Jim Prevor is a food industry expert and commentator known as "The Perishable Pundit" for his analysis of produce and food trade issues. He contributed to The Weekly Standard from 2008 to 2018, writing on economics, food policy, business regulation, and public policy debates. His articles frequently examined consumer economics, financial markets, and the unintended consequences of government intervention.
The New York Times recently ran an article, "How Much Will the Trade War Cost a Typical American Family? Around $60 (So Far)", that shows how broad is the misunderstanding of President Trump’s tariffs. Roughly speaking the article added up the cost assuming everybody keeps buying from China. But…
Joe Nocera, an op-ed columnist for the New York Times, has an astonishing piece titled, “Poisoned Politics of Keystone XL.” Most of the piece rehashes criticism of President Obama’s decision to reject the Keystone XL pipeline, which is designed to bring oil from the tar sands in Alberta, Canada, to…
Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electric, and his wife Suzy, the former editor of the Harvard Business Review, kick off their new management column for Reuters with a piece titled “Ron Paul and the pink slip that could decide the election.”
Alan Blinder’s Wall Street Journal column today, “Our National Jobs Emergency,” unwittingly provides an answer to why all the Obama administration’s machinations to improve our economy have failed. Professor Blinder is surely a smart guy, but, like the president himself, he seems to view…
Robert H. Frank, a professor of economics at Cornell University, makes an important point in his New York Times column, titled “The Payroll Tax Needs a Vacation.” Specifically, Frank argues, we shouldn’t allow the debate over the federal deficit to obscure the problem of getting people back to work.
One big problem conservatives face in trying to develop and implement effective public policy is that conservative thinkers have gotten used to operating in an intellectual milieu that assumes activist government is the answer to every question.
Today, the Senate is likely to vote on the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2010 (S510). But the bill is little more than an enormous grant of money and power to the Food and Drug Administration and a lot of reporting burdens imposed on the private sector. Those who favor a smaller, leaner…
Those who want to see better public policy in America owe a high five to LeBron James.
When an economist such as Alan S. Blinder, a professor at Princeton and former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, writes on the relative merits of different forms of stimulus, as he did in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal titled “Obama’s Fiscal Priorities Are Right,” isn’t it…
There is a very good reason why the White House – even with a generally complicit media – is having trouble persuading Americans that the stimulus spending is creating jobs: There seems to be an enormous disconnect between local economic development and creating net new jobs on a national basis.
Former President George W. Bush recently gave a speech before a business group meeting in Houston, Texas. In the speech, he explained how he came to endorse bailouts for financial companies, auto companies, etc., toward the end of his term. He said that his personal inclination was to avoid…
Think quick: What tasks would the president of the United States charge the head of NASA with performing: Going to Mars? Returning to the moon? Finding a replacement for the Space Shuttle? Enhancing U.S. technology?
Fannie Mae has introduced a new policy that prevents people who have defaulted on their mortgages from getting a new Fannie Mae loan for seven years – up from five previously. This policy only applies to defaulters who have adequate income and other resources to pay the note – a process Fannie Mae…
The Washington Examiner's Byron York asked an astute question after listening to President Obama’s speech on the Gulf oil spill: Who told Obama drilling is ‘absolutely safe’? York points out that engineers and scientists don’t speak in such absolute terms, and he can’t get anyone in the political…
Miguel Estrada is a highly esteemed conservative lawyer whose nomination to serve as a judge on the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia by President George W. Bush was stymied by the Democrats. In no small part, Democrats made this effort because they feared that allowing an intelligent,…
The triumph of Reaganism, as represented by the passage of the Kemp-Roth tax cuts in 1981, was a declaration of intellectual independence by conservatives and Republicans who decided to no longer be "tax collectors for the welfare state." Equally, the current battle to defeat plans for a national…
With word that the Swiss had unexpectedly voted to ban the construction of new minarets the predictable outcry against such "racism" has begun. The Wall Street Journal, however, editorialized that the real problem is that the ban, which does not ban the building of new mosques, has no substantive…
