An Urban's Rural View

Congress takes a lot of recesses, but the better reason to be critical of some Congressmen is their lack of seriousness.

In addition to food and fellowship, the nation's 8,600 farmers markets help bridge the urban-rural divide.

A boom in construction of new factories indicates Washington's latest industrial-policy forays are working -- so far.

Despite agreements between beef producers and Brazilian prosecutors, tropical-forest clearcutting is on the rise.

Whether you call it de-risking or decoupling, the U.S. is likely to go further in disentangling from China than its allies. How far anyone will go is unclear.

That the Federal Reserve didn't raise interest rates at its June meeting is good news, but it could be well into next year before the Fed starts lowering them.

The debt-ceiling deal shows compromise is still possible in polarized Washington. It does little to address the nation's fiscal challenges.

The Biden administration tries to dissuade South Korean advocates of developing nuclear weapons with a promise to consult.

The COVID-19 emergency is officially over. But elevated death tolls and the political controversies and social and economic changes the pandemic wrought aren't going away.

The Supreme Court's decision upholding California's Proposition 12 will require pork producers to either spend millions to comply or get Congress to overturn it. The precedent will extend beyond pork.

The Economist publishes a well-researched cover story arguing that the U.S. economy is leaving its peers further in the dust.

The Transcaucasian country Georgia is known for its wine and for its fraught relationship with Russia.

Advocates of "arm Taiwan, not Ukraine" present a false choice. Defending Ukraine is critical to deterring a Chinese attack on Taiwan.

Three farmers emailed detailed thoughts on whether economics or cultural issues better explain why the countryside votes increasingly Republican even as Democrats make electoral gains in the suburbs.

Depositors in Silicon Valley Bank were protected, but what happens to the Federal Reserve's fight against inflation as a result?

Pundits struggle to explain why the Democrats now get more than half of their votes in the suburbs while the Republicans dominate in rural America far more than in the past.

News headlines said the FDA allowed plant-based beverages to be called milk. That's true. But what the agency required of those beverages is more important.

Could Vietnam become an even bigger market for U.S. agricultural products?

Legislators are debating whether to ban Chinese investments in U.S. agriculture or subject them to greater scrutiny.

The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate by 0.25% on Feb. 1. At previous meetings the increases had been 0.75% and 0.5%. But there are likely more rate hikes ahead.