President Trump’s first address to Congress of his second term was a bit surprising in one respect (at 100 minutes, it clocked in at the longest Congressional address in recent history) and not surprising at all in a second: It was replete with lies and exaggerations. Some were familiar (like the idea that President […]

President Trump gave the first nationwide address of his second term last night, with his usual mix of lofty promises and mixed adherence to the facts. Not surprisingly, tariffs were a central part of his message – but both markets and everyday Americans have a different view of the outlook. The S&P 500 fell by […]

  The Trump administration is closing in on a deal for the United States to receive a financial interest in Ukraine’s critical minerals industry. The first question, of course, is why we are asking an ally that was attacked to pay a kind of reparations. But apart from that, the president has characteristically exaggerated and […]

 President Trump announced Wednesday that he supported the House approach of “one big beautiful bill” to enact his tax and spending cuts. The House will now move forward with a vote on their package next week. Enactment of the proposal would have profound effects on millions of Americans as well as on our fiscal […]

The latest inflation readings arrived and the news was not good, raising questions about the future direction of interest rates. Meanwhile, on a lighter note, the new administration got one policy move right: It announced that it would no longer mint pennies. Instead of ticking downward, the key inflation indicator instead ticked upward. Prices for […]