In December 2022, then-Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) introduced the Federal Reserve Accountability Act. It is intended to increase accountability, address left-leaning political activism, and ensure greater geographic and professional diversity within the Federal Reserve System. Sen. Toomey has been very vocal about his concerns regarding the recent increase in the Fed’s political activism. According to a press […]
What now in the house? The lengthy speakership battle in the House of Representatives this month ended with both sides able to declare victory. This is the best outcome for the Republicans, who probably couldn’t have afforded either alternative: a crushed rebellion or a crushed mainstream leadership. Thanks to the concessions won by the right-wing […]
One of the best written and most thought-provoking political books in recent decades was Jonathan Freedland’s Bring Home the Revolution. Essentially a paean of praise to American democracy, it skewered the knee-jerk anti-Americanism of so many of Freedland’s fellow leftists by comparing the state of British and US democracy and, remarkably for a book written by […]
Today’s title is a little tongue in cheek, but there is also quite a lot of truth in it. The chair of the US Federal Reserve has had particular influence over foreign interest rates this year via the ‘King Dollar’ period that exacerbated inflationary pressure for other countries. Although some of the other central banks, […]
Sales of existing homes sank another 5.9% in October to a 4.43 million seasonally adjusted annual rate. That is the ninth consecutive monthly decline, leaving the selling pace at the lowest level since May 2020, the low of the lockdown recession. Excluding the lockdown recession, sales have been at their lowest since December 2011. Sales […]
Originally published October 2022. In the United States, zoning laws are overwhelmingly local concerns, though heavily influenced by federal pressures, like lending and highway construction. So it’s somewhat novel that the California legislature has passed a series of seven (and counting) statewide bills explicitly to allow the construction of auxiliary dwelling units (ADUs), dismantling a brick wall […]
When the US goes to the polls on 8 November, it won’t just be a test for those politicians seeking re-election, but also of President Joe Biden’s popularity. The midterms take place every two years in the middle of a four-year presidential term. They include elections for all 435 seats in the House of Representatives […]
It is interesting, but depressing to me, that the more eminent a college or university is perceived to be, the more outrageous are efforts by administrators to stifle individual expression and enforce a numbing conformity of ideas reminiscent of universities in the old Soviet Union or Nazi Germany. The most prestigious group of schools in […]
The powerful and prestigious Federal Reserve is having a tough year in 2022 in at least three ways: It has failed with inflation forecasting and performance; It has giant mark-to-market losses in its own investments and looming operating losses; It is under political pressure to do things it should not be doing and that should […]
For some, death can be a smart career move. Quite how smart a move depends a lot on who you are and how you die. As we approach the 60th anniversary of the death of Marilyn Monroe, we can learn a few lessons about the art and implications of dying a huge public personality. As […]
