While events in the unprovoked Israeli-U.S. aggression against Iran remain in flux due mostly to the quixotic, contradictory and downright duplicitous policies and actions of a seemingly mentally unstable American president, it is quite difficult to assess the effects of the war on U.S. and world energy markets and thus their overall economies. What is … Continue reading The Unseen Costs of War on Iran
In the final days of his presidential run, Donald Trump floated the idea of eliminating the income tax and replacing it with tariffs as the means to fund federal spending. He cited the era of U.S. history when the country had no income tax: When we were a smart country, in the 1890s . . … Continue reading Taxes vs. Tariffs: Which is Fairer?
Another milestone (or more accurately millstone) was recently passed by the U.S. economy as the January trade deficit surged to an all-time record high of $107.6 billion, up some $26 billion from December’s $80.7 billion imbalance.* Like the gigantic federal budget deficit, the trade imbalance is no longer talked about by the financial press. There … Continue reading America’s Trade Deficit: An Enormous Concern
So far, President Trump’s economic response to a potential coronavirus outbreak and a further stock market sell off has been expected – calls for more interest rate cuts and an additional round of monetary stimulus. For the stock market, economy, and the virus itself, neither measure will have their desired effect and, in fact, may … Continue reading Memo to The Donald: Cut Tariffs NOT Rates
Instead of a demonstration of its overwhelming military might intended to intimidate tiny North Korea and pressure China to lean on its defiant communist neighbor, President Trump and the West should try to learn a few things from China. The President’s trip to the Far East came on the heels of the completion of China’s … Continue reading What President Trump and the West Can Learn from China
Antonius Aquinas 