Archive

Browse through all of our previously written publications.

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THE ECONOMY & MAIN STREET

The trade deficit is wider now than before the tariffs existed

Oct 29, 2026

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1 min read

The trade deficit is wider now than before the tariffs existed

The last time it was this wide was March 2025 — one month before Liberation Day tariffs were supposed to fix it.

GOVERNMENT & POWER

It tripled in under twenty years and the CBO sees no floor

Oct 28, 2026

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1 min read

It tripled in under twenty years and the CBO sees no floor

The 50-year average for this ratio is 51%. We are now sitting at exactly twice that.

PEOPLE & SOCIETY

117 years of CDC records, two world wars, a Depression, a pandemic — never this low

Oct 27, 2026

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2 min read

117 years of CDC records, two world wars, a Depression, a pandemic — never this low

The rate has fallen in all but two of the past eighteen years, and in each of the last four.

Money & Markets

The prior five years cost $9,430. These five cost $21,911

Sep 15, 2026

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1 min read

The prior five years cost $9,430. These five cost $21,911

That is more than double the damage of the entire 2016–2021 stretch, in roughly the same number of years.

Americans say they need $1,460,000. The median worker has $107,269.

Sep 10, 2026

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1 min read

Americans say they need $1,460,000. The median worker has $107,269.

That's a gap of more than $1.3 million — and the stock market just had one of its best stretches in recent memory.

Six cuts. Then 162,000 jobs. Now a hike.

Sep 7, 2026

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1 min read

Six cuts. Then 162,000 jobs. Now a hike.

That surprise sent rate-hike odds to 63% before markets closed Friday.

Your stocks are priced for perfection. The Fed just picked up the gun.

Sep 2, 2026

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2 min read

Your stocks are priced for perfection. The Fed just picked up the gun.

It has only been this stretched once in all that data. December 1999, right before the crash.

A dollar from January 2020 now buys about 79 cents worth of goods

Aug 31, 2026

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1 min read

A dollar from January 2020 now buys about 79 cents worth of goods

65 consecutive months above that target, and J.P. Morgan now expects rates to go higher next month.

Your gold ounce cost $1,517 in January 2020. Look at it now.

Aug 24, 2026

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1 min read

Your gold ounce cost $1,517 in January 2020. Look at it now.

Same dollar that bought it back then has lost nearly a quarter of its worth since.

Cost of Living

In 2019, the mortgage payment was $1,072. Today it's $2,155.

Jul 7, 2026

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1 min read

In 2019, the mortgage payment was $1,072. Today it's $2,155.

That's the 30-year tab for buying today versus buying in 2019. Same loan type. Very different era.

What your AC will cost before you run it

Jul 1, 2026

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2 min read

What your AC will cost before you run it

The estimate came out before the heat dome did.

Your July 4th cookout costs $21 more than the 2019 version

Jun 29, 2026

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1 min read

Your July 4th cookout costs $21 more than the 2019 version

Ground beef is up 5.5% from last year and buns jumped 7.7% — here's where the extra $21 went.

Your neighborhood's next build just stopped

Jun 17, 2026

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1 min read

Your neighborhood's next build just stopped

Builders pulled back the hardest since the lockdown.

Jun 5, 2026

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1 min read

The most expensive room in healthcare

Same procedure. Triple the bill. Depending on the door.

May 23, 2026

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1 min read

Same house. Six years later.

The walls didn't move. The math did.

Government & Power

$500 a month — the projected Social Security cut when the trust fund hits zero

Jun 24, 2026

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1 min read

$500 a month — the projected Social Security cut when the trust fund hits zero

The 2026 Trustees Report has a date, a percentage, and a monthly dollar figure — and every one of them is worse than last year's report.

The number that got buried while everyone watched the Fed yesterday

Jun 18, 2026

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1 min read

The number that got buried while everyone watched the Fed yesterday

At $88 billion a month, the debt bill passed the defense budget — and the Fed may not be done raising rates.

Jun 9, 2026

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1 min read

What 100 days of war cost your family

Moody's did the arithmetic. It's bigger than you think.

Jun 2, 2026

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1 min read

The biggest workforce cut in 70 years

And it’s not at a Fortune 500.

May 19, 2026

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1 min read

The U.S. can't outrun this payment

It's bigger than what Washington spends on defense.

May 12, 2026

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1 min read

It doubled in three years

Quietly. While everyone watched something else.

The Economy & Main Street

Jul 9, 2026

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1 min read

The American Dream just changed hands

Four years ago, this wasn't happening.

Canada and Mexico dwarf China in U.S. trade — by nearly 4 to 1

Jul 3, 2026

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1 min read

Canada and Mexico dwarf China in U.S. trade — by nearly 4 to 1

That $1.59 trillion covers auto parts, Canadian oil, and a huge share of the fresh food on store shelves — all of it now under annual review.

49.5: consumer confidence lower than any point during COVID

Jun 30, 2026

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1 min read

49.5: consumer confidence lower than any point during COVID

The University of Michigan has run this survey for 74 years. It has never looked like this.

Real wages just hit -0.7% — in February they were +1.3%

Jun 25, 2026

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1 min read

Real wages just hit -0.7% — in February they were +1.3%

A two-percentage-point swing in ninety days — the Bureau of Labor Statistics confirmed it this morning.

109 days: the Strait of Hormuz closed, and 20 million barrels a day went to zero

Jun 19, 2026

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1 min read

109 days: the Strait of Hormuz closed, and 20 million barrels a day went to zero

$4 gas, $126 oil, and 109 straight days of zero flow through the world's busiest oil chokepoint.

Where the hiring recession actually went

Jun 8, 2026

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1 min read

Where the hiring recession actually went

It didn't end. It moved.

People & Society

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Property & Rights

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