An Urban's Rural View

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...

China is signaling how it will react to much higher tariffs in a second Trump administration. Indeed, it's already reacting.

The dollar is strong and many investors and economists think it's likely to get stronger. That's a problem for foreigners, not to mention U.S. ag exporters.

Reagan conservatives and Big Government conservatives are vying for President-elect Trump's attention. On some issues he's already chosen between them and others are less clear.

Will a company that half of America patronizes be banned from operating in the U.S.? It's possible.

Despite the Federal Reserve's half-point interest-rate cut in September, some market interest rates have unexpectedly been going up.

The federal government's debt is like the Trojan horse in Greek mythology. Prophecies of the havoc it could wreak aren't taken seriously.

In resisting China's efforts to boost its domination of manufacturing and in the process put other countries' manufacturers out of business, should the U.S. go at it alone or band together with other countries?

China dominates world manufacturing and it's redoubling its investments in new factories, hoping to make other countries more reliant on it. Policymakers in those countries are struggling to solve this China problem.

Interest rates are too high for current economic conditions. The Federal Reserve has started to lower them and signaling it could lower them a lot.

USDA says 20% of U.S. ag production by value is exported. Some farmers wish we grew only for domestic consumption. Many others wish we exported more.