James Freeman

2 weeks ago | wsj.com | James Freeman

A new sign of commercial life appears downtown. It was a truly amazing feat to transform one of the world’s most beautiful cities into a place that people avoid visiting. But San Francisco’s progressive leftists managed to pull it off. Now at last there just might be a consensus that there is no virtue to signal when municipal authorities tolerate lawlessness and assist addicts in exploring the depths of human degradation.

2 weeks ago | wsj.com | James Freeman

Quick rewards for those who drop trade barriers will encourage others to do the same. Ever since President Donald Trump announced huge tax increases on international commerce this week, investors have rationally responded by marking down the value of businesses. That’s because firms are suddenly likely to have lower earnings in the future. Of course consumers will pay for tariffs too in the form of higher prices.

3 weeks ago | wsj.com | James Freeman

The latest NFIB survey finds small businesses raising wages and scaling back hiring plans. America’s small businesses are still suffering through a worker shortage, so it’s not surprising that wages continue to rise at small firms. This is good news for workers, but the potential bad news is that business owners continue to scale back their plans for future hiring. That’s according to the latest monthly survey from the National Federation of Independent Business, due out later today.

3 weeks ago | wsj.com | James Freeman

Voters rejected Harris, but one of her bad ideas makes a comeback. President Trump signed an executive order Monday aimed at cracking down on ticket-price gouging and other exploitative practices by middlemen like ticket brokers, calling for stronger enforcement of consumer-protection and tax laws. Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

3 weeks ago | wsj.com | James Freeman

Voters rejected Harris, but one of her bad ideas makes a comeback. President Trump signed an executive order Monday aimed at cracking down on ticket-price gouging and other exploitative practices by middlemen like ticket brokers, calling for stronger enforcement of consumer-protection and tax laws. America’s live concert and entertainment industry is the envy of the world.