Analysis & Opinions

The United States’ debt-to-GDP ratio, which improved during the inflationary spike of 2021-22, is expected to increase as inflation cools and the US population rapidly ages. While ultra-conservative Republicans advocate cutting non-defense discretionary spending to restore debt sustainability, the numbers do not add up.

President Biden may practice old-style Democratic coalition politics, but his party's progressives have gotten a sweet deal. Look no further than the White House's embrace of national economic planning. The younger generation wants a sharp break with the past, and the president is listening. Mr. Biden's new model is the Washington Ordered Economy: a tale of WOE.

Farmers in the western United States argue that without access to relatively affordable water for cultivating feed-related crops such as alfalfa, the cost of beef and dairy products would increase. But why should the American public subsidize the production of beef and dairy products or the cultivation of rice in a desert?

Even if they manage to convince their creditors to restructure their debts, commodity-exporting debtor countries are still vulnerable to sudden price fluctuations. Commodity bonds could help remove the most significant source of risk facing many debt-distressed countries in Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East.

The half-century since the official demise of the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates has shown the benefits of what replaced it. While some may feel nostalgic for the postwar monetary system, its collapse was inevitable, and what looked like failure has given rise to a remarkably resilient regime.

Efforts to prohibit financial institutions from considering environmental, social, and governance criteria reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of free-market capitalism on the part of its self-proclaimed defenders. If private investors and companies want to pursue ESG goals, it is not politicians' place to interfere.

While there are signs that the “everything bubble” is about to burst, leading economists’ predictions that the world economy is headed toward a major slump in the coming year seem premature. While hard times are almost certainly coming, the mainstream definition – two consecutive quarters of negative growth – is a very high bar.

Efforts to reduce global greenhouse-gas emissions must overcome the free-rider problem, and carbon border adjustment measures are the most effective way to level the playing field. But only a revived World Trade Organization could ensure that such a mechanism is applied fairly.

American voters seem set to hand Republicans control over Congress and key state offices in November’s midterm elections, owing to anger over high inflation and fear of recession. But while the Biden administration has made some mistakes, the US economy is stronger than it looks.

Stephen Walt argues that the true value of more diverse decision-making teams and more open political systems is not that they never make mistakes but rather that they make it more likely that policy blunders will be corrected once it is clear they are not working.