An Urban's Rural View

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.

Governments have tried, and mostly failed, to reduce food waste. South Korea, though, has cured one of the harms food waste causes.

Different versions of industrial policy can have very different implications for agriculture.

The stock market crash got most of the attention, but the increase in the unemployment rate is much more important to the Federal Reserve as it considers lowering interest rates.

The Federal Reserve sends a strong signal that a cut in interest rates is coming soon.

House Republicans and Democrats are deeply divided over food-stamp benefits. That division is one of the obstacles to passing a farm bill this year.

If you borrow money, an interest-rate increase feels like inflation, but the government doesn't count it as one.

Most countries have national days. Our country's is different. What distinguishes it is a noble document that has been quoted and copied and analyzed ever since it was signed.

A detailed look at the rural-urban divide affords some reasons for optimism.

Cancer is the second-leading cause of death in the U.S., and despite significant progress, cancer scientists are a long way from conquering it.

The tense relationship between the U.S. and China is all the more reason why Americans should go to China and study the language and culture.