Were awards given for the worst economic idea each year, Donald Trump’s call for a 10% tax on all imports would be the 2023 winner. The tax would damage the US economy as well as propagate climate change and environmental devastation. Trump sees jobs lost to foreign trade as the economic problem facing the US. […]

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Walt Whitman was right when he wrote that our democracy is an athletic one. Defending our democratic republic requires the stamina of a marathon runner and the versatility of a gymnast.  The events of January 6 alerted Americans to the quirkiness and fragility of our electoral process. Had Vice President Mike Pence failed to certify […]

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On the doorstep of the long U.S. political season, it’s worth pondering the significance and shelf life of several familiar political maxims. Each contains at least a grain of truth.   FIRST,  GARBAGE IN / GARBAGE OUT Everybody who understands statistics knows this maxim. There is always much more Noise than Signal in the data […]

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Official Washington has lost the plot, and I’ve never been more frightened for the future of America. No, I’m not talking about the fear of losing our democracy to authoritarian theocrats, though that remains a constant existential threat. I’m concerned that the pro-democracy “good guys” have settled into a debilitating groupthink. To use the Rumsfeldian […]

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College debt is approaching $2 trillion, more than all other types of household debt except mortgages. Fueled by tuition that exceeds $25,000 a year (room and board adds another $11,000), Federal student loan debt averages more than $37,000 among those with any student debt. Following a hiatus of more than 3 years, 45 million Americans […]

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