“The conflict could be remembered as a key catalyst for erosion in petrodollar dominance and the beginnings of the petroyuan.”

Housing affordability has become one of the most politically-charged economic issues in the United States. Home prices and rents have risen sharply over the past several years, leaving many families struggling to buy or rent a place to live. In response, members of Congress have proposed new legislation aimed at limiting large institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes. The goal is simple and politically popular: make housing more affordable for ordinary buyers.

When Trump ordered the first wave of strikes in this ongoing war with Iran last month, he did so while his administration was engaged in active negotiations with the Iranian government. That echoed the situation last June when Israel launched a bombing campaign days after Trump scheduled new talks with Iran—a move Trump later claimed was a deliberate deception to help make the Israeli strikes more effective.

Every year around the anniversary of the publication of The Wealth of Nations (1776), economists and commentators repeat a familiar story: Adam Smith—the Scottish moral philosopher—is celebrated as the father, or even the inventor, of economics. In this telling, Smith stands at the beginning of a scientific tradition, single-handedly discovering the principles of the market economy and the virtues of free trade.

But this story is less history than myth.