Peter Morici

Why Washington should rush more economic aid to the states

The economy is in more dire straits than Washington politicians behave, and they need to put aside their partisan agendas and fencing on Twitter to save it.

May 25, 2020

Socialism tempts as capitalism struggles during COVID-19 pandemic

Pandemics are hardly new. What makes COVID-19 different for our political future is that we have chosen to almost completely shut down the economy to minimize causalities.

May 19, 2020

Building an alliance to confront Chinese juggernaut

President Xi Jinping surely had motive, means and opportunity to strike a terrible blow on Western economies and legitimacy of political institutions by unleashing a pandemic.

May 6, 2020

Are cheap coffee makers and iPhones worth the risk of more pandemics?

As with other great crises, progressives are celebrating and conservatives are dreading that coronavirus will permanently expand government spending and leverage over the national economy.

April 29, 2020

COVID-19 will wipe out some old business models and require focus on new enterprises

The economy won't be as good as new, but it would be better refurbished than by pursuing policies premised on nostalgia for an economy long gone.

April 22, 2020

COVID-19 exposes terrible dangers of globalization

America must respond by building stronger pandemic containment mechanisms -- albeit those that are publicly accountable and not subject to abuse -- or our democracy will simply not measure up to the challenges of globalization.

April 16, 2020

Donald Trump’s COVID-19 (new) New Deal

Donald Trump has delivered for the voters that elected him -- and many who didn't. With the aid of an epidemic, he has forced the Washington establishment to act quickly for the benefit of ordinary working folks through the Federal Reserve and stimulus package.

April 8, 2020

Too few babies threaten American prosperity and national security

The U.S. lifetime birth rate per woman is 1.78 -- down from 2.12 in 2007 and below the pace needed to sustain the national population without significant net immigration. Annual population and labor force growth rate has fallen to about 0.5 percent, as the Trump administration has pushed down net immigration by more than 40 percent since 2016.

March 30, 2020

Congress’ lack of action during COVID-19 pandemic threatens another Great Depression

The global economy is again in the grip of a financial crisis and economic contraction of unknown depth and duration.

March 24, 2020

Why reliance on competent allies and not China should be a national security imperative

Revelations about dependence on China for essential ingredients in life-saving drugs lay bare the folly of intense integration with an authoritarian regime that suppressed warnings from doctors who first detected COVID-19 and enabled the disease to spread through weeks of denial.

March 18, 2020

If Donald Trump targets the debt-riddled Bernie Sanders’ base, he can beat Joe Biden

The stars are aligning for Joe Biden. The coalition that is abandoning Bernie Sanders for the dull but reliable war horse could put the former vice president across the finish line in November.

March 12, 2020

How to solve the skyrocketing costs of college tuition

Student debt and skyrocketing college tuition are terrible burdens for young adults, and to win their votes Sen. Bernie Sanders promises to forgive their loans and make public colleges free.

March 8, 2020

Narcissistic Democrats will destroy free markets and constitutional rights

Apparently, reformists can succeed in destroying free markets and our constitutional rights if they don't nominate someone so transparently radical that he frightens moderate voters.

March 2, 2020

Donald Trump is the moderate candidate in the 2020 presidential election

Whether it's Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg, Michael Bloomberg or Joe Biden, the country will get a choice between a defender of the status quo ante -- Donald Trump -- and a radical vision to shake American capitalism to its foundations.

February 21, 2020

Why the Fed’s refusal to issue digital dollars threatens national security

The Federal Reserve and Treasury oppose issuing digital dollars to ordinary citizens. That's a burden on our economy and threat to national security.

February 17, 2020

Although optimism about the economy abounds, don’t rule out an election-year recession

Five decades of economics have taught me trouble comes when you least expect it, and the Federal Reserve, Treasury and their brethren abroad are often clueless about what to do.

February 10, 2020

Pete Buttigieg’s Trojan horse for socialism

Former Mayor Pete Buttigieg wants us to believe he is a moderate alternative to Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren but his $1 trillion infrastructure plan is hardly enough and demonstrates he's a socialist, too.

February 2, 2020

Why Trump deal with China is good for free trade

President Trump's Phase One trade deal may save the World Trade Organization from breakdown and takes international commerce to a better place in a world divided between democratic market and autocratic state-directed economies.

January 24, 2020

Michael Bloomberg’s wrong answer to income inequality

Inequality and economic growth have been central themes in national elections since John Kennedy's campaign. The Clintons, Barack Obama and the latest crop headed by Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg want to give us freer access to health care, higher education (and debt forgiveness), child care and the like by taxing the wealthy.

January 19, 2020

Economy needs Middle-class gains to re-elect Trump and deliver a Republican majority

If the election were held on Valentine's Day, President Trump would have good prospects, but next November the story may be different.

January 11, 2020