Tag Archives: politics

by Joseph Joyce Capital Ebbs and Flows The Republican nomination of Donald Trump as its nominee for President ensures that international trade will be a major issue in the campaign. Trump views trade as a zero-sum game and the existence of U.S. trade deficits as proof that other nations have taken advantage of U.S. openness (= weakness). Tariffs are the primary policy tool to respond to the unfair treatment of U.S.-made goods and even the...

by Joyce Vance Civil Discourse Twenty twenty-four finds the Democrats nominating a Black woman to run for president. Said another way, a woman will be nominated by a major party as its candidate to be the president of the United States. The first time in our history in either instance. This will all take place in an upcoming convention. Kamala Harris is eminently qualified by virtue of both experience and temperament; if you haven’t...

People flock to trump venues where he stiffs the municipalities and leaves unpaid invoices. And this is ok for his followers? Unpaid invoices could keep Trump rallies at smaller Arizona venues By Camaron Stevenson Copper Courier After the Harris-Walz presidential campaign’s stadium-filled rally in Glendale, Arizona, last week, Trump supporters in the state may wonder when they’ll see a similar event for their candidate. Problem is . ....

GOP’s attack on Americans’ retirement savings just went to the next disgusting level, Opinion, Alternet. “To protect older Americans’ life savings, President Biden pledged in October to crack down on financial advisers who recommend investments just because they pay higher commissions. Then the insurance industry got to work.” Explained: The Controversy Over Tim Walz’s Military Service, Snopes. The claim that Walz “abandoned” his...

by David Zetland The one-handed economist Benefit-cost accounting (BCA) began with a simple comparison of monetary benefits and costs, e.g., should I invest $100 in exchange for a return of $10 per year. Then people wanted to compare more abstract values, such as the benefit of a vacation or sandwich or education against the costs of those goods. In those cases, the benefits are somewhat subjective — depending on the person, timing, etc. —...

by Joyce Vance Civil Discourse  David Hogg survived the tragic 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. He went on to become one of a generation of student activists who had enough and decided to fight for gun reform instead of just waiting for the next shooting. Hogg was one of the main organizers of the March for Our Lives, the largest single day of protest against gun violence in our country. He has...

by Ten Bears Homeless on the High Desert, August 9, 2024 in g’da said Fifty Years Ago last night, Aug 8th, President Nixon shocked the country & the world in a lengthy address at 9pm est where he announced his resignation, effective the next day. It felt like the system was working. But I’m not sure it was We dropped the ball, my generation, we stopped The War! Our War. Viet Nam But we didn’t stop War. We forced Nixon to...

Apparently, JD Vance thinks so.*Not to go all anecdotal here, but in 1981, I bought my first car, a brand-new Mazda GLC hatchback, for $5770. In 2024 dollars, that’s $20,000. It had no radio, no air conditioning and no passenger-side sun visor. My most recent car purchase was a 2013 Honda Fit four-door, which I bought for $15,000. It has a radio and CD player, cruise control, air conditioning, front and side-door air bags and both driver- and...

by Heather Cox Richardson Letters from an American AB: More dialogue on the less than 3% increase in inflation. The July report for consumer prices from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which came out today, showed that prices rose less than 3% in the previous twelve months. Core inflation has fallen to its lowest rate since April 2021. For well over a year, wages have grown faster than inflation. President Joe Biden cheered the news but...

AB: Run down on the Trump – Musk Get Together by Bill Kristol I’m grateful to Andrew for listening to Donald Trump and Elon Musk last night and sparing me that unpleasantness. But I did listen to some of the clips this morning. Here’s my take: Trump’s awful. This is, I acknowledge, not breaking news. Trump’s awfulness has been so obvious for so long, and we now take it so much for granted, that it seems silly or gauche to point it...