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Why Your Next Bottle of French Champagne Could Cost More: Tariffs & US Sparkling Wine Options

When I read the news that prices on French Champagne could soon be soaring under President Trump’s tariff plan, my first response was to quickly get to my nearest Costco. Veuve Clicquot champagne, still made much like it was when first developed over 200 years ago by the “Grande Dame” ...
Business & Economics

An economist explains what trade deficits really mean

Believing the myth that trade deficits are bad, the Trump Administration imposed global reciprocal tariffs this week. The proposal threatens to derail economic prosperity and trigger a barn burner of a recession. The fallacy of this myth can be clearly seen in the U.S. economic data. Over the last half-century ...
Business & Economics

Louisiana Is Litigating Away Its Economic Prosperity

Numerous Louisiana parishes are suing oil and gas companies over coastal erosion. A Plaquemines Parish courtroom has a front row seat to one of the more high-dollar cases taking place where the plaintiffs have reportedly asked for more than $3 billion in damages from just one of the defendants. Undoubtedly ...
Business & Economics

Trade Wars Hurt Farmers

Before promising to impose tariffs on our nearest trade partners — Mexico and Canada — President Donald Trump told American farmers that they should get ready to sell more of their products domestically. The trouble with that optimism is that most farms are not corporate giants, but family operations that ...
Business & Economics

Robust Tech Company Investment Show The Folly Of Trump’s Tariffs

On February 24th, Apple announced that, over the next four years, the company will invest $500 billion into U.S. advanced manufacturing and high-tech initiatives such as artificial intelligence and silicon engineering. Additionally, the company expects to hire 20,000 people over this time frame. These investments will make important contributions to ...
Business & Economics

Housing Unaffordability Is A Policy Choice Not A Technology Problem

Trying to deflect the blame for the growing problem of housing affordability, politicians across the country are channeling their inner Captain Louis Renault and “rounding up the usual suspects”. In this case, the usual suspects are property landlords using algorithmic software to better understand the local market dynamics. Read the ...
Business & Economics

President Trump’s Tariffs Will Harm Your Pocketbook

President Trump fired the first shot of a trade war by imposing 25% tariffs on Canada and 10% tariffs on China, which will take effect on February 4 as of this writing. It also announced 25% tariffs on Mexico, but implementation has been delayed a month while the Administration negotiates ...
Blog

Book Review: The Age of Debt Bubbles edited by Max Rangely

Today, the U.S.’s debt-to-GDP ratio (the ratio between a country’s government debt and its gross domestic product) stands at 121 percent according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.  However, we’re not the only country at risk.  Italy is at 139 percent, Greece at 153 percent, Singapore at 176 ...
Business & Economics

Learn more about LNG exports

The High Costs Of Obstructing LNG Exports

Thanks to plentiful natural gas, consumers have access to affordable and reliable electricity, an often preferred heating/cooking fuel, and an energy source that has helped reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Greater use of natural gas is also consistent with the strong preference of “American voters across demographics and partisanship” for “an ‘all of ...
Blog

Rise Of The Machines

Some years ago, in 2018, when the minimum wage in California was $11 an hour for companies with 26 or more employees, a Pasadena burger joint hired a machine named Flippy to turn patties on the grill. “The world’s first autonomous kitchen assistant,” an “upgrade on a human line cook,” ...
Blog

Why Your Next Bottle of French Champagne Could Cost More: Tariffs & US Sparkling Wine Options

When I read the news that prices on French Champagne could soon be soaring under President Trump’s tariff plan, my first response was to quickly get to my nearest Costco. Veuve Clicquot champagne, still made much like it was when first developed over 200 years ago by the “Grande Dame” ...
Business & Economics

An economist explains what trade deficits really mean

Believing the myth that trade deficits are bad, the Trump Administration imposed global reciprocal tariffs this week. The proposal threatens to derail economic prosperity and trigger a barn burner of a recession. The fallacy of this myth can be clearly seen in the U.S. economic data. Over the last half-century ...
Business & Economics

Louisiana Is Litigating Away Its Economic Prosperity

Numerous Louisiana parishes are suing oil and gas companies over coastal erosion. A Plaquemines Parish courtroom has a front row seat to one of the more high-dollar cases taking place where the plaintiffs have reportedly asked for more than $3 billion in damages from just one of the defendants. Undoubtedly ...
Business & Economics

Trade Wars Hurt Farmers

Before promising to impose tariffs on our nearest trade partners — Mexico and Canada — President Donald Trump told American farmers that they should get ready to sell more of their products domestically. The trouble with that optimism is that most farms are not corporate giants, but family operations that ...
Business & Economics

Robust Tech Company Investment Show The Folly Of Trump’s Tariffs

On February 24th, Apple announced that, over the next four years, the company will invest $500 billion into U.S. advanced manufacturing and high-tech initiatives such as artificial intelligence and silicon engineering. Additionally, the company expects to hire 20,000 people over this time frame. These investments will make important contributions to ...
Business & Economics

Housing Unaffordability Is A Policy Choice Not A Technology Problem

Trying to deflect the blame for the growing problem of housing affordability, politicians across the country are channeling their inner Captain Louis Renault and “rounding up the usual suspects”. In this case, the usual suspects are property landlords using algorithmic software to better understand the local market dynamics. Read the ...
Business & Economics

President Trump’s Tariffs Will Harm Your Pocketbook

President Trump fired the first shot of a trade war by imposing 25% tariffs on Canada and 10% tariffs on China, which will take effect on February 4 as of this writing. It also announced 25% tariffs on Mexico, but implementation has been delayed a month while the Administration negotiates ...
Blog

Book Review: The Age of Debt Bubbles edited by Max Rangely

Today, the U.S.’s debt-to-GDP ratio (the ratio between a country’s government debt and its gross domestic product) stands at 121 percent according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.  However, we’re not the only country at risk.  Italy is at 139 percent, Greece at 153 percent, Singapore at 176 ...
Business & Economics

Learn more about LNG exports

The High Costs Of Obstructing LNG Exports

Thanks to plentiful natural gas, consumers have access to affordable and reliable electricity, an often preferred heating/cooking fuel, and an energy source that has helped reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Greater use of natural gas is also consistent with the strong preference of “American voters across demographics and partisanship” for “an ‘all of ...
Blog

Rise Of The Machines

Some years ago, in 2018, when the minimum wage in California was $11 an hour for companies with 26 or more employees, a Pasadena burger joint hired a machine named Flippy to turn patties on the grill. “The world’s first autonomous kitchen assistant,” an “upgrade on a human line cook,” ...
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