I wanted to post on Friday, but somehow I thought I ought to give supporters of Mr. Trump at least a day to enjoy his inauguration before critiquing him as our new president. So, here we are on Monday morning and we’re now in the brave new world of Trump. His inauguration speech was nationalist […]
Archives
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Trump’s Trumps
15 Dec 2016
A new controversy–well, not really new, just renewed–has now taken the stage regarding President-Elect Donald Trump’s transition. This one concerns the “flavor” of his cabinet choices, taken collectively. The media and Democrats are trying to figure out (1) what they tell us about Trump and (2) what the supporter–stakeholders think about the choices. Those are […]
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I have so far avoided taking any position on the two main candidates for president. For my colleague Mark Smith, don’t worry, I will. I intend to continue the path of avoidance in this blog. Today I would like to examine and evaluate each candidate’s economic program. I say nothing about their personal morality, or […]
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Globalism versus Globalization
22 Jul 2016
President Obama has shown his true colors again. In a speech to a group of ambassadors gathered at the White House (July 15) he said this: “I think we have to step back [from the Nice attack] and reflect on what we are doing to eliminate this kind of chronic violence. It’s been a difficult several weeks […]
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I hate to beat a dead horse, but the issue of trade keeps coming up in the news, whether from Donald Trump and the Trumpists or from Paul Ryan or from Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, all claiming to have the right position on trade and the place of the United States in the global […]
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Goodbye EU
24 Jun 2016
Since the vote to leave the European Union is done, and Great Britain is out, I suppose I will give my opinion about it. This undoubtedly will not be shared by all. First, let me say—again—that I strongly favor free trade among nations. Having said that, the EU is very much more than an economic […]
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It seems this blog overlaps one just published by my colleague Jeff Haymond. But I will publish mine anyway, since it nicely supplements his. Donald Trump has been saying quite a bit recently about the disappearance of (especially) manufacturing jobs in the South as well as the “Rust Belt,” blaming those lost jobs on the […]
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The 5,500 Page Behemoth
10 Nov 2015
In this blog, I have but one question, regarding the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which has just been made available for one’s reading pleasure. Here is my question. For an agreement that is touted as a free trade compact, why do we need a 5, 500 page document (parts of which I have read)? If we […]
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The Trans-Pacific Trade Agreement
05 Jun 2015
This short blog is just a follow-up to my colleague Jeff Haymond’s blog on the trade agreement before Congress now. Dr. Haymond defended the agreement on the correct grounds that it enhanced free trade and that free trade is good for everyone, at least in the longer run (and given some short-run and inevitable disruptions). […]
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Update on Trade Deal: Senate agreement gives new life with separate “currency manipulator” bill
14 May 2015
The WSJ reports today that a day after the Democrats in the Senate repudiated Mr. Obama, the Senate agreed to allow a vote on Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), once the Republican leadership agreed to allow a vote to force the administration to punish “unfair” trade in the form of currency manipulation. The concern have over […]
Bert Wheeler
Jeff Haymond
Marc Clauson
Mark Caleb Smith
Tom Mach