Commerce

By Mark Jamison The White House has announced what it calls a historic bipartisan infrastructure deal that would cost about $1.2 trillion. About 27 percent of the money goes to what is generally thought of as infrastructure: roads, bridges, railroads, the electric grid,

By Jim Harper “CONGRESS IS SO BROKEN,” shouted Caitlin Long, founder and CEO at the Avanti Financial Group. Having spent two decades on Wall Street in stints at Solomon Brothers, Credit Suisse, and Morgan Stanley, she now inhabits the world of cryptocurrency. She

BY ANGELA RACHIDI The disappointing April jobs report raised new questions about how government policies, such as enhanced unemployment insurance, have slowed the economic recovery by discouraging people from returning to work. Some have suggested that closed childcare facilities and schools, not employment disincentives, are

BY BILL HAMMOND New York’s hospitals remained near the bottom of two quality report cards issued last week. In an update to Hospital Compare, a consumer guide from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the state’s hospitals received an

BY E.J. McMAHON Today was the (rescheduled) deadline for filing 2020 federal income tax returns, which makes this New York’s third annual SALT-Free Income Tax Day. By midnight tonight, most Empire State residents will have been reminded once again that—despite

BY E.J. McMAHON Private-sector employment in New York increased faster than the nationwide recovery rate in the month of April, according to the state’s latest monthly jobs report. The April count of private-sector employment was estimated at 7.4 million jobs, up

BY E.J. McMAHON Since the late 1960s, New York’s primary export to the rest of the nation has been people, as reflected in federal data tracking population flows within and between states. The Empire State has lost a net 1,585,770 residents to

BY MATT WEIDINGER Fact-checkers have started to notice the shaky jobs claims made by Biden administration officials in touting their $2.2 trillion American Jobs Plan. That includes this whopper from President Biden last week: “Independent analysis shows that if we pass this plan, the

BY PAUL H. KUPIEC Newly-elected administrations try to lay the groundwork for their legacy in the first 100-days in office. During their “honeymoon” period, they introduce landmark legislation and issue executive orders to address existential economic or national security concerns,

BY BRENT ORRELL That’s the question raised by a new incentive program designed to draw workers freed from geography by remote-work options to live in the state of West Virginia. Ascend West Virginia is offering $12,000 and other perks as incentives to draw

BY ANGELA RACHIDI When the coronavirus pandemic hit American shores in early 2020, questions emerged over how employers and employees would handle the anticipated need for workers to take time away for illness or to care for family members. Without a national paid leave law,

BY MATT WEIDINGER The Washington Post reports President Joe Biden’s next trillion-dollar spending plan “is expected to devote hundreds of billions of dollars to new programs,” including “$225 billion for child-care funding; $225 billion for paid family and medical leave; $200 billion

BY JAMES PETHOKOUKIS  What sort of shape is the American economy in after a year of the pandemic? Maybe better than you might guess. Even better than many economists might have guessed. As the econ team at Goldman Sachs notes:

BY JAMES PETHOKOUKIS President Biden’s campaign tax plan was full of tax increases, some $3 trillion worth. But a wealth tax wasn’t one of them. And, according to The New York Times, a wealth tax is “not among the top revenue-raisers that Democratic

BY KEVIN R. KOSAR Last week, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hauled Postmaster General Louis DeJoy before it and spent the better part of five and a half hours denouncing him. In part, majority Democrats were politicking — they rehashed

BY DANIEL LYONS Last week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted a report and order establishing the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program (EBB), a $3.2 billion program to help low-income families stay connected to the internet during the COVID-19 pandemic. The

BY KYLE POMERLEAU Last month, Senator Mitt Romney introduced a proposal to enact a “child allowance,” a monthly payment to households with children. His proposal would be financed in part by repealing other child benefits, including the “Child and Dependent Care Tax

Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-26) is pushing for federal grants for restaurants to be included in the first COVID emergency relief package approved by Congress under the new Biden Administration. In a letter to President-elect Biden, Higgins writes, “Restaurants are more than