US Trade Deficit in 2025

In 2025, Trade Deficit in Goods Reached Record High
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/19/business/economy/imports-tariffs-trade-deficit.html
The trade deficit remained historically large last year, new data showed, as President Trump’s steep tariffs scrambled trade but did not halt it.
 
America Imported a Record Amount Last Year Despite Seismic Trade Policy Changes
https://www.wsj.com/economy/trade/u-s-trade-deficit-grew-in-december-da4afda5 

Boomers in Charge

Over 65? Congratulations, You Own the Economy
https://www.wsj.com/economy/over-65-congratulations-you-own-the-economy-5acea4c4
The elderly are physically and financially healthier than ever. So why do their needs keep taking priority over younger generations? 

Xi’s Purge of the Military

In Xi’s Purge of the Military, a Search for Absolute Loyalty
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/16/world/asia/xi-military-zhang-youxia-mao.html
By reaching back to Maoist tactics of “rectification,” the Chinese leader is signaling that control over the gun requires a state of perpetual cleansing. 

Bond Markets Get Interesting

How the World’s Most Boring Market Became a ‘Battlefield’
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/business/jgb-trade-excitement.html
Trading of Japanese government bonds, long considered moribund, is roaring back to life as fears of the country’s debt have sent yields surging.
 
Bonds swept up in leap of faith on AI productivity
https://www.reuters.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/bonds-swept-up-leap-faith-ai-productivity-2026-02-18/ 

Taxing Wealth

Billionaires’ Low Taxes Are Becoming a Problem for the Economy
https://www.wsj.com/finance/billionaires-low-taxes-are-becoming-a-problem-for-the-economy-27a560ca
Tax avoidance by the superwealthy is an economic issue as well as a political one. 

Are Wealth Taxes the Best Way to Tax the Ultra Rich?
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/31/business/economy/wealth-tax-france.html
 
Don’t tax wealth
https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2025/10/02/dont-tax-wealth
 
The First Politically Viable Wealth Tax
https://prospect.org/2025/10/23/unveiled-today-first-politically-viable-wealth-tax
 
New Report Shows How States Can Raise Billions by Taxing the Wealthy
https://itep.org/new-report-shows-how-states-can-raise-billions-by-taxing-the-wealthy
 
Author of 'The Second Estate' argues that America's tax code has created a new aristocracy
https://www.npr.org/2025/11/01/nx-s1-5568000/author-of-the-second-estate-argues-that-americas-tax-code-has-created-a-new-aristocracy 

Regulating AI

The AI Trilemma: How to Regulate a Revolutionary Technology
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/ai-trilemma 

‘Woke’ AI Feud Escalates Between Pentagon and Anthropic
https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/woke-ai-spat-escalates-between-pentagon-and-anthropic-433b7c5c
The Pentagon might ask contractors and vendors to certify that they don’t use Anthropic’s Claude amid tensions over how its tools are used.
 
Land Grab for Data Centers Is One More Obstacle to Much-Needed Housing
https://www.wsj.com/real-estate/data-center-land-deals-housing-shortage-81ea6e09
Resistance grows to more land sales in Northern Virginia. “They’d rather have homes than data,” said a former Prince William County supervisor.

Will Sweden Join the Euro Area?

Trump’s New World Order Is Pushing Sweden to Warm Up to the Euro
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-world-order-pushing-sweden-050004948.html/