By Robert Romano Remember Smoot-Hawley. That was the rallying cry of #NeverTrump all throughout 2016, that if elected, President Donald Trump would levy tariffs and the world would fall into recession, or maybe even another Great Depression. Because the Smoot-Hawley tariffs were the cause of the Great […]

By Rick Manning As we embark upon 2020, with the third year of Donald Trump’s presidency in the can, the American economy is as good as it has been in at least 70 years, and after what many economists predicted would be a mid-year downturn, 2019 has […]

By Rick Manning Our nation’s pension systems are in trouble.  Underfunded with outsized promises to beneficiaries who are living longer, the death rattles of the defined benefit pension system, which promises a fixed amount of money per month for retirees, are now audible. There are many facets […]

By Robert Romano U.S. and China trade negotiators once again have a deal in principle on a first stage trade agreement , just days before a Dec. 15 deadline when President Donald Trump had threatened to further increase tariffs on Chinese goods. This would be about the third time such an agreement […]

By Rick Manning You’d think Democrats and Republicans in Washington could find a way to work together to help people get the cutting-edge, lifesaving medications they need. Sadly, that’s not the case. The House is expected to  vote  on Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s drug pricing bill next week. The […]

By Robert Romano Long-awaited changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) being unveiled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Trump administration are once again making obtaining work a key emphasis of the program by conforming to statutory requirements that single, work capable people with no dependents between the ages of 18 and […]

By Robert Romano If you have ever used an out-of-network medical provider under your health insurance, whether for an emergency or just for additional services, it is possible you have received a surprise medical billing, often costing far more than if the provider had been in-network. It […]

By Robert Romano The U.S. trade in goods deficit with China is down 12.8 percent in the first nine months of 2019, or $38.5 billion, compared to 2018, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau . The numbers came with the 10 percent tariffs President Donald Trump levied on $200 billion of […]

  By Rick Manning The United States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade agreement is an important first step in restructuring the trading system around the world around a capitalist idea — that intellectual and private property is foundational to fair and honest trade between willing partners. While it may seem […]

By Rick Manning Brazil is the leading producer of sugar cane in the world and environmentalists in the South American country worry that a recent decision by President Jair Bolsonaro’s government to end a ten-year moratorium on new cane production in the Amazon rainforest will spark new development. While Brazilian sugar production […]