The Most Important Issue At Helsinki No, folks, it was not the much ballyhooed issue of Russian election interference in 2016, which got so much attention because of Trump’s bungled and false statements at the press conference. Oh yes, for those of us who are convinced he is a bought out stooge of Putin, this […]
Trump Tariffs Hit Largest US Aluminum Company, ALCOA In the history of antitrust law, one of the most important rulings by the US Supreme Court came in 1945, when the Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA), long based in Pittsburgh with heavy Mellon family ownership, was ordered broken up for being a monopoly, following a ruling […]
Is Trump Bailing Out Soybean Farmers Or Not? Chinese tariffs on US soybean exports have now kicked in, with China half the US soybean market, and exports much more important for soybeans than for corn, with the US producing half the world’s corn, but exporting less of it than soybeans. Upshot is that while soybean […]
Pruitt’s EPA Trashing Benefit-Cost Analysis Of Environmental Policy Scott Pruitt increasingly looks the worst of the worst out of the appalling cabinet of President Trump, quite aside from his race to become the single most corrupt cabinet member in the entire history ofthe US. The latter is trivial compared to his policy change after policy […]
Refurbishing The Trump Economics Team Rumors are floating on the internet that NEC Chair Lawrence Kudlow is looking for new people to join the team advising President Trump on economics. Of course, the obvious place to start would be with him, a non-economist, although he has played one on TV a lot, who also has […]
Immigration Politics In Europe Versus Immigration Politics In The US Immigration politics in both places has gotten very ugly, but it strikes me that in Europe it may be worse than in the US. We may be about to see the fall from power this weekend of Angela Merkel as Chancellor of Germany over the […]
The Mezzogiorno Problem Revisited I have recently returned from participating in a conference in Naples, Italy on “The Economy as a Complex Spatial System” where there many papers and much discussion about the longstanding poverty problem in southern Italy, long labeled “the Mezzogiorno problem.” Mezzogiorno literally means midday or noon, but has long been applied […]
The Singapore Deal I have refused to forecast what two unpredictable leaders will do, and I shall continue that, other than to say I do not believe North Korea will denuclearize. Otherwise, well, the written deal was mostly aspirations while there seem to be disagreements about the verbal deals. DPRK says US has agreed to […]
Backstabbing Over Cow What is it with cows? I mean their flatulence does add to global warming, but they seem so benign, chewing their cud while producing milk and meat. Why is it that national leaders get into fits of backstabbing over them, or especially over all that milk they produce? Well, of course, that […]
Robert J. Samuelson Also Exaggerates Social Security Problems Not really a surprise, after all, it is Monday, and RJS has been at this for quite a long time at his post at WaPo. But the recent release of the Trustees’ Report has not only gotten the Associated Press all bent out and shrieking “insolvency,” but […]