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

Trump’s fake negotiations

Per Heather Cox Richardson: “. . . Donald Trump, sparked a crisis last Friday when his White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, announced that he fully intended to go through with the trade war he had hyped on the campaign trail. Trump announced he would levy tariffs of 25% on most products from Mexico and […]

“DEI” is the new “Marxism”

For the past century, Republicans have used the words “Marxist,” “Socialist” and “Communist” as epithets to refer to anything and everything they disapprove of. Now that a generation of Americans that was born after the collapse of the Soviet Union has come of age, those swear words have lost their potency. Looks like “DEI” is […]

The most beautiful word in the dictionary

Trump has said that “tariff” is the most beautiful word in the dictionary. Last Friday, he announced his intention to shine that beauty on the American people. “Outside analyses make clear that Trump’s tariffs would hurt the voters that he intended to help, meaning that he might ultimately need to find a resolution. “An analysis […]

Taking semaglutide? Stick with the program

Personally, I’ve never had a weight problem. Always had a BMI under 24. But I’ve known plenty of people who were overweight or obese. For the ones who started taking semaglutides, the results have been transformative and the risks for most have been negligible. But don’t take my word for it. Here’s Dr. McGowan, a […]

MAGA is coming for your paycheck

There are other forms of taxation besides income taxes. Tariffs are really just taxes on consumer goods. And deportations will drive up the prices of produce that’s left to rot in the fields. Call it a “deportation tax.” This link is from 16 January. “The impact of President-elect Donald Trump’s promise of mass deportation is […]

What is to be done?

Josh Marshall has a post up at TPM about the current assault on the federal government by unelected Elon Musk and his unelected and unappointed minions. While the Trump cult GOP currently holds the executive branch and slim majorities in Congress for the next two years, there are still things their opponents can do to […]

Distributive vs integrative bargaining and Trump

This is a seven year-old NPR interview with David Honig, an attorney and adjunct professor at Indiana University, where he teaches negotiations. While this discussion dates from the first Trump term, he’s obviously learned nothing about negotiation skills since then: “HONIG: It’s an interesting question. I reread “The Art Of The Deal” today in anticipation […]

Trump: Elon ate my homework

Truman famously had a desk sign reading “The buck stops here.” That was back when there were grown-ups in the White House. With Trump, the buck stops over there somewhere: “The news, linked above, that the resignations emails were Team Elon’s idea and didn’t have the okay of the White House comes from a Washington […]

The economics of Trump’s ego

“U.S. President Donald Trump’s military deportation flight to Guatemala on Monday likely cost at least $4,675 per migrant, according to data provided by U.S. and Guatemalan officials. “That is more than five times the $853 cost of a one-way first class ticket on American Airlines from El Paso, Texas, the departure point for the flight, […]