There is a lot of disinformation swirling about the cause of inflation. One of the most perplexing aspects of this to me is that of all common targets for blame (government spending, supply chain problems, business monopolies), one, and in my view the most important one, is left out: Federal Reserve policy.

Tariffs are a big topic of discussion this election year with many conflicting assertions made about they work and who pays them. I did a little research to see if I could find the facts amongst the noise. Read on for what I learned.

While the world waits for a vaccine to give us relief from the pandemic, global warming and the climatic consequences are accelerating. This rapid pace of change required that our research on the subject, first completed only in 2018, be fundamentally rewritten. Here is a brief summary of what we learned.

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Harry Truman said that “there is nothing new in the world except the history that you do not know.” With that in mind, I am reluctant to suggest that the 2020 election will be different from any other. Nonetheless, at least three things will make the contest both unusual and a challenge to analyze in an unemotional, nonpartisan way.

On April 7, in “This Bubble Too Shall Burst,” I shared my view, based on traditional economic thinking, that the mounting US debt is likely to become a serious economic problem for our children. What I didn’t do was address whether or not such borrowing is moral. Yes, I mean moral.

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When the 2020 presidential debate begins, President Trump will renew his campaign against illegal immigration. When he does, both sides will obscure the real issues by retreating to their familiar, polarized themes. How might independent thinkers navigate this unproductive debate?

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College education in America has become unaffordable for too many and a poor investment for many more. Candidate Biden is proposing to expand tuition subsidies and forgive some student debt. Is there a way to address the problem without more spending?

In the wake of Covid-19, President Trump is ramping up his attacks on China. It looks like candidate Biden will not be outdone. Must China be an enemy? Or might we be displacing blame for our growing problems?

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