In honor of the start of the new school year, I propose an exam. Read the following article, and without searching online for other reviews (yes there is an honor code!), provide 2-5 short bullets for how you would critique this thinking. Ready, set, go…. Ok, since it’s been five days I’ll share the original […]

Mr. Trump is increasingly worried about the economy as he rolls into his 2020 reelection campaign, as he should be–it will likely determine his victory or defeat. To his political credit, he has so successfully enraged his Democratic opposition that they seem determined to be against anything he might say, and his very victory has […]

Matt’s Marvelous Mailbag seeks to provide marginally adequate answers to much better questions about politics, economics, social life, theology, or any potpourri you see fit to have answered. Send questions to mailbag.bereans@gmail.com.   Well, I don’t know about you, but I have had an exceptionally relaxing two weeks off from the mailbag, which I hope everyone […]

We are still a few months away from actual votes being cast, but the presidential campaign is taking shape. Much can change between now and February, when the Iowa Caucus happens. Current polling is also a bit speculative since most voters are not fully engaged. With those caveats in mind, the contest seems to be […]

In the topsy turvy world we live in, almost everything that has been considered good is now evil, and everything that was formerly considered sin, is now virtue. We see this in the ongoing sexual revolution, but don’t mislead yourself–it doesn’t stop there. Our political and monetary system* now embraces monetary nonsense as a matter […]

In a previous post, I cajoled Mr. Trump for his public excoriation of our Fed, yet there is a case for lower interest rates and in a big way. The primary reason is that the yield curve is inverted, and it has been for quite a bit of time. While I have previously argued that […]

Markets continue to remain volatile from the Trumpian Trade Tirades, as well as his monetary grievance tweets. These problems are not unrelated, although we’ll only get to the former in this post. In today’s headlines, Peter Navarro, Mr. Trump’s pro-trade war economist (yes you can find an economist somewhere for almost any position you want […]

I went to bed reading about one mass shooting and woke up hearing about another. Confused, I assumed the coverage was extended, but soon found out the second shooting took place in my geographical backyard. I am in Dayton regularly, though it feels far away from the village I call home. That distance shrank last […]

Andrew Yang’s closing statement struck near and dear to this professor’s sensibilities. The Democratic debates from the last two nights deserve to be accurately characterized. They are televised events designed to attract viewers. The introductory material feels like a rejected pilot for a dating show. “Here’s Cory–he likes musical montages, dank memes, and chillin’ with […]

Later this afternoon, we’ll have the first rate cut (likely by the time you read this). If the Fed doesn’t do it, expect significant market reaction and an explosion from Mr. Trump. You can make a case either way, cutting or hiking. There is global weakness leading to increased monetary ease abroad. If we don’t […]