Politics

Over the last half-century, more restrictive urban planning policies have been associated with undermined housing affordability  read more »

French president Emmanuel Macron had an unusually good relationship with US president Donald Trump during the latter’s first term.  read more »

It’s easy to dismiss Donald Trump’s haphazard tariff barrage as silly and self-defeating, especially after so many days of global market turmoil. But critics among liberal Democrats and Republican free traders still need to address the overriding goal behind the seeming madness.  read more »

The late economist Milton Friedman famously declared that “nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program.”  read more »

The Democrats are at a historic ebb and now is a good time to examine what the party believes in, who its main protagonists are and what their agenda is.  read more »

If you let the popularity of an idea – no matter how silly - dictate your stance, then you are not a very good elected official.  read more »

The second of two reported essays on the issues facing California. Read the first installment here.

California’s wide range of problems – including declining schools, widening inequality, rising housing prices, and a weak job market – show the urgent need for reform. The larger question is whether there is the will to change.  read more »

Donald Trump famously said he could end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours, yet the war is still raging more than two months after he took office.  read more »

Donald Trump is unlikely to win a popularity contest or an election in America’s deepest blue states. But, ironically, his administration could prove a long term boon to these places  read more »

US president Donald Trump’s MAGA brand of foreign policy has been treated with contempt and consternation by much of the world.  read more »