The main takeaway from this discussion is, “Take the tax cuts out of the mix, our fiscal scene would look fine.”
Behind Bernstein is an Epson ET-2980 multi-function printer, the same model I have. This is confirmation that I would have made a good economist.
These weekly news summaries from the UK tabloid The Mirror are as accurate as they are amusing.
More GOP wishful thinking to avoid raising taxes.
“There’s nothing magic about the 40-trillion number,” Bessent said. “We can grow our way out of that.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/20/bessent-budget-deficit-trump.html
We’re still recovering from the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis!
After roughly two decades of ultralow interest rates, a period of rapid readjustment is ahead for the United States
I’m going to cash in on Bessents’s short-term borrowing binge.
The best thing I have read so far today:
If bond markets are so worried about the economy, why are stocks at record highs?
https://www.npr.org/2026/08/20/nx-s1-5937600/economy-bonds-inflation-debt-consumers
Trump has a work wife, and her name is Natalie Harp. Will she be Mrs. Trump #4?
https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/natalie-harp-ossoff-ignites-personal-182025029.html
Trump having an attractive, much younger assistant doesn’t matter to me. The hush money to Stormy Daniels mattered. Trump owing money to E. Jean Carroll for sexual abuse and slander matters.
Donald’s latest girlfriend? So far, she’s Melania’s concern, not ours.
The FTC and DOJ haven’t questioned Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros., because Trump favors the action. It was left to state attorneys general to challenge the merger.
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/17/paramount-bond-merger-delay-costs.html
No administration since Coolidge has been less inclined to question mergers and acquisitions. And yet, the FTC is pursuing privately held Epic Systems. A company that achieved its market dominance without acquiring a competitor.
Aug 14 (Reuters) – Epic Systems, a healthcare database company that holds the medical records of hundreds of millions of Americans, is facing an antitrust investigation by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us-ftc-probing-health-records-company-epic-systems-2026-08-14/
One likely explanation is that Epic’s founder, Judy Faulkner, was an Obama supporter. Regardless of the reason, I’m glad the FTC is finally looking into Epic.
