Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Donald Trump is a Miracle Worker

Somehow Trump manages to bring out the best in people. In the January 21 women’s march demonstrations, millions of ordinary Americans peacefully engaged in the political process, expressing a variety of consistent opinions with passion and humour. I was delighted. But today I am amazed. It seems that Donald Trump has somehow managed to make […]

NAFTA and MANUFACTURING EMPLOYMENT

President Trump is not alone in blaming NAFTA for the decline in US manufacturing employment over the last several decades.  Many people on all sides of the political spectrum believe the same thing.  But as this chart demonstrates the economic data tells a very different story.   In the decade after NAFTA came into being, […]

Legible version of How have Phillips Curves Shifted in the 15 Countries Which Were in The European Union in 1997 ?

First note strong evidence that the rate of wage inflation is mean reverting. This is a pooled regression with data from the Old EU 15 from 1960 through 2015. Indicator variables for countries are included but the coefficients aren’t reported. dw is the percent rate of wage inflation. ddw is the change of dw. The […]

Paul Ryan Can Not Take the Truth So He Hides It with Legislation

Paul Ryan and other House Republicans voted along party lines “Adopting rules for the One Hundred Fifteenth Congress.” The vote was 234 Yeas to 193 Nays. Three Republicans voted with Democrats to block the new rules for the 115th Congress. No big deal, right? and the New Rules passed. As many of you probably know, […]

Protesting Donald Trump

When Barack Obama became President, Republicans in Congress pledged to oppose him tooth and nail. That was a bad idea. It implied that they were hoping the President would fail. This implies one of two things: either they wished ill for the country, or they were completely convinced that Obama was wrong and they were […]