Industrial Policy, the Developmental State, and the East Asian Miracle

Industrial Policy, Asian Miracle Style
https://www.aeaweb.org/articles/pdf/doi/10.1257/jep.20251448
 
The World Bank's East Asian Miracle: Too Much a Product of Its Time?
https://www.aeaweb.org/articles/pdf/doi/10.1257/jep.20251449
 
The Role of Standards in the East Asian Miracle
https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/bb7b702e-dbf7-4bd8-9141-01a08d520b3c/content
 
The East Asian Miracle Remembered: Tiger Secrets Hidden in Plain Sight
https://www.cgdev.org/sites/default/files/east-asian-miracle-remembered-tiger-secrets-hidden-plain-sight.pdf
 
‘Birds of a Feather’ Shaped East Asia’s Development ‘Miracles’
https://thediplomat.com/2025/07/birds-of-a-feather-shaped-east-asias-development-miracles/
How shared backgrounds among policy elites powered the economic rise of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and China.
 
The East Asian Miracle: Where Did Adam Smith Go Wrong?
https://hir.harvard.edu/the-east-asian-miracle-where-did-adam-smith-go-wrong/
 
Beijing’s ‘Industrial Policy of Everything’ Leaves Rest of the World in the Dust
https://www.wsj.com/world/china/beijings-industrial-policy-of-everything-leaves-rest-of-the-world-in-the-dust-8b94a046
Government support encompasses the old, the new, goods and services, micro and macro. Nothing Trump elicits in China will alter this. 

Related:

Critique of Soviet-Style Central Planning:
https://jacobin.com/2026/05/central-planning-soviet-union-socialism

Political Corruption in America

It’s the corruption, stupid!
https://spectator.com/article/corruption-stupid-trump-administration/
The problem Trump faces is that so many of his political bets are riding on what a growing number of voters view as a casino political system. A decade ago, Donald Trump rose to power running against a system he called “rigged” both against him and ordinary Americans. It’s clear that a considerable number of his own ordinary voters have come to believe that it’s Trump himself rigging the system now, and only in his own favor. 

Index Rebalancing and the Rise of Passive Investing

Index rebalancing is now the biggest event in markets
https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2026/05/12/index-rebalancing-is-now-the-biggest-event-in-markets
But profiting from it is another matter.
 
Michael Green, Chief Strategist and Portfolio Manager for Simplify Asset Management, on the rise of passive investing.  
https://youtu.be/CPPiIiPoQuY 

The Surging Stock Market

Party time for stock markets cannot last for ever
https://www.ft.com/content/87c5ebda-a18e-4eeb-8298-d13bdacf4d50
Investor mood is shifting to outright red-hot exuberance.
 
The Stock Market’s Winning Streak Is About to Be Tested
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/15/business/stocks-bonds-interest-rates-inflation.html
Despite accelerating inflation and possible interest rate increases, the S&P 500 has posted a long weekly winning streak, driven by strong corporate earnings. Can it last?

War, inflation and Trump’s tariffs have shaken the US. Why does the stock market keep going up?
https://www.theguardian.com/business/ng-interactive/2026/may/14/us-stock-market-war-inflation-tariffs-trump
Wall Street has proved incredibly resilient to instability, and while consumer confidence has dipped, shares have soared. 

Why It’s So Hard to Spot a Stock-Market Bubble
https://www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/why-its-so-hard-to-spot-a-stock-market-bubble-63f40a1c
A sudden surge in share prices makes us all think we know what’s coming next.

Why Stocks Keep Going Up
https://www.theatlantic.com/economy/2026/05/stock-market-iran-war-bullish/687041/
The boom is not as untethered from reality as it may look. 

Markets are banking on the ‘Bliss trade’
https://www.ft.com/content/60f60089-9486-481c-859c-f29b8ccbbd90
A belief in resilience underwritten by big lasting state support is keeping stocks high.

The Sorry State of Political Leadership in Europe

Starmer is not alone. It is hell to be a leader in Europe today
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/05/15/starmer-not-alone-hell-to-be-leader-europe/
The PM’s Continental peers are similarly unpopular – and Britain’s economy is not in bad shape. 

Sweden’s Capitalist Makeover

The World’s Most Surprising Capitalist Makeover Is Under Way in Sweden
https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/the-worlds-most-surprising-capitalist-makeover-is-under-way-in-sweden-a7830619
Total public social spending is falling, its economy is outpacing European peers and taxes have been cut three years running. Not everyone is happy. 

The Powell Era

How Eight Tumultuous Years Pushed Jerome Powell and the Fed to the Limit
https://www.wsj.com/economy/central-banking/how-eight-tumultuous-years-pushed-jerome-powell-and-the-fed-to-the-limit-96388c46
The pandemic, inflation and White House pressure tested the central bank’s leader as never before. 

Jerome Powell’s Mixed Legacy
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/powell-legacy-fed-defender-but-also-policy-mistakes-by-mohamed-a-el-erian-2026-05