Category Archives: Economic fundamentals

Book Review: The Many Bounties of Collaboration in Nature

What would make a critical mass of Americans, marinating in a rugged individualist culture, want to become their neighbors’ keepers?

Inflation Re-Accelerates Despite Plunging Gasoline Prices as “Core Services” PCE Price Index Hits 7-Month High

Core services inflation is the biggie and going the wrong way. The Fed is already talking down the pace of rate cuts.

Monetary Policy in Response to Tariff Shocks

If the Trump tariff scheme weakens the economy enough, the Fed would do better to ease rather than tighten even if inflation increases.

Trump’s Inflation-Stoking 25% Mexico and Canada Tariff Scheme

Trump’s latest tariff threat is quickly getting a lot of well-warranted criticism.

COP29 Puts World on Course for More Extreme Weather – and More Deaths

COP29 summit proves change won’t come until floods and wildfires are killing tens of thousands in rich Global North cities

Trump’s Opportunity to Reset U.S.-Iran Relations

An in-depth look at Iran’s economic and political situation suggests that Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign will not have much impact.

A Post-Election Reflection on Stolen Pride: Loss, Shame, and the Rise of the Right

On how the shame resulting from the loss of seen-as-meaningful and well-paid work led many to reject the rule of their PMC betters.

How the Wall Street Journal Blew the Story of the Democrats and Inflation

The firehose of affluent consumption continues to drive inflation, not the stimulus package

Forget Snowbirds. These Sunbirds Are Flocking North

Hotter days and higher flood risk are prompting people across the South to consider moving north.

Trump’s Energy Sanctions Are a Double-Edged Sword for Global Economy

Trump plans tougher sanctions on Iran’s and Venezuela’s oil exports, and secondary sanctions on China. How might that work?

Is Realignment the Shape of US Politics to Come?

Trump and his loyalists intend to deliver major changes to US politics. But how realistic is that promise?

The BRICS, a Geopolitical Challenge Overlooked by the European Union

A discussion of what BRICS might be when it grows up and what that could mean for the EU

Bad Samaritans in Foreign Aid

Who’d have thunk it? The notion that foreign aid might be self-interested looks to novel, at least among economists.

Will Ukraine Embrace an Era of ‘War-Wilding’?

Some of Ukraine’s wartime environmental catastrophes, scientists say, can be turned into long-term ecological gains

The New Economy and the Tariffs and Tax Breaks to Launch It

Analyses of planned Trump tariffs differ somewhat on the impact, but all find them to be negative. Will the Supremes save Trump from himself?