Byzantine Bilateralism
President Donald Trump has often said he prefers bilateral commercial talks to multilateral treaties such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), North American Free Trade Agreement […]
‘US not afraid to strike North Korea in war’
With North Korea inching closer to acquiring intercontinental ballistic missiles that could reach America’s shores, the United States would be more inclined to take unilateral […]
Principles of Political Economy, Part Two
Last week, I outlined the first four of eight key principles of political economy the way I do it in the weekly blog column, now […]
Principles of Political Economy
This is my 100th blog in this series. I use this milestone to summarize eight principles that distinguish my polarized political economy from textbook economics and finance […]
Affordable Health Care
The Republican Party recently came out with their replacement for the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. It has stirred massive discussion, but some […]
Another Korean War?
A couple weeks ago I rated the prospect of war with China as unlikely. More likely is a new U.S. war with North Korea. Please […]
Trump’s Ineffective Protectionism
President Donald Trump’s rhetoric on trade is unprecedented among American presidents or even major party candidates since before World War II. Many still debate whether […]
The Political Economy of Political Labels
During the first week of the Trump administration, George Orwell’s classic novel 1984 once again became a bestseller. It is little wonder this happened because the emotive yet […]
Exit Strategy
In the aftermath of the Vietnam War, military strategists began to more seriously consider the importance of an “exit strategy.” The idea, as I mentioned […]
The Unlikely Prospect of War with China
Periodically, over the last couple decades, I have written on the issue of a potential U.S. war with China. I did not explore this issue […]
The Polarizing Effect of Trump’s Trade Policies
This blog series is titled “Polarizing Political Economy” in part because I emphasize that unity in economic and political policy is often impossible. Opposing interests […]
Corruption in the Age of Derivatives
During the presidential campaign and now after the election, there has been a strong push for Donald Trump to release his tax returns, as all […]
Rule of Law
When I was in elementary school, I remember my (very conservative) teacher saying that the great thing about the United States was that our constitution […]
Books for Learning Political Economy
Many students over the years have asked me what are the most useful books for learning my approach to political economy. The two books I […]
Trump and Trade Bilateralism
Last week I argued that President-elect Donald Trump appears to be an economic nationalist prone to subverting the internationalist world economic order that has endured […]
Trump: Business Nationalist or Internationalist?
During recent weeks I have been discussing with friends and colleagues what to expect from a Trump presidency. As regular readers of this blog know, […]