Financial crises, and their aftermaths, can pose greater challenges to central bank independence than the more traditional pain associated with combating inflation.

The governments of U.K., Ireland and Greece have embarked upon ambitious, sometimes painful efforts to restore their economies Of the three, the U.K. and Ireland took their medicine, while Greece decided the taste was just too awful, and its irresponsibility threatens every euro-zone country.

Judging from the response to the Fed's three-year battle against systemic financial collapse and the risk of deflation, it is difficult to escape the conclusion that financial crises and their aftermaths can pose greater challenges to central bank independence than the more traditional pain associated with combating inflation.

Americans spend almost 50 percent more time in paid employment than do Western Europeans. This gap in work time emerged in the 1970s and has grown to dramatic levels in recent decades. What factors cause this large discrepancy in lifestyles? To what extent can this be explained by differences in...

Recent economic research suggests that a dollar of government spending raises GDP by $1 but that a dollar of tax cuts raises GDP by $3.

The literature is clear: spending cuts, not tax increases, are more likely to succeed in reducing deficits and debt and are more friendly to economic growth.

The appropriate scope of the European Union and authority of the European Commission, the governing body of the EU, is subject of intense debate. While some are reluctant to accept further centralization by the EU, others call for fuller political integration among member countries and new countries seeking entry. ...

The experience of twenty-one countries over thirty-seven years yields a simple truth: cutting spending works, and raising taxes does not.