Overview for David Frum in Print

Will America Pay for Europe's Bailout?

In my column for CNN, I discuss what sort of bailout Europe will need when it finally confronts the full scale of its debt crisis: It's been obvious for some time now what has to be done to avert the bank run: a European Super TARP, a version of the Troubled Asset Relief Program that was used …

Written by David Frum on Monday October 3, 2011

More Jobs, Better Pay: What the GOP Can Do

In my column for CNN, I explain why Rick Perry's record on job is both his greatest strength and weakness: Gov. Rick Perry enters the presidential race with one big advantage and one big impediment. The advantage: his record of job creation in Texas. His impediment? His record of job creation …

Written by David Frum on Monday August 15, 2011

Why Companies Won't Hire

In my column for CNN, I discuss some of the reasons why very few companies are currently hiring: Even if we avoid a second recessionary dip, we're stuck on a very, very disappointing path. Call it the 1936 parallel. From 1933 to 1936, the U.S. economy grew strongly, almost 10% a year. When …

Written by David Frum on Monday August 8, 2011

Canada's Uneasy Quiet

My column in today's National Post expresses worry whether Canada's relative prosperity can continue to survive global economic turbulence: Canada increased its exports by $26.7-billion in 2010 over 2009. Almost 80% of that increase was driven by sales of automotive products into the U.S. …

Written by David Frum on Saturday August 6, 2011

The Debt Deal's Biggest Losers

In my new column for The Week I discuss who has lost the most in the new debt deal: The first and most obvious loser: National security. The economist Herb Stein used to advocate a simple model of federal budgeting: a) Decide how much it costs to defend the country. b) Pay for it. …

Written by David Frum on Thursday August 4, 2011

Government Spending: Better Than No Spending

In my column for The Week , I write about how even wasteful government spending is better then no spending at all: Government spending is often wasteful. But it's still spending. When the Department of Waste, Fraud & Abuse buys toothpicks for the office cafeteria, that money is …

Written by David Frum on Thursday July 21, 2011

GOP Demands Unconditional Surrender

The GOP is demanding unconditional surrender on the debt ceiling, just like it did on healthcare In my CNN column , I write about how the GOP is seeking unconditional surrender on the debt ceiling, and that this can lead to the same disaster that happened to the healthcare bill: In this …

Written by David Frum on Monday July 18, 2011

Will America’s Debt Crisis have Canadian Aftershocks?

If worse comes to worst, here’s a question that few in Washington are asking: What will a U.S. default mean for Canada? Republicans and Democrats probably will reach a deal to pay America’s bills before the U.S. government runs out of cash at the end of July. Probably. But if worse comes …

Written by David Frum on Saturday July 16, 2011

Signs of Good News in the Recovery

The economy is currently very weak, but as I write in my column for The Week, there are some signs of good news. The economy is currently very weak, but as I write in my column for The Week , there are some signs of good news. It's been a summer of bad news: Bad job news, bad housing news, …

Written by David Frum on Thursday July 14, 2011

Democrats Should Offer to Extend the Bush Tax Cuts

In my column for The Week, I argue that Democrats can get a deal on the debt ceiling if they offer to bring back to the Bush tax cuts. In my column for The Week , I argue that Democrats can get a deal on the debt ceiling if they offer to bring back to the Bush tax cuts: Here's one Democrati…

Written by David Frum on Wednesday July 6, 2011

Free Conrad Black

One of the remarkable things about Conrad Black's trial is that even his fiercest detractors are paying tribute to the man's character. In my column for The Week I argue against the recent decision to send Conrad Black back to prison: Of all the ugly aspects of the American prosecutorial …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday June 29, 2011

Ending UK Lawfare Against Israelis

A hero of the Entebbe raid was threatened with arrest in the UK. So was a former Israeli Foreign Minister. Their alleged crimes? Doing their duty to protect their country. Israeli politicians and soldiers have repeatedly been threatened with arrest in the United Kingdom in recent years because …

Written by David Frum on Thursday June 23, 2011

Conservative Media's Pay-To-Play Deals

We're not talking about commercials, separated from editorial content. Heritage Foundation work is embedded into the editorial flow of Limbaugh's show. Why are conservatives so ready to accept behaviors in their own media that they themselves would damn as outrageous if they occurred in non-conser…

Written by David Frum on Wednesday June 15, 2011

America's Debt Bill Comes Due

Politicians are jockeying for position as the bill comes due on our gaping national debt. But without an agreement soon, we'll all be stuck with the check. Politicians are jockeying for position as the bill comes due on our gaping national debt. As I explain in my latest column for The Week …

Written by David Frum on Thursday June 9, 2011

The Huntsman-Pawlenty RINO War

Two slick new ads attacking Jon Huntsman and Tim Pawlenty as reasonable moderates show just how divorced from reality today's GOP is. Two slick new ads are out attacking Jon Huntsman and Tim Pawlenty as reasonable moderates. As I point out in my latest column for The Week , these ads show just …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday June 1, 2011

Obama Falls for Abbas' Bluff

Holding the geopolitical equivalent of a pair of twos and a pair of threes, the Palestinian Authority President has bluffed and bullied Obama into an awkward predicament. Mahmoud Abbas must be a very good poker player. Or else Barack Obama must be a very bad one. Holding the geopolitical …

Written by David Frum on Saturday May 28, 2011

A Get Rich Slow Scheme

A cheap dollar is no fun for Americans, but as my latest column for The Week points out: it may bring us out of our recession. A cheap dollar is no fun for Americans, but as my latest column for The Week points out: it may bring us out of our recession. Work more. Save more. Export more. …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday May 18, 2011

What the GOP Can Learn from Canada's Conservatives

Canada's right wing won control of parliament this month — but their strategy on immigration and Tea Party-types wouldn't work in the United States. American conservatives are looking at Canada's Conservative Party election win for lessons. But as my latest column for The Week points out, it's …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday May 11, 2011

Bin Laden Raid Is Obama's Victory

If bin Laden's assassination had gone badly, President Obama would have been blamed. That's why he gets the credit. The story goes that after the Bay of Pigs disaster, President Kennedy placed a call to CIA director Allen Dulles. Kennedy supposedly said: "If we lived in a parliamentary system, and …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday May 4, 2011

Qaddafi's Choice: Power or Prison?

Before Libya, the White House was warming to the idea of an international criminal court. But now Qaddafi's fears of a war crime trial are hampering efforts to find an exit plan. "The Elba option is impossible in the modern world," sighed an unhappy German diplomat. Elba is a small, scenic …

Written by David Frum on Monday April 18, 2011