October 9, 2024

How Donald Trump is Channeling Machiavelli

This past weekend, Donald Trump and JD Vance accused their Democratic opponents of plotting to kill Trump, implicitly threatening to prosecute them should they win.  As shocking as it sounds, it was unremarkable since personal threats are a common and menacing feature of their campaign.  Since Trump announced his bid for a second term, he has threatened to investigate and… Continue reading

December 9, 2021

It’s a Biden Boom—and No One Has Noticed Yet

If the current high levels of economic, job, and income growth continue, the 2020 midterms could look different than most are predicting. While many people are uncomfortable communicating bad news, Democrats have a problem these days talking about good news, especially on the economy. Based on the data, President Biden and the Democratic Congress are set to preside over the…Continue reading

October 11, 2021

Why Your Mail Now Comes So Late

The frustrating deterioration in on-time mail delivery has become part of the ugly partisan brawls that animate Washington these days.  From the left, many see it as part of a plot by Donald Trump and his hand-picked Postmaster General to depress mail-in voting by sabotaging the postal system.  On the right, many view the U.S. Postal Service as a prime…Continue reading

June 27, 2021

Post-Pandemic, a Strong Expansion Needs Less Personal Saving or More…

For two generations, economists and other custodians of financial propriety have chastised Americans for not saving enough. Getting the public to pay attention took a pandemic. Facing a real possibility that COVID-19 and the resulting economic havoc might leave them unable to pay their mortgages and feed their families, moderate- and middle-income Americans began saving as much as they could—and…Continue reading

March 24, 2021

$900 Billion in COVID Spending for Everyone Is Just What…

Both progressives and conservatives criticized the three major COVID-19 relief laws enacted over the last 12 months for giving away too much of their $4.85 trillion in new spending, tax credits and sweetheart loans to businesses or city and state governments that don’t need the help. While attracting fewer complaints, the three relief Acts—the CARES Act of March 2020, the…Continue reading

February 3, 2021

What’s Really Going on with GameStop

The investors’ struggle over the videogame retailer GameStop has been cast as David versus Goliath story.  Allegedly, this is the tale of scrappy, small online day traders buying shares of a beleaguered company to thwart a hedge fund scheme to take it down.  Like GameStop’s stock, this narrative is mostly speculation, because the facts about the buyers and sellers and…Continue reading

January 31, 2021

Biden Opts for Growth and Equity While Republicans Whine

Congressional Republicans who eagerly supported massive increases in the budget deficit under Donald Trump have been quick to resuscitate their deficit concerns so they can denounce President Joseph Biden’s $1.9 trillion “American Rescue Plan.” In the words of Florida Senator Rick Scott, the plan is just “massive spending … with no accountability.” So, let us apply another dormant standard to…Continue reading

November 24, 2020

Donald Trump Is Trying to Pull Off a Scam, Not…

President Trump’s post-election machinations are not a bungled coup attempt; it’s a scam to sustain and enrich himself. A coup would require broad collaboration from the courts and, failing that, from the military. The evidence suggests that Trump may not even be serious about election fraud. If he were, he would have recruited serious election law experts in the states…Continue reading

October 21, 2020

Continuing Job Losses in Swing States May Seal Trump’s Fate

As Donald Trump sees it, “We are leading the World in Economic Recovery.” Yet, less than two weeks before election day, the economy is weaker than he will ever acknowledge. The number of employed Americans in September was still 7 percent below the levels in February: Eight months into the pandemic, 10.7 million fewer people have jobs than before COVID-19.…Continue reading