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The Question of the Time for each American:
“Have I committed myself to a political agenda that works against my own interest?” How we each respond to the answer to this question should be informed by the answer to this second question: “Is my best interest in opposition to the greater good?” It is impossible to make sense of everything that is going…
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Class Warfare Erupts Openly—Can you see it?
The Trump social media post depicting a former president and his wife as apes has, at long last, inspired even some of his supporters to object that he has gone too far. The post was reportedly removed after 12 hours because of the push-back; some Trump supporters are going so far as to express disgust…
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What’s Trump Doing with Venezuela?
Everyone is wondering “What is Trump’s intention regarding Venezuela?” Obviously, this isn’t about protecting Americans from drugs. First of all, the US Coast Guard for decades has been successfully and lawfully interdicting boats suspected of transporting illicit drugs into the US; we don’t need to be murdering mariners on the open seas with no evidence…
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Why the Epstein Files are Different
Ever since Trump announced that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue without losing votes and then appeared to prove this by ducking through release of the Access Hollywood tape unscathed, it has been a mystery what it would take for Trump’s supporters to turn on him. Scandal after scandal that would have terminated any…
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The Idea of Insurance
Capitalism, as we have known it, would not exist without the idea of insurance. The deployment of capital to achieve some purpose entails risk: In all these cases, the individual’s efforts to fruitfully deploy capital for economic gain must cease following one calamitous blow. Insurance is a mechanism to spread risk across multiple entities (seasons/individuals/corporations)…
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A Shut-down Win for Dems
Many Democrats are angry at the eight senators who struck a deal with Republicans to end the shut-down because they feel that the Democrats were (surprisingly) “winning the shut-down” with their never-back-down “insistence” on restoring the health insurance premium subsidies of Obama-Care. These people feel that the Democrats folded without getting anything for the pain…
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Who are “The People?”
When I refer to “the people,” I am referring to all the people who live in the USA. Of course, this includes the richest of the rich as much as it includes the poorest of the poor. However, I sometimes use the term “the people” as a counterpoint to “the rich,” particularly when discussing the…
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Turning Tide?
The people of the US are starting to wake up and push back on Trump’s authoritarian aspirations. Marjory Taylor Green is making noises against the loss of health insurance premium subsidies and cuts to medicare. Is this the Republican tide about to break? Maybe not, but Democrats are showing newfound strength, even though it now…
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The Baumol Effect—More Relevant than Ever
The strong performance on Tuesday (11/4/2025) of Democrats—particularly the governors’ of NJ and VA races and the NYC mayor’s race—has been attributed to the candidates’ disciplined messaging on their intention to address questions of affordability. In the case of Zohran Mamdani, he promised to freeze Rent Stabilized apartment rents, to deliver free and efficient bus…
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A Glimmer of Hope
All across the country, the people have spoken out decisively against the President The supposed squeaker governor’s race was a smash of some 13% margin against the MAGA candidate A Democrat elected mayor of Omaha for the first time in forever A clean sweep of statewide offices in Virginia and 13 flipped Assembly seats And…