RealClearMarkets Articles

This past week, the CEOs of some of the largest U.S. banks attended Davos, and used the opportunity to attack Coinbase CEO, Brian Armstrong, for having the temerity to attempt to compete with them by offering stablecoin holders a much higher rate of interest than the pittance they pay on deposits. At a time when affordability and the struggling finances of low- and middle-income Americans is at center stage politically, the debate over whether to rein in Coinbase’s ability to pay American consumers a high return on their savings is a golden opportunity for the Trump Administration to...

The GENIUS act does not adequately address the discrepancy between highly regulated regular lenders such as banks and crypto vendors aiming to mimic credit markets without adequate safety regulations. I recently argued for closing the stablecoin loophole in the GENIUS Act to protect Main Street communities that may switch from safer community banks with strict safety regulations to crypto stable coins where it is not. Credit competition should occur with an equal level playing field, not where incumbents are regulated while new competition is not.  As expected, crypto...

Government spending is excessively harmful precisely because it’s the central planning of precious goods, services and labor by the federal government. Conservatives and libertarians at one time nodded along to the latter, while progressives and liberals rolled their eyes. Not so much today. As this write-up’s title indicates, they’ve become one. See Patricia Cohen at the New York Times. In a recent front-page article at the newspaper, Cohen lamented soaring national debt in rich nations since “it means countries must make interest payments with money that otherwise...

Investor confidence gained by 9.7% in February, while overall optimism improved 3.4%. Consumer sentiment brightened in February as the RealClearMarkets/TIPP Economic Optimism Index, the first monthly read on U.S. consumer confidence, rose from 47.2 in January to 48.8, a 1.6-point or 3.4 percent gain. The index stayed below the neutral 50 level for the sixth straight month, keeping the nation in what we classify as a pessimistic zone. February’s reading of 48.8 is 0.66% below the 301-month historical average of 49.1, indicating that optimism remains slightly below the long-term...

One of the most significant progressive-era “innovations” to American government was the rise of “independent” federal agencies—independent because they are structured outside the control of the President and Congress. These agencies enforce regulations created by bureaucrats, stemming from legislation passed by Congress. These independent agencies exercise legislative and enforcement powers, as well as judicial powers through Administrative Law Judges (ALJs). ALJs decide cases, which can then be appealed to an Article Three Federal Court. One of the...

The gap between economic data and its public interpretation is huge and getting bigger. As we approach another election cycle, it’s worth asking: what’s real, what’s political theater, and what does it all mean if Democrats regain control of the House? At first glance, the national mood doesn’t make sense. Gas prices have eased, unemployment remains low, year-over-year wages are finally ticking upward in real terms, and yet the pervasive feeling—is one of decline. Stores are closing, home sales are plummeting even in supposedly recession-proof...

With each passing year, healthcare grows more expensive and less accessible. New technologies could slow—or even reverse—that trend. Artificial Intelligence can expand access, lower costs, and improve quality, but only if lawmakers don’t block its path. Precautionary regulations are piling up, stifling innovation and leaving AI tools subject to a patchwork of inconsistent restrictions. What’s needed is a clear, outcomes-focused framework that lets healthcare providers deploy AI tools already proven to match or exceed human capabilities. Patients and clinicians should...

The raging policy debate in Washington over the export of advanced AI chips to China found a recent proof point laying bare the wisdom of imposing tech bans, courtesy of a much more primitive chip. In October 2022, the Biden Administration, as part of a broader restriction on the export of advanced U.S. technology, imposed export restrictions on what is called the 14-nanometer chip, which is commonly used in cell phones. Reflecting current thinking at the time, the White House believed banning the humble chip, which was developed by Intel Corp. in 2014, would set back the fortunes of SMIC,...

Are you outraged yet? The Wall Street Journal is reporting that four days before President Trump's inauguration, the Abu Dhabi royal family bought a $500 million stake in the Trump family's crypto firm, World Liberty Financial. The $500 million was to be paid in two installments, $250 million immediately and another  $500 million in July of last year. Of the $250 million paid, the WSJ reports that:  The buyers would pay half up front, steering $187 million to Trump family entities. The deal with World Liberty Financial, which hasn’t previously been reported, was signed...

