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

The Trump measles pandemic continues to grow

“As of March 27, 2025, a total of 483 confirmed* measles cases were reported by 20 jurisdictions: Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York City, New York State, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, and Washington.” Meanwhile, leaders at the CDC ordered staff this week not […]

Trump says trade wars are easy to win; history says no

Trump has said trade wars are “good and easy to win.” History begs to differ. The Smoot-Hawley Act and ensuing trade wars were not good for the country and not good for President Hoover. “The 1930 Tariff Act started with the narrow aim of helping distressed farmers but then mushroomed into a wholesale rewriting of […]

The federal government and the future of US medical training

Residency is a mandatory step to achieving medical licensure in the US. Most residency programs are managed by hospitals, although my medical school is one of the ca. 10% that manages its own residency programs. The federal government, primarily through Medicare and Medicaid, is the largest source of funding for Graduate Medical Education (GME), which […]

No reason for Greenland to choose to be a US colony

Trump and Vance insist that Denmark and Greenlanders must cede control of Greenland to the United States. Trump has made not-so-veiled threats to seize Greenland by force. A US invasion and military occupation of Greenland would ostensibly be justified on national security grounds, to protect the region from Russia. A similar justification has been voiced […]

Unintended consequences

I get that Trump is too stupid to understand that his tariffs (a) will be paid by American consumers, (b) will drive inflation and (c) will prevent future Fed rate cuts. But there are other negative consequences: “While Wall Street frets about potential volatility from President Trump’s April 2 “Liberation Day” plans, another part of […]

Trump Administration to food banks: “Let them eat nothing”

The Trump Administration cuts $1 billion from food banks in order to fund tax cuts for the 1% and corporations. “Food banks across New England are scrambling after the Trump administration this month cut some $1 billion from programs that help them obtain food for distribution, increasing concerns about meeting demand when hunger is already […]

Pete Hegseth: DUI DEI hire

Pete Hegseth was a DEI hire. GOP affirmative action to insure that incompetent alcoholics aren’t discriminated against. Here’s Mike Brock (paywalled, so no link) on the colossal blunder that is Pete Hegseth: “The core argument against DEI initiatives has always been straightforward: institutions should hire based on merit alone, without regard for demographic considerations. That […]

About university endowments, or why Matt Taibbi is a hack

If I were Matt Taibbi’s prof, I’d give him a C for his article. He did some research on endowments, but he gives no useful context. Whatever Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post paid him, it was too much. The Trump Administration wants to use taxes on endowments to subsidize tax cuts to the 1% who […]

The latest Republican assault on higher education

Earlier, it was a dramatic cut in indirect costs on all federal grants and outright cancellation of some grants. Now, congressional Republicans are mulling a steep tax on university endowments. “Republicans are considering increases to the university endowment tax to help reduce the national deficit and as a potential lever to force universities to comply […]