Alex Benson

About the author

Alex Benson writes about financial markets and the US economy, interpreted through the lens of his experience as an economist, lawyer, and avid reader and student of history. Alex graduated from law school in 2016 and is a practicing lawyer at his day job. The rest of his time is spent reading, writing, or in the weight room; when not practicing law or reading and writing he can be probably be found picking heavy stuff up and putting it back down. Alex holds a law degree from Ohio State University, a master's degree in economics from Bowling Green State University, and a bachelor's degree in political science and economics, also from Bowling Green.

Fed wisely continues rate hikes amid criticism from President Trump

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve released the minutes of the September 25-26 quarterly meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC).  The summary showed that officials anticipate the meeting’s (quarter percent) rate hike to the central bank’s benchmark federal funds rate target to be followed by another increase at the end of the year, and […]

Saudi retaliation to potential US sanctions could further sink tech stocks

Early this week, in an interview with 60 Minutes, President Donald Trump remained noncommittal about whether he would impose sanctions on Saudi Arabia as punishment for the alleged killing of Saudi-born Washington Post Journalist Jamal Khashoggi.  The President cited concerns over the economic impact of cancelling arms sales to the Kingdom, and other measures, saying, […]

Thanks to capitalism, world poverty potentially eradicated in twenty years?

It might be the greatest achievement in human history, and yet so few have ever heard it. Global extreme poverty (defined by the United Nations as living on less than $1.90 a day), has been nearly eradicated. As recently as 1990, 32 percent of the world’s population subsisted on less than $1.90 a day. In […]

Opinion: Why a $36 trillion Medicare-for-all plan won’t save us money (Part 2)

This op-ed was written by NEWSREP guest author, Alex Benson. Part 1 can be read here. Spending $3.2 trillion a year on a new entitlement program will not save money, even if we zero out all private spending on healthcare.  The claim that spending such a massive sum amounts to savings stems from a misinterpretation […]

Opinion: Why a $36 trillion Medicare-for-all plan won’t save us money (Part 1)

Governments have always more or less held to political satirist P.J. O’Rourke’s dictum that “It’s better to spend like there’s no tomorrow than to spend tonight like there’s no money.” Recently, however, some truly outlandish proposals have become mainstream in both political parties. These policies make one wonder whether today’s politicians misinterpreted O’Rourke’s humor as […]

Economic outlook: President Trump should learn from history

In the past two years, President Trump has enacted tariffs on $16 billion worth of Chinese and Canadian goods. Predictably, the Canadians countered with $12.6 billion in retaliatory duties against US exports. The Chinese followed. In addition, in his most sweeping action to date, the president slapped a 25 percent tariff on all foreign steel […]