At $1 trillion, the ballooning U.S. deficit can be understood as a number, as a proportion of the budget, and the reason we owe China so much money.…
The Manufacturing Jobs That Are Disappearing
Through the excellent Netflix documentary, “American Factory,” and Bureau of Labor Force projections, we can see disappearing manufacturing jobs.…
The Spillover From Sorting (and Not Sorting) Trash
The four colors of Shanghai’s trash-sorting bins make the new system look deceptively simple for households and businesses.…
The Little-Known Impact of Chinese Tariffs
Whereas the headlines tell us all about the impact of Chinese tariffs on the prices of U.S. goods, there is a hidden side that they have not mentioned.…
Where Will Automation Change Our Lives?
Whether looking at a self-driving car or your airline ticketing app, you can see how automation has begun to shift job activities.…
Why a Tariff Changed Your Hiking Boots
Looking at tariff incentives, we see changes in clothing design and factory location that are based on minimizing the impact of the tax.…
The Problem With Emissions Outsourcing
Usually associated with jobs, now the outsourcing that relates to carbon emissions embedded in globally traded goods will be limited by California.…
Where Retaliatory Tariffs Create Unintended Consequences
It will be rather complicated when retaliatory agricultural tariffs, aluminum protection, and crop payment supports all hit New Madrid County, Missouri.…
China’s Recycling Reversal
When China told the WTO it would no longer recycle a lot of the world’s waste, it created a ripple of externalities from Hong Kong to Portland, Oregon.…
Why China Wants To Be Called a Market Economy
A year ago, China filed a formal complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO). Targeting the European Union and the United States, China’s goal was to have its economy called a market. The …