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Consumers spending but want better deal

Americans haven’t stopped spending. They are looking harder for a price they can live with. Bank of America’s August card data show spending per household rose 4.5% from a year earlier. But big-box and general merchandise stores outperformed traditional retailers, suggesting shoppers are seeking lower-cost alternatives while continuing to spend. That is a more useful description of the consumer than a single strong or weak label. The last housing report for August tells a similar story, even among the relatively higher-income households who buy newly built homes. New home sales ...

Ground broken on a Rust Belt powerhouse

The last time that I stood on these grounds along the Ohio River in Beaver County was 1976, 19 years after the first commercial nuclear power plant in the United States opened here. My Perry High School physics teacher, David Burrows, had loaded a handful of us into a van for a field trip to the atomic station and to the coal-fired Bruce Mansfield plant next door. What Mr. Burrows and I both still remember is the climb -- 20 flights up metal bar-grating stairs to the top of a cavernous industrial cathedral built to house Mansfield’s multi-story steam boilers -- and the black ...

Are we living in ‘The Terminator?’

Unless you’re hiding under a rock, you’ve probably heard a lot about artificial intelligence (AI) lately. Recently Jacob Coxon, former AI researcher, told Fox News that within a few years, AI would be “capable of being able to take over the world.” Coxon worked for Anthropic and Open AI, both American companies. Subsequently Evan Hubinger, Anthropic’s Alignment Science Lead posted: “Jacob is correct here – we really do earnestly believe AI could kill all humans! I personally think it is >10% within the next decade...we do not yet have a plan to solve alignment for ...

Federal Reserve can’t pump oil

I think the Fed should hold. Inflation is still too high. But the most important question is not whether inflation went up. It is why. Consumer prices rose 0.4% in August and 3.4% from a year ago. Much of that acceleration came from energy. Gasoline prices jumped 3.9% in one month. Wholesale diesel prices surged 24.1%. Oil prices have climbed above $100 a barrel as conflict in the Middle East disrupted supply. That is a very different problem from an economy where consumers are spending too much and businesses cannot keep up. The Fed can make borrowing more expensive. It can slow ...

Government unions making a comeback — at taxpayers’ expense

Government unions looked like they were up against the ropes in 2018. Then, a landmark Supreme Court decision, Janus v. AFSCME, cut them off from a major revenue source. Janus ruled that unions could no longer force public employees to pay “fair share” fees to unions they never joined. In the years that followed, the four largest government unions — the National Education Association (NEA), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) — lost hundreds of ...

State can still avoid self-inflicted wound

How do you intentionally cut the income of tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians? By undermining an industry that’s become essential to local businesses, veterans’ organizations, fraternal clubs and small businesses across the commonwealth. For nearly two decades, skill games have been part of Pennsylvania’s local fabric. They help keep neighborhood establishments open, support VFWs and American Legions, fund volunteer fire companies and provide a financial lifeline for organizations and social clubs. In all, thousands of Pennsylvanians rely on the supplemental income from these ...