Tag Archives: United States

In Commentary, Nicholas Eberstadt recounts how low employment, deteriorating health, and declining social mobility in the United States foreshadow a “Miserable 21st Century.” Between 2000 and 2016, the work rate for Americans aged 20 or older fell by almost 5 percentage points, to 60 percent. In the “prime working age” group, it fell by almost 4 percentage points. While work rates for men had been falling for much longer, a similar decline for prime age women set in in 2000. Death rates...

A blog post on Random Critical Analysis argues that high wealth (proxied by high consumption) rather than GDP explains US health care expenditures. Total per capita health care spending increases as wealth increases because people actually demand more goods and services (volume) per capita and because it is relatively labor intensive sector that does not enjoy the productivity gains found in some other sectors of the economy, i.e., overall costs increase through both volume and price...

After eight years of the regulation-happy Obama administration, the United States has undergone a huge slide into the 17th most economically free country in the world, according to the Heritage Foundation’s 2017 Index of Economic Freedom. Under president Obama, the federal government issued over 600 major regulations, costing the U.S. economy hundreds of millions of dollars. Those regulations were placed on top of...

Topics discussed in the report include: Support for a “strong leader” as opposed to checks and balances has increased in many countries. The share of households with flat or falling market incomes during the 2005-14 period has been around 65% in advanced economies, and 97% in Italy. In the preceding decade, it had been negligible. The Eurasia Group’s top ten risks for 2017: Independent America China overreacts A weaker Merkel No reform Technology and the Middle East Central banks get...

Airlines, Airports to Meet President Amid Travel-Ban Uncertainty (WSJ) Legal battle pits Trump's powers against his words (Reuters) Trump’s Oval Office Tweets Force CEOs to Choose Fight or Flight (BBG) Companies Plow Ahead With Moves to Mexico, Despite Trump’s Pressure (WSJ) Trump’s Labor Pick Loves Burgers, Bikinis, and Free Markets (BBG) NATO allies lock in U.S. support for stand-off with Russia (Reuters) Sessions Takes Reins at Justice Ready to Walk the Line for Trump (BBG) Washington...

On his blog, Dani Rodrik comments on NAFTA’s implications for US manufacturing and jobs. So here is the overall picture that these academic studies paint for the U.S.: NAFTA produced large changes in trade volumes, tiny efficiency gains overall, and some very significant impacts on adversely affected communities. … Mexico has been one of Latin America’s underperformers. So is Trump deluded on NAFTA’s overall impact on manufacturing jobs? Absolutely, yes. Was he able to capitalize on the...

In the Tagesanzeiger, Felix Schaad offers a caricature with the title: “Donald Trump rejects the notion that he could be blackmailed.”

In the New York Times, Max Fisher reviews why the Two State Solution hasn’t happened.

After a violent trifecta of a day, in which terrorist attacks left at least 9 dead and 50 injured in Germany after a truck plowed through a crowded Christmas market (see "Truck Ploughs Into Berlin Market Killing Nine, Over 50 Injured; US Condemns 'What Appears To Be A Terrorist Attack'"); three more people hurt in a shooting at an Islamic Center in Zurich, Switzerland; and the Russian Ambassador to Turkey murdered on live television (see "Russian Ambassador In Turkey Murdered In Terrorist...

In the latest example of poor decision-making by the outgoing president, not to mention some truly troubling political optics, with the world on fire following three separate acts of apparent terrorism around the globe, including Ankara, Zurich and Berlin, White House pool reports showed that President Barack Obama was off to enjoy a game of golf shortly after learning of today's tragic events. As Mediaite reports, the first email from the White House pool shows that Obama directed his staff...