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

Teaching Iran a Lesson

I subscribe to a Dean Baker site. Typically, he is on the economic side of information. This commentary has a little bit of both economics and politics. What to do with Iran when the president is Trump. The rest of the world teeters economically for every action Trump takes. “Trump’s Ignorance Could Kill Millions” Patreon […]

Europe, Ukraine, and Iran; and Trump’s impaired emotional/cognitive relationship to negative consequences

This is a speculative post.  I don’t have any expertise in foreign policy.  I just want to clarify my own thinking, and posting is a way to force myself to do this.  So caveat lector, and let’s see what you all have to add. European leaders seem increasingly willing to criticize Trump.  Here is Bloomberg: […]

Fertility Rates

How does deportation policy impact the United States economy. It was predicted in and around 2006, decreasing birth rates in the United States would have an economic impact. Consider for a moment, Trumps deportation and limiting immigrants to the United States will only aggravate the need for Labor input. Fewer birth and an anti-immigrant policy […]

Where Is the Leadership?

– by J.P. McJefferson J.P. McJefferson Thoughts Americans are frustrated—and increasingly, they are unified in that frustration. Congress’s approval ratings have been mostly underwater since 1974, averaging 28% approval and 65% disapproval. That’s 52 years, five decades of massive disapproval! They look at Congress and see dysfunction. They look at the executive branch and see […]

“the people with the most money and the most influence pushed for it”

A bit of Kareem on a Sunday morning. “Tax Day Shows the Gap” Kareem Takes on the News Summary by Kareem: On Tax Day 2026, three prominent voices—Nobel laureate economist Joseph E. Stiglitz, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and EU Tax Observatory founding director Gabriel Zucman—argue in The Guardian that America’s tax system systematically […]

The future of AI in medicine

From a friend who has worked at the NIH for many years: “Can AI help doctors make better decisions? At NIH, we brought together scientists and clinicians from across the country to explore exactly that. Their consensus was that with continued research, ethical and responsible guardrails, and strong collaboration, AI could become a helpful and […]

AI’s impacts on learning

The one-handed economist Sometimes you just want the answer David Zetland “AI’s impacts on learning“ AI is changing nearly everything digital around us, for better (search; analysis) and for worse (cybercrime), but its impacts on education are, I think, much larger than many people understand. Learning is more about process than output. I wrote this […]

SCOTUS Rejected Tariffs on U.S. Products and the US has to Refund Them

Additional nontechnical information on tariffs in the United States EconoFact: Tariff Payback Tariff Payback This week, the Trump administration began accepting requests for refunds of more than $166 billion in tariff payments following the Supreme Court’s February ruling: “the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not authorize the President to impose tariffs.” Who Benefits: But while the refunds […]

Killing Last Year’s Defense Budget with Only Months Left

Hegseth’s Department of Defense budget increases by $440.9 billion in planned expenditures. More likely than not, more deficit spending on something which will be obsolete in the near future as technology will outrun that version of Defense technology. We shall see, The reasoning for this budget? “For many years, defense spending has prioritized maintenance of […]

Sonia Sotomayor on Tuesday criticized another member of the high court

Unusual for one SCOTUS judge to criticize another judge openly. Justice Sonia is correct though as Justice Kavanaugh did not take everything into account as to the temporary stops. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Tuesday criticized another member of the high court for failing to understand the consequences of an order issued last […]