This very concerned strategic assessment — “China is gaining on the United States. What are the US doing about it?” — was written by an American Enterprise Institute (AEI) analyst after the Trump administration’s first National Defense Strategy was released by Secretary of Defense Mattis — but before the sequester was set aside and increased […]
Despite export boom, US tax cuts and deficit will increase imports over exports, threatening ill-considered administrative protectionism
Trade correspondent LC’s weekly report The probability that the trade deficit will continue to grow presents a danger for US trading partners. The recent US tax cuts and government spending hike will likely increase US demand, keeping US savings lagging consumption and attracting even more imports, pushing the trade deficit up. Strong demand abroad should […]
Wed-Sun (2/7-11/2018) Cash-starved military gets funds but budget deal shows high cost of bipartisanship
The Washington Times, as they say, nails it: “Budget deal shows high cost of bipartisanship. Few things produce bipartisanship more than spending other people’s money.” The newspaper continues: This week’s deal to add $320 billion to the deficit over the next 20 months and set the stage for $1.8 trillion more in deficits over the […]
Mon.-Tues. (Feb. 5-6, 2018) Weak dollar, trade protectionism the two big things that threaten the improving US economy
Steve Forbes, editor of Forbes magazine and a Republican candidate for President in 1996, writes that “Two big things threaten the improving US economy: a weak dollar and trade protectionism.” Regarding the latter, he continues, It’s one thing to update trade agreements such as Nafta, quite another to blow them up or try to dictate […]
Sunday (2/4/2018) Trump approval +10%; nuke, navy, ABM growth urgent
President Trump has received a 10% rise in job approval in two important recent polls: Rasmussen (49% approval), Monmouth (44% approval). These presumably reflect popular reaction to the prosperous state of the economy and a well-received State of the Union speech. The Democrats may not have helped themselves by their antics during the State of […]
