By Bill Wilson — Once again, the civilian labor force participation rate has declined, from 64 percent to 63.7 percent in a single month. Since January 2009, it has declined from 65.7 percent, resulting in approximately 4.7 million people no longer being counted towards the unemployment rate. If they were included, the real rate of unemployed working age adults would [...]

By Bill Wilson — Today’s announcement by the Bureau of Labor Statistics that approximately 240,000 jobs were created by the engine of the U.S. economy, America’s private sector businesses and entrepreneurs.  These job creators are moving forward because they trust that the Republican led House of Representatives will stop Obama’s threatened tax increases that would suck the very money that [...]

NRD Editor’s Note: This column originally appeared at Investor’s Business Daily. By Howard Rich — Klaus Schwab, a German academic and founder of the World Economic Forum, recently proclaimed the death of capitalism as we know it — a curious critique coming from the head of an organization whose motto finds “entrepreneurship is in the global public interest.” “Capitalism, in [...]

By Bill Wilson — Reflecting Europe is nowhere near agreement on how to “rescue” Greece — let alone prop up Italy and Spain — German Chancellor Angela Merkel again delayed finalizing any deal on Jan. 30, telling reporters, “We won’t have a thorough discussion of Greece because the troika is in Greece and we don’t have a result of the [...]

By Kevin Mooney — Despite an adverse court ruling out of Ecuador, Chevron continues to remain on the offensive against trial lawyers who are suing the company over environmental allegations that have been hotly disputed.  An Ecuadorian appeals court in Lago Agrio  upheld a ruling earlier this month ordering the company to pay $18 billion in damages to plaintiffs who [...]

By Bill Wilson — In 2011, the economy slowed down considerably to a tepid snail’s pace of 1.7 percent for the year.  The housing bubble popped in August 2007, and the economy contracted in its aftermath.  Here we are, four years later, and the economy is still very weak, unemployment remains unacceptably high, consumer inflation is still rising, and the [...]

By Kevin Mooney — Fresh from his overwhelming re-election victory, Gov. Bobby Jindal has unveiled an audacious education reform agenda that built around an expanded school voucher program, new charter schools, a rigorous teacher evaluation system and a revamped tenure system. With the Louisiana state legislature set to go back into session this coming March, the governor is expected to [...]

By Bill Wilson — Sometimes, government officials tell the truth, and when they do, watch out. It might be a good idea to hold on to your wallet. A recent example is International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde commenting on the European debt crisis in Berlin on Jan. 23.  Even though the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) has already [...]

By Bill Wilson — Over the past century, economies have become more integrated — trading more goods and services around the world, moving capital globally, labor being shifted overseas, and just recently in history, the worldwide dissemination of information has become instantaneous with the power of the Internet. It’s often called globalization, and it’s certainly nothing new. Ironically, there is [...]

By Bill Wilson — Since Barack Obama assumed office, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the total population over age 16 has grown by 5.845 million to 240.5 million, and yet, since then, the civilian labor force has actually shrunk by 349,000 — from about 154.2 million to 153.8 million. This is a startling contradiction, and it is at [...]