Last week, President Obama said he would soon propose a set of policies that would eliminate tax breaks for businesses that move jobs overseas and reward businesses that bring jobs to the U.S. as part of his new “insourcing” agenda. If the President proposes more of… Read more
Abstract: Congress enacted the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in 2010 in the wake of a financial crisis followed by a serious economic recession. Regrettably, many of the provisions of the Dodd–Frank Act contravene basic American principles and inhibit rather than… Read more
From The Heritage Foundation, I'm Ernest Istook. … Read more
Chairman Conrad, Ranking Member Sessions, Members of the Senate Budget Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. My name is J.D. Foster. I am the Norman B. Ture Senior Fellow in the Economics of Fiscal Policy at The Heritage Foundation. The views I express in this testimony are… Read more
Every year, no later than July 15, the White House is supposed to release an update on the economy and the state of the federal budget. In addition to its tardiness, the first essential feature of this year’s Mid-Session Review (MSR),[1] released by the White House on September… Read more
Today marks the one-year anniversary of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. It comes in at some 2,300 pages, so it should surprise no one that dozens of regulatory deadlines have been missed, and a multitude of agencies are months behind in their rulemaking schedule. It is… Read more
Private-sector job creation initially recovered from the recession at a normal rate, leading to predictions last year of a “Recovery Summer.” Since April 2010, however, net private-sector job creation has stalled. Within two months of the passage of Obamacare, the job market stopped improving. This suggests that businesses are not… Read more
Despite the official end of the recession in June 2009, the labor market remains stagnant. Employment has fallen by nearly 7 million jobs since the recession began. Unemployment remains above 9 percent. This is the weakest recovery of the post–World War II era. Current policies have not stimulated business hiring.… Read more
Abstract: Electricity is the lifeblood of the U.S. economy—it is essential for all transportation, and for manufacturing all food and consumer products on which Americans rely every day. Many small businesses and families… Read more
Testimony before The Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Oversight, and Government Spending … Read more
Abstract: Despite decades of repeated failure, President Obama and Congress continue to promote the myth that government can spend its way out of recession. Heritage Foundation economic policy expert Brian Riedl dispels the stimulus myth, lays out the evidence that government spending does not end recessions--and… Read more
Abstract: The economist Friedrich Hayek attempted in his writings to spotlight the interlocking set of ideas—constructivist rationalism, scientism, socialism, “the engineering mentality”—that was leading the West down what he famously called the road to serfdom and to propose in its place a return to… Read more
Abstract: The Obama Administration’s $862 billion stimulus bill was an expensive failure that increased the federal deficit, contributed to America’s deteriorating fiscal health, and failed to reduce unemployment. Instead of repeating this mistake, Congress should alleviate business fears and economic uncertainty by maintaining the… Read more
Abstract: Quantitative easing is a largely experimental tool employed by the Federal Reserve to address a continuing sluggish economy and the renewed potential of deflation. That the Fed faces this prospect is final proof positive that President Barack Obama’s Keynesian stimulus policies have failed,… Read more
Today’s Employment Situation Report by the U.S. Department of Labor actually consisted of two employment reports, and they paint two different pictures of the U.S. labor market. The household survey reported that the unemployment rate remained flat at 9.6 percent because many Americans left the workforce.… Read more
Few lawmakers have expressed as much outrage over President Obama’s unconstitutional "recess" appointments as Sen....… Read more
Despite a recent spate of good economic data, including last week’s jobs report, the U.S. economy remains deeply...… Read more
President Obama’s illegal non-recess appointments are unconstitutional and defy the process the Founding Fathers...… Read more
A handful of constitutional law experts are slated to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform...… Read more
After months of financial turmoil, an Energy Department-backed lithium ion battery company has filed for Chapter 11...… Read more
Two House committees have scheduled hearings on President Obama’s unconstitutional appointments of four federal...… Read more
Financial disclosure documents filed by two of President Obama’s illegal appointments to the National Labor Relations...… Read more
Calling the president’s illegal non-recess appointments “an escalation in a pattern of contempt for the elected...… Read more
One of the officials President Obama illegally appointed to the National Labor Relations Board advanced policies in his...… Read more
U.S. senators never got a chance to question or vote on President Obama’s illegal appointees to the National Labor...… Read more
Director, Center for Data Analysis
Director, Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies
Norman B. Ture Senior Fellow in the Economics of Fiscal Policy
Assistant Director, Center for Data Analysis and Research Fellow
Senior Research Fellow in Retirement Security and Financial Institutions