Fearless commentary on finance, economics, politics and power

Perspectives on the Harlan County train block protest as direct action, issues with the protest camp, Kentucky politics, and a “just transition” from coal.

The column uses data from French elections since 1993 to show that an increase in spending per voter has consistently increased a candidate’s vote share.

People turn to authoritarian leaders not because they distrust democracy but because our system is fundamentally undemocratic.

Sanders’ and Warren’s supposedly wild eyed ideas of cancelling student debt and making college tuition free get a thumbs up in a new poll.

Today’s Water Cooler: The Democrat debates, with drinking games and Biden on record-players, impeachment, think tanks, Robeson County, jobless claims, consumer sentiment, retail sales, consumer price index, Boeing, Lenovo Yoga laptops, feelings

The messy politics of the 48 state Google anti-trust investigation.

US trade and economic sanctions not only have not delivered on their stated aims, but they’ve also had unwelcome side effects.

Repeated constitutional attacks paved the way for the government to finally strip Kashmir of its rights.

All the candidates on one stage! Come on down!

Today’s Water Cooler: China trade, Harris, Sanders, Axelrove on Trump, Hillary Clinton, 9/11, counterfeit gold bars, rail traffic, WeWork, Facebook, food wars, gas flaring, wind farms and landfills, ocean drilling, racism and origins of tech, fake meat, Daniel Johnston, spending less time on the phone

Larry Summers, a barometer of leading edge conventional wisdom, questions Keynesianism as a distortion of Keynes and for its overconfidence in monetary policy.