Category Archives: Financial Services

The Subprime Superhighway

The U.S. and Europe are lowering capital standards for ‘investments’ in public infrastructure—ignoring the lessons from 2007-08. By PHIL GRAMM Oct. 2, 2016 5:56 p.m. ET More government spending, particularly for infrastructure projects, is the mantra in Washington and other capitals. But two factors stand in the way. First, the...
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Why This Recovery is So Lousy

Don’t believe the line that slow growth is inevitable after financial crises. Bad policies yield bad results. PHIL GRAMM and MICHAEL SOLON August 4, 2016 Donald Trump has been criticized by Democrats and Republicans alike for saying that “the American dream is dead.” But instead of slaying the messenger, critics on both...
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The Federal Reserve’s Accountability Deficit

Every member of the Fed’s Board of Governors is an Obama appointee. That wasn’t supposed to happen. By PHIL GRAMM And THOMAS R. SAVING Oct. 14, 2015 6:27 p.m. ET The Federal Reserve enjoys extraordinary independence from the elected branches of government, based on the well-founded fear that politicians cannot be trusted with...
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How to Distort Income Inequality

The Piketty-Saez data ignore changes in tax law and fail to count noncash compensation and Social Security benefits. By Phil Gramm And Michael Solon   Nov. 11, 2014 6:50 p.m. ET What the hockey-stick portrayal of global temperatures did in bringing a sense of crisis to the issue of global...
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Gramm and Solon: Suddenly, an Opening for Tax Reform

Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden now recognizes that a pro-growth tax reform can raise revenues. By Phil Gramm and Mike Solon A glimmer of hope for the economy and deficit reduction flashed from the Senate this past weekend when the new Senate Finance Committee Chairman, Ron Wyden, announced “a breakthrough”...
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