An Urban's Rural View

The Declaration of Independence was signed at the height of a movement historians call the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment has few fans among the increasingly influential faction of post-liberal intellectuals.

Though the effects of tariff hikes have yet to show up in the inflation reports, the Federal Reserve expects to learn a lot more about their effects in the next few months. In the meantime, it's keeping its benchmark interest rate unchanged.

The American bald eagle, now our national bird, has made a comeback from extinction and, just as importantly, a comeback in the nation's esteem.

When interest rates on long bonds rise, the U.S. dollar usually gains value. That this has stopped happening suggests foreign investors are seeing the U.S. as a riskier place to invest and are demanding even higher interest rates.

The U.S.-China agreement to reduce tariffs will allow more trade but it won't help solve the most critical American economic problem with China: our reliance on that country for critical manufactured products.

While markets are expecting interest rate cuts later this year, the economic outlook is so uncertain that rates could go up, down or sidewise.

A trade deal between the U.S. and China could be difficult to reach. Which country has more tolerance for pain is a key question in this trade war.

"Superagency: What Could Possibly Go Right with Our AI Future" is a thought-provoking antidote to the angst so many feel about the rise of artificial intelligence.

Smartly targeted tariffs can encourage businesses to build factories in the U.S. The administration's tariffs are not smartly targeted.

Economists say the risk of a recession is increasing, so it's a good time to consider what a recession is and why an economy can feel like it's in a recession even when it doesn't qualify under the usual definitions.

At its latest meeting the Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rate unchanged, but Fed policymakers pushed up their inflation projections and expressed confidence in the economy.

The U.S. was the main builder of the post-World War II world order. Judging from the first few weeks of the second Trump administration, the U.S. is now in the process of unbuilding that order.

Don't think the pain from the national debt lies in the future. We're feeling it now.

The 47th president's bromance with the 25th is about more than tariffs.

Many Americans are cutting back on drinking, even some who have doubts about the studies painting alcohol as a health risk.

The last time the Federal Reserve gave in to demands from the president to cut interest rates, the result wasn't good. The current Fed is determined to preserve its independence.

Unless it's unexpectedly saved by the Supreme Court, the popular social-media platform TikTok will soon either cease operations in the U.S. or be sold to a non-Chinese owner.

After cutting their benchmark interest rates 100 basis points in the last four months of 2024, Federal Reserve policymakers are now looking at a slower pace of cuts in 2025, slower even than they'd projected in September. It's even possible in the view of a few of those...

A family Christmas custom of binge-watching The Lord of the Rings gives rise to thoughts about technology.

During the campaign, the president-elect said Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could "go wild on the food." But he chose Kennedy for Secretary of Health and Human Services, which only has a small part of food policy under its purview. Will Kennedy or Trump's nominee for Secretary of...