Its not the economy, stupid, It’s the political gridlock on October 30, 2016A wide variety of polling organizations regularly ask Americans whether they are “satisfied or dissatisfied” with the way things are going (the Gallup version) or whether the country is “heading in the right direction” or “on the wrong track.” Lately, no matter how the question is phrased, Americans have responded with what sounds a lot […]
Only one candidate can make wages grow again on August 7, 2016Can you remember the second day of the Republican National Convention? That was supposed to be economics night, with the advertised theme “Make America Work Again.” Awkwardly put, yet the phrase suggests that America suffers from mass unemployment and that Donald Trump’s braggadocio would bring the jobs back. Both notions are false. The unemployment rate, […]
Five big truths about trade on April 24, 2016In 2000, the US jobless rate was 4%, despite a trade imbalance larger than today’s. How could that be? International trade is, once again, a hot-button political issue, making this an unpropitious time for rational discourse about the subject. Nonetheless, here are five issues on which the overwhelming majority of economists, liberal and conservative, agree. […]