After a couple of tough years, 2022 felt like a step back from the brink. The terror of Covid receded. A new president who had seemed on the precipice of failure basked in a fistful of legislative successes. And perhaps most important, Donald Trump’s grip on a large segment of the country showed signs of finally beginning to loosen.

But let’s not uncork the champagne just yet. Inflation continued to bedevil the economy, leading to large interest rate increases and stock market declines. International issues — from the stalemate in Ukraine to rising tensions with China — intensified. The belligerent voices of the extreme right seemed to only get louder.

Originally published in The New York Times. The Treasury Department reported last month that the nation closed its fiscal year with the national debt having reached a record $31 trillion, a stunning rise from a comparatively modest $20 trillion just six years earlier. The announcement elicited little notice. Given the rate at which our obligations are […]

Originally published in the New York Times. Early in my deal-making career, a Wall Street veteran counseled me to “never let the perfect be the enemy of the good.” The Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, may have had similar advice in his head as he relentlessly corralled his 49 Democratic colleagues into passing the Inflation Reduction […]