Damon Dunn
Blog
Welfare Programs Promote Bureaucracy Rather Than Self-Sufficiency
Welfare programs treat the symptoms of poverty, not the cause. As a result, they will never be the solution to ending poverty, nor are they designed to be a lasting solution. We have created a massive, cumbersome bureaucracy to administer an ineffective welfare state that, at best, locks millions of ...
Business & Economics
The Economy Has Changed for American Workers – And There’s No Going Back
It used to be that political parties would argue over which policy was more effective at helping the largest number of people achieve the American dream. Now, a growing chorus on the left have begun to argue that the American dream itself is a lie, and that our only option ...
Business & Economics
How Free Markets Can Address Income Inequality
We support free markets not because some 18th- or 19th-century European philosopher said they’re great. Rather, we support a free market system because experience has shown it delivers more opportunity and prosperity to Americans than any other economic system. That’s not to say that we are blind to the current ...
Blog
Universal Income Just Another Name for Putting Everyone on Welfare
One idea that has been gaining traction recently is a system of universal income, also known as basic income. The city of Stockton, California will be the nation’s first city to launch a universal income pilot program in 2019. While the specific policy proposals take many forms, the basic idea ...
Blog
Taking a Long-Term View to Evaluate Trade, Market Policy
As I write this article in late November of 2018, the stock market has fallen significantly from its recent highs. These losses, which have erased nearly all the gains made thus far in 2018 push us toward official correction territory for both the DOW and NASDAQ for the year. These ...
Blog
Tax Reform Making a Difference in Increasing Opportunity for All Americans
In the early 21st century, American fiscal policy must balance and prioritize two fundamental goals. First, we need to create the best possible environment for investment and innovation, setting the stage for another century of unparalleled prosperity. Second, we need to ensure that the largest possible number of Americans, from ...
Blog
Free-Markets 101: Politicians Need a Good Education About Running a Business
There are not enough politicians who know what it takes to run a business. Many argue that government would improve if it was run more like a business. Having been an entrepreneur and business owner, I know firsthand the blessings and challenges that come with owning a business. And having ...
Blog
Free-Markets 101: Small Businesses Key to America’s Innovation Future
Our politics are full of paeans to small business. Regardless of one’s policy preferences or party affiliation, everyone appears rhetorically to be on the side of small business. As an entrepreneur and small business owner, I am reminded daily of the struggles and virtues of owning a small business. But ...
Blog
Free Markets 101: My Story Shows You Can Get Ahead by Adding New Skills
This essay is meant to be a simple and straight forward look at how adding specific skill sets allowed me to have socioeconomic mobility and earn wages that allow me to send my daughter to private school, own a home, and enjoy a better present and future for my family. ...
Blog
Why Skills Based Economics Should Be Focus of Free-Market Advocates
In this and succeeding columns, I intend to develop a new paradigm for thinking about economic progress for America in the 21st century. I believe that supporters of free markets are faced with both extraordinary opportunities and great cause for concern in the 21st century. The opportunities for our nation ...
Welfare Programs Promote Bureaucracy Rather Than Self-Sufficiency
Welfare programs treat the symptoms of poverty, not the cause. As a result, they will never be the solution to ending poverty, nor are they designed to be a lasting solution. We have created a massive, cumbersome bureaucracy to administer an ineffective welfare state that, at best, locks millions of ...
The Economy Has Changed for American Workers – And There’s No Going Back
It used to be that political parties would argue over which policy was more effective at helping the largest number of people achieve the American dream. Now, a growing chorus on the left have begun to argue that the American dream itself is a lie, and that our only option ...
How Free Markets Can Address Income Inequality
We support free markets not because some 18th- or 19th-century European philosopher said they’re great. Rather, we support a free market system because experience has shown it delivers more opportunity and prosperity to Americans than any other economic system. That’s not to say that we are blind to the current ...
Universal Income Just Another Name for Putting Everyone on Welfare
One idea that has been gaining traction recently is a system of universal income, also known as basic income. The city of Stockton, California will be the nation’s first city to launch a universal income pilot program in 2019. While the specific policy proposals take many forms, the basic idea ...
Taking a Long-Term View to Evaluate Trade, Market Policy
As I write this article in late November of 2018, the stock market has fallen significantly from its recent highs. These losses, which have erased nearly all the gains made thus far in 2018 push us toward official correction territory for both the DOW and NASDAQ for the year. These ...
Tax Reform Making a Difference in Increasing Opportunity for All Americans
In the early 21st century, American fiscal policy must balance and prioritize two fundamental goals. First, we need to create the best possible environment for investment and innovation, setting the stage for another century of unparalleled prosperity. Second, we need to ensure that the largest possible number of Americans, from ...
Free-Markets 101: Politicians Need a Good Education About Running a Business
There are not enough politicians who know what it takes to run a business. Many argue that government would improve if it was run more like a business. Having been an entrepreneur and business owner, I know firsthand the blessings and challenges that come with owning a business. And having ...
Free-Markets 101: Small Businesses Key to America’s Innovation Future
Our politics are full of paeans to small business. Regardless of one’s policy preferences or party affiliation, everyone appears rhetorically to be on the side of small business. As an entrepreneur and small business owner, I am reminded daily of the struggles and virtues of owning a small business. But ...
Free Markets 101: My Story Shows You Can Get Ahead by Adding New Skills
This essay is meant to be a simple and straight forward look at how adding specific skill sets allowed me to have socioeconomic mobility and earn wages that allow me to send my daughter to private school, own a home, and enjoy a better present and future for my family. ...
Why Skills Based Economics Should Be Focus of Free-Market Advocates
In this and succeeding columns, I intend to develop a new paradigm for thinking about economic progress for America in the 21st century. I believe that supporters of free markets are faced with both extraordinary opportunities and great cause for concern in the 21st century. The opportunities for our nation ...