C3 Bullion describes its mission as operating in the space between investors and gold mines by providing capital and expertise to gold producers in return for physical gold from the mines the firm works with. C3 Bullion says this is a happy medium between buying gold bars or investing in gold ETFs – or stepping into the mining sector itself. This approach, backed by a $50 million capitalization via its C3 Fund I, enables C3 Bullion to identify existing gold mining operations with sizable deposits but a need for capital investment to bring additional gold to the marketplace. The...

Football is a great game, but it would quickly lose its luster if every time the referees stepped onto the field they had a secret meeting to discuss implementing new rules. Likewise, capitalism and entrepreneurship have driven our country forward since our founding, but if the government continues to step in and make up and arbitrarily apply new rules then these economic growth engines will begin to lose their luster. As Netflix continues to work through its bid to acquire Warner Brothers, there is a question about whether the government referees are coming up with new rules and whether...

There was nothing “financial” about the so-called “2008 financial crisis.” Markets quite simply ARE. They’re neither left nor right, nor are they biased toward one Party or another. They just tell the truth which, by its very description, is never the stuff of “crisis.” What’s been said rates prominent mention right now with President Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh as Fed Chairman. In attempting to predict Warsh’s performance in the Fed’s top job, economists and pundits will judge him based on what he’s said and...

Senator Elizabeth Warren recently gave a speech presenting her version of an economic agenda which she said would help working people. She railed against giant corporations, corporate tycoons, and a rigged corporate system, and called for higher taxes on big corporations. Unfortunately, her anti-corporate agenda is exactly the wrong way to help working people. It is indisputable that the best way to help working people is to increase economic growth, leading to more jobs, increased wages, and a higher standard of living. And economic growth is powered by American corporations and American...

At the ongoing World Economic Forum meetings, both U.S. foreign and domestic policies have taken center stage. This includes issues ranging from housing affordability to reshaping how the U.S. defense contractors run their businesses. In a recent Executive Order, the President, who is obviously not happy with the performance of America’s defense industrial base, forbid them to “pay dividends or buy back stock, until such time as they are able to produce a superior product, on time and on budget.”Secretary Scott Bessent has since doubled down on these restrictions by...

The Federal Reserve seems to be quietly shifting its inflation goalposts above its 2% target that has anchored policy since 2012, even as it continues to emphasize its dual mandate of fostering maximum employment while containing inflation. With a new Fed chief to be named and set to take over in May, more openness to additional easing, the recent rate cuts aimed at supporting a softening labor market signal a growing willingness to tolerate a slightly higher inflation range in both the near and longer-term. If the Federal Reserve is indeed moving toward a more flexible inflation goalpost,...

Stupid is as stupid does. I’ve never given much thought to Forrest Gump’s mother’s astute observation. These riots in Minneapolis bring great clarity, along with the Southernism, “you can’t fix stupid.” A thousand years from now, when a new Gibbon examines how Western civilization committed its own suicide, he will lay a healthy amount of blame on social media video and allowing consumers of the latter the right to vote. Gibbon will state that, instead of being well informed by reading encyclopedic books on weighty subjects, the overly emotional and their...

By any economic measure, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is one of the most important regulatory bodies in the federal government. Its decisions influence hundreds of billions of dollars in private investment, determine the pace of medical innovation, and shape the cost structure of the entire U.S. healthcare system. Unfortunately, the agency is currently mired in dysfunction, internal conflict, and collapsing morale—problems the White House can no longer afford to overlook.The turmoil began soon after FDA Commissioner Marty Makary took office this past spring. His...

When did Republicans quit on supply side and go John Maynard Keynes on us? What can’t be said enough is that supply-side economics isn’t about fiddling with the tax rate to increase tax revenues by lowering taxes. Rising tax revenues are the opposite of supply-side economics exactly because more wealth is handed to the federal government to centrally plan the allocation of. True supply-side economics is all about reducing the barriers to production. Get it? While economists almost to a man and woman worship at the altar of consumption as the driver of economic growth, supply...

The latest inflation report is out, and the early chatter is already doing what it always does: seize on a single monthly number and ignore the trend.  Here’s the truth, stripped of spin.  Yes, producer prices rose 0.5 percent in December, a stronger-than-expected monthly increase. But on a year-over-year basis, producer inflation is running at about 3.0 percent, well below where it stood a year ago and clearly off the peak. Inflation is a rate-of-change problem, not a one-month snapshot. And the rate is cooling.  So what drove the December increase?  Trade services...