This CNBC headline from yesterday encapsulates the big divide between the way media pundits perceive the economy and most everyone else.
According to the article: "Economists have wrestled with the growing disconnect between how well the economy is doing and how people feel about their financial standing. The U.S. economy has remained remarkably strong despite persistent inflation."
Stop right there.
OK. It's true that the GDP is growing which means we are not in a technical recession.
But the economy is "strong" for whom exactly? Academics isolated in their ivory towers? Those cloistered inside the Washington Beltway?
The poll cited above found that a major reason Americans say they are pessimistic is higher costs and difficulty making ends meet.
This isn't a figment of their imagination. The average household has LOST roughly $2,000 of purchasing power since Biden came into office. They are POORER today than four years ago.
We submit that when most families have lost real take-home pay over a four-year period – THAT is a recession. And apparently, six of ten Americans agree with us, despite the media cheerleading for the Biden economy.
This chart from investment analyst Robert Genetski captures why voters are gloomy:
2) A Better Idea Than Hiring 50,000 New IRS Snoops?
Speaking of taxes and the IRS, we always welcome clever and innovative policy ideas from HOTLINE readers, and sometimes we like to pass them on to see what you think.
Every year the IRS would randomly select two taxpayers from each state. These 100 taxpayers are the winners of a lifetime Federal Income Tax EXEMPTION, contingent on each lottery winner passing a very thorough audit after selection. Pass the audit, and you are exempt for life!
The magic in this concept is that the increase in IRS receipts, due to higher compliance (reduced deductions and greater side income declaration) would swamp the amount of tax receipts foregone by issuing the exemptions.
The higher one's income, the greater the financial incentive to fill out an honest return.
Most Tax Lottery winners will be low- and mid-level earners with whom the exemption will not come at great cost to the Treasury.
Selecting two winners per state would geographically spread the winnings and add to this concept's popularity with the public.
Another variation on this lottery would be to pick 100 from each state at random and if there are no errors on the return, the taxpayer is exempt from federal income tax that year.
3) Rent Control Ended in Argentina and Housing Supply Surged
We hope the pinheads in the White House who think price controls will bring sticker prices down are reading the HOTLINE.
They would learn that President Javier Milei repealed Argentina's rent control law at the end of 2023, but the Law of Supply remains in universal effect.
Hence this headline:
For many locals, finding a new apartment had become "mission impossible." But after the repeal, Buenos Aires saw a doubling of available rental units, and rental prices have stabilized. Under the new rules, landlords and tenants have more freedom to agree on lease terms. If the duration isn't specified, it defaults to two years.
"We've seen a significant increase in rental apartments, and in some cases, we had to lower prices in pesos because of fewer viewings," Soledad Balayan, head of the real-estate agency Maure Inmobiliaria, told Argentine newspaper La Nación.
Since Millei's repeal of rent control laws took effect on December 29, the supply of rental housing in Buenos Aires has jumped by 195.23%, according to the Statistical Observatory of the Real Estate Market of the Real Estate College (CI).
Swedish economist Assar Lindbeck once famously wrote: "In many cases rent control appears to be the most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city--except for bombing."
In 1989, the Foreign Minister of Vietnam, Nguyen Co Thach, said rent control was even worse than bombing: "The Americans couldn't destroy Hanoi, but we have destroyed our city by very low rents" imposed by the government.
Naturally, Kamala Harris is presently campaigning for president on a national rent control policy: "We will take on corporate landlords and cap unfair rent increases."
4) Raising Taxes on the Rich Will Reduce Climate Change
You laugh.
But this is a serious theory recently articulated by leftist groups including Common Dreams and Oxfam - which gets U.S. tax dollars:
Inequality contributes to climate change. The richest 1 percent is responsible for more carbon emissions than the poorest 66 percent, according to a 2023 report by Oxfam. Of course, while the world’s wealthiest people make a huge contribution to climate change, they are also able to insulate themselves from the worst impacts of global warming.
To set the record straight: the poor are the victims of climate change fanaticism, not climate change. Policies that deny poor people cheap and efficient fossil fuel energy are the best way to keep people poor.
