. The purpose of those tariffs is to induce China to end its policy of stealing US technology.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference in Washington in September 2018.

AP Photo/Susan Walsh

Analysis & Opinions - The Wall Street Journal

Raise Rates Today to Fight a Recession Tomorrow

| Nov. 26, 2018

Some observers worry that higher short-term rates will push the economy into recession and wonder why the Fed is continuing to raise rates despite already having achieved its explicit monetary-policy goals. Yet that view overlooks the role that higher interest rates today must play in enabling the recovery from an inevitable future downturn. It is in the interest of the next recovery, I believe, that the Fed will continue its steady rate increases.

AP Photo/Andy Wong

AP Photo/Andy Wong

Analysis & Opinions - Project Syndicate

The China Tariff Mess

| Sep. 28, 2018

The cost to US consumers and firms imposed by tariffs on Chinese imports is not large relative to the gain that would be achieved if the US succeeds in persuading China to stop illegally taking US firms’ technology. But the Trump administration should state that this is the goal, and that the tariffs will be removed when it is met.

Pennies

John Jones/Creative Commons

Analysis & Opinions - Project Syndicate

How to Increase America’s Saving Rate

| July 26, 2018

Once upon a time, US policymakers believed that more consumer spending was better than higher saving. But even though officials have come to realize that a high level of saving means more investment and faster growth, legislation to encourage more personal saving has failed to reverse a sharply downward trend.