An Urban's Rural View

"Cold War" is a misleading historical analogy for the U.S.-China relationship. The two countries are indeed serious rivals, but they're also economically interdependent.

The financial markets' current concerns about inflation are overdone but the inflation of the 1970s teaches precautionary lessons.

As optimal temperatures move north, Siberia's permafrost will melt, potentially opening up a vast new area to farming. But will anyone want to farm it?

If you believe a paper from two prominent economists, the national debt is far from out of control.

It's easy to pooh-pooh Former Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman's choice for USDA's most important function. But actually, he has a point.

Calls for an Infrastructure Week diverted criticism from President Donald Trump but otherwise led nowhere. Washington needs to focus a whole year on doing something about infrastructure.

The president-elect has given some clues about his approach to China but many questions remain.

Maybe with an end in sight we'll overcome our pandemic fatigue and take the precautions necessary to get through the winter.

Exit polls suggest the urban-rural political divide wasn't as big this election as it was in 2016.

They may both be superpowers, but the U.S. and China don't get much respect these days in surveys of international opinion.

No, COVID-19 isn't going away soon, but when it does, many things will have changed.

Should the U.S. abandon "strategic ambiguity" and tell China it will defend Taiwan militarily?

We can still buy wonderful fruits, vegetables and meat at the Newport Farmer's Market in Newport, Oregon, but the coronavirus has closed down many of the things we love about it.

The idea that the purpose of a corporation is solely to generate profits for owners is being challenged again, and the challenge could affect farmers and ranchers.

Those unrequested envelopes of seeds from China are the modern-day equivalent of the Trojan Horse.

The president is no longer interested in trade talks with China, and anti-Communist ideologues have become America's voice.

The controversy over industrial policy is no longer whether to have one but what kind. Abraham Lincoln's industrial policy offers some suggestions.

Geopolitical events are testing the ability of the U.S. and China to be both rivals and trading partners.

Washington is once again talking about a big rural-broadband buildout. To get the politicians to go beyond talk, proponents need to humanize their case.

COVID-19 is likely to hasten the decoupling of the U.S. and Chinese economies. Agriculture trade won't be exempt.