Ross Douthat's column in the New York Times, titled The Catastrophic Option, got right the purpose of insurance -- to protect people against bankrupting expenses. However his definition of a catastrophic plan as one that "would seek to insure Americans only against costs that exceed a certain…
It is hard to know if Thomas L. Friedman's love affair with China, already reaching approval of autocracy, is so intense that he is blind to reality or that he simply likes to pick and choose facts from China to buttress whatever he thinks we should do in America. His recent column in the New York…
Kimberly A. Strassel's column in the Wall Street Journal, Obama's Swing-State Blues, focusing on the gubernatorial race in Virginia, is both thoughtful and accurate in detailing the importance and dynamics of the race between Republican Robert F. McDonnell and Democrat Creigh Deeds. A win for the…
The moon belongs to everyone
It is almost irresistible for conservatives to snicker as Democrats in Massachusetts hold hearings and seek ways to justify an attempt to change the law in Massachusetts to allow the Democratic governor of the Commonwealth to appoint a Democratic senator--presumably available to vote for President…
The speech Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates presented at the Economic Club of Chicago was purported to present the administration's case for its defense budget, especially to clarify the strategic vision that animates opposition to the efforts in Congress to keep the F-22 Raptor line open.…
"I would think, if you want to run for president - and I'm not sure that's got anything to do with what she's doing - that the forum of a governorship would be a better forum than just being a private citizen" -- Senator Chuck Grassley In that phrase, "just being a private citizen," Senator…
While nominating Dr. Margaret Hamburg as head of the FDA and appointing Joshua Sharfstein as her deputy, President Obama showed a laudable passion as he addressed the nation regarding food safety. Unfortunately, his understanding of the situation is incorrect and his professed goal is…
The Bush and Obama administrations have shared an unwillingness to see any of the major banks go under, hence the problem we have in solving the current banking and financial crisis. Though both presidents pointed to an alleged systemic risk to the economy owing to the size of the big banks, it is…
I own a small business and as every small business owner realizes, the job of CEO is different when every employee knows your name and has met your kids. You have to be part financial adviser, part psychologist, part pastor and part cheerleader. On Tuesday, March 3, 2009, President Obama made…
Daniel Finkelstein over at Comment Central at the Times of London website offered up a video that aired on IRINN, the Iranian News Channel, and commented: Another installment in my "why not let these people have a nuclear weapon, what can possibly go wrong" series. This is a clip from a December…
Warren Buffett's annual letter to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway is a much anticipated event, as he reaches far beyond the typical CEO's letter to shareholders and addresses topics relevant to many discussions of public policy. Although Buffett is famous as a one of the world's richest men,…
They say the third time is a charm, and if you care about the U.S. taxpayer you'll hope the adage proves true as the federal government has concluded its third bailout deal with both Citigroup and AIG. Yet with $496 billion committed either in cash or guarantees before an additional $30 billion to…
If President Obama is to sell his mortgage bailout plan to the public, an important argument will be his claim that preventing foreclosures actually helps all homeowners by preventing housing prices from dropping: "This plan will not save every home, but it will give millions of families resigned…
Senator Barbara Mikulski succeeded in getting the Senate to incorporate her proposal for a tax break for new car buyers in its version of the stimulus bill: Interest payments and sales taxes on new autos would become tax deductible under a measure approved. A bill passed by the House does not have…
The Boston Globe reported this week that the Obama administration is not moving instantly to drop the "don't ask, don't tell" policy: The Obama administration is telling the Pentagon and gay-rights advocates that it will have to study the implications for national security and enlist more support…
Write fast! If you are interested in seeing Barack Obama sworn in as President, the official Presidential Inaugural Committee is conducting an essay contest. Although the real goal is fundraising and the website is vague as to whether anyone who fails to contribute will, in fact, be selected to…
The New York Times reported on the front page of its Sunday edition that as part of the planned stimulus program, Obama Considers Major Expansion in Aid to Jobless. If the article is true, it is a very bad sign for both the economy and the culture: One proposal, as described by Democratic advisers,…
Most retailers won't report their sales results until the customary 1st Thursday after the 2nd, which is January 8. Still that hasn't stopped the downbeat headlines trumpeting the plummeting of retail sales, mostly based on the SpendingPulse Holiday Wrap-up Report put out by MasterCard Advisors.…