US Opinion and Commentary

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Manufacturing’s Greatest Days Lie Ahead

Posted December 13th, 2016 at 12:25 pm (UTC-4)
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Team Trump’s promotion of domestic energy will yield significant economic dividends…it will stimulate economic activity in the U.S. and will help revive job creation in the energy sector, both for workers employed directly in oil and gas drilling and extraction activities as well as increased employment in the support activities for oil and gas operations.

Trump & Clinton: It’s on, to November

Posted June 22nd, 2016 at 3:11 pm (UTC-4)
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“Hillary Clinton may be the most corrupt person ever to seek the presidency.”
“Trump would throw us back into recession.”
Those quotes from the presumptive presidential nominees came 24 hours apart.
As the fact-checkers busily scour the words from Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton for accuracy, the political pundits are parsing their words to determine which way the winds blow.
The polls show Clinton with her widest lead since mid-May while the latest campaign financial filings show Trump well behind in the fund-raising race.
And it’s only June.

To the Future President of the United States

Posted April 8th, 2016 at 4:24 pm (UTC-4)
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We understand that perspective is hard to come by at this stage of the race, and you are obsessively watching the polls and attempting to shape your image to a media ready to pounce on every slip. But the world is watching at a time of great uncertainty

We’re Not a Poor Country, Mr. Trump

Posted March 28th, 2016 at 10:06 am (UTC-4)
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We are a very wealthy society, and we shouldn’t forget it. Donald Trump — along with many other people — apparently has….The larger point is that the United States is wealthy enough to pay for essential government, including a robust presence abroad. Contrary to Trump’s view, the United States doesn’t protect other countries merely out […]

Obama Reaches Out to Cuba’s ‘Cuentapropistas’

Posted March 22nd, 2016 at 11:50 am (UTC-4)
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The president spoke directly with American entrepreneurs and self-employed Cubans during historic trip

A Whiff of Panic in the Kremlin as Russia’s Economy Sinks Further

Posted February 5th, 2016 at 2:52 pm (UTC-4)
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President Vladimir Putin has gone so far as to blame Soviet Union founder Vladimir Lenin for Russia’s current difficulties….Signs of panic and dysfunction are everywhere. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has demanded yet another round of 10 percent budget cuts….The Russian government really has no good economic options other than hope.

The Most Pragmatic Way to Fix American Democracy

Posted January 29th, 2016 at 1:01 pm (UTC-4)
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Inequality has reached levels last seen in the era of the “robber barons” in the 1890s. The only truly pragmatic way of reversing this state of affairs is through a “political revolution” that mobilizes millions of Americans.

Africa’s Boom Is Over

Posted January 6th, 2016 at 10:31 am (UTC-4)
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[I]t looks like the skeptics were right. Oil and commodity prices are plunging, China’s purchases are slowing, and GDP growth rates across the continent are in steep decline. … [T]he IMF has cut its 2015 projection for growth in sub-Saharan Africa from 4.5 to 3.75 percent …

Why the Middle Class Is in Revolt and Susceptible to a Dangerous ‘Strongman’

Posted December 17th, 2015 at 12:12 pm (UTC-4)
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Start with the fact that the middle class is shrinking, according to a new Pew survey. The odds of falling into poverty are frighteningly high, especially for the majority without college degrees.

Trump’s Muslim Derangement Syndrome Won’t Matter to His Voters

Posted December 8th, 2015 at 11:29 am (UTC-4)
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  I think I know why Trump persists as their champion: Because his primary supporters, white males with only a high school degree, are furious and they have a right to be mad. This not about embracing Trump’s platform; it’s about embracing his rage.

India’s Dizzying Growth Is Not to Be Ignored

Posted November 12th, 2015 at 5:36 pm (UTC-4)
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This week, President Barack Obama used a newly-established “hotline” to send India his best as it marked Diwali, the country’s famed festival of lights. That same day, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted the following: “President Obama & I look forward to meeting in Turkey during the G20 Summit.” It all sounds rather chummy. But not to economists and the like, who warn the United States is missing out on THE moment to engage more deeply with New Delhi. Why? Because this year, India surpassed China, becoming the world’s fastest growing major economy.

The Despair of White Working-class Americans

Posted November 5th, 2015 at 4:05 pm (UTC-4)
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A study released this week by economists at Princeton University tells a grim story: the number of deaths by suicide, alcohol and drug abuse among working-class whites ages 45 to 54 has risen precipitously — 22 percent overall — since 1999. Experts tell us the only recent comparable spike in mortality can be found among Russian men after the collapse of the Soviet Union. What is going on? In essence, the world many blue-collar white Americans were born into has changed to such a degree that it no longer exists. Jobs they might have held have evaporated or are now overseas. The loss of power through unions and the growth of corporate greed helped too. The resulting economic tensions have split families, further limiting opportunity. Political pundits point out that this sad phenomenon helps explain the appeal of outsider would-be presidential candidates like business mogul Donald Trump and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

Why Marriage Is Good Economics

Posted November 5th, 2015 at 1:24 pm (UTC-4)
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Exploring the family foundations and the role of changing family structures in influencing these headwinds is key to fostering sustainable growth.

The Case for Optimism

Posted October 28th, 2015 at 10:20 am (UTC-4)
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Fears that troubles in China will somehow pull the United States into another recession are overdone. It’s time for Americans to embrace optimism.

Frozen Russia

Posted October 23rd, 2015 at 9:43 am (UTC-4)
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Russian consumers are increasingly unhappy, but their discontent is being frozen in depression rather than manifested in social protest.

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