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The Main Blog of Independent Institute

Why Is the National Debt So Big?
Monday March 18, 2024 | Craig Eyermann

How did the national debt become such a huge problem? Two things primarily drive the size of the national debt. The amount of revenue the federal government takes in through its tax collections and how much it spends. Of those two things, which do you think is most responsible for running up the size of the national debt? Is it a shortfall of tax revenue?  (more…)

Murthy v. Missouri Puts Government Censorship on Trial
Friday March 15, 2024 | K. Lloyd Billingsley

On Monday, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in Murthy v. Missouri, formerly Missouri v. Biden, the president whose administration has been accused of strong-arming Big Tech to remove “objectionable posts.” The attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana, joined by doctors such as Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford, argue that the administration censored dissenting speech on COVID-19 and other policies by pressuring tech platforms to remove or restrict posts. (more…)

Unsustainable Spending Runs Wild in Biden Budget
Friday March 15, 2024 | Craig Eyermann

On March 11, 2024, President Biden released his budget proposal for the U.S. government’s 2025 fiscal year. It’s a remarkable document because he seeks to permanently lock in the unsustainable spending that characterizes his administration’s fiscal policy. (more…)

The Politics of Inflation
Wednesday March 13, 2024 | Randall G. Holcombe

February’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed prices up by 0.62% in the past month. If that rate of increase kept up for the rest of the year, the annual inflation rate would be 7.4%. But the CPI won’t keep rising that fast. (more…)

As Regulators Fight Big Tech Mergers, Startups Often Pay the Price
Monday March 11, 2024 | Max Gulker

Amazon announced on Jan. 29 that it would scrap its plans to acquire iRobot, maker of the popular vacuum Roomba. While a negative initial ruling on the merger from the European Commission in Nov. 2023 was likely the primary cause of Amazon walking away from a deal that had been valued at $1.7 billion in Aug. 2022, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reportedly also threatened action against the deal. (more…)

Another Year, Another Crisis
Monday March 11, 2024 | Peter C. Earle

The one-year anniversary of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) is upon us. And while some of the factors behind that catastrophe have been tamped down, a new crop of problems have emerged to cast a shadow over the banking system and the health of the US economy. In the year since, only the sources of difficulty have changed. (more…)

Borrowing $10 Billion a Day, Every Day
Thursday March 7, 2024 | Craig Eyermann

On average, Uncle Sam borrows $10 billion a day, every day. If you stack $10 bills high enough to add up to $10 billion, the stack would rise 67.9 miles above the Earth’s surface. During much of the past year, Uncle Sam has been borrowing enough money to do that daily. (more…)

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