PERC Blog

Before Thinking About Expanding Medicare, Read the Trustees Reports

Posted: September 16, 2021 by Dennis W. Jansen, Andrew J. Rettenmaier
The Social Security and Medicare Trustees Reports were finally released on August 31, or almost five months after their scheduled release date of April 1. This year’s release date was the latest since 1967 when the April 1 release date was established. You may think that the delay was due to some surprising development with the programs&rs...

Regrets? Yes, Regrets About the CARES Act

Posted: May 20, 2020 by Dennis W. Jansen
An article in The Wall Street Journal says that Bill Gates has regrets that the world was not better prepared for the pandemic.  While clear when vision is 20-20, would we make the same statement without the benefit of hindsight?  Should the world have been better prepared?  Quite possibly, although it is hard to predict the occur...

The Fed Must Reduce Rates Now!

Posted: June 11, 2019 by Dennis W. Jansen, Thomas R. Saving
The FOMC’s press release from its May 1 meeting emphasized that the economy was on an even keel, and that no change in the Fed Funds Rate target was in store. This steady-as-you-go decision was highlighted in the popular press. Hardly noticed was the small 5 basis point reduction in the interest rate on excess reserves, IOER, despite the f...

The Little-Known Fact That Will Make the National Debt Even Harder to Tackle

Posted: December 19, 2018 by Dennis W. Jansen, Thomas R. Saving
The federal government is skirting dangerous shoals with an irresponsible fiscal policy. We are running massive budget deficits in a booming peacetime economy. These deficits are increasing our federal debt—which means we are also paying more to service the debt and more interest on every dollar of debt. While the Federal Reserve has be...