As Ryan McMaken, among others, noted this week President Donald Trump has seemed to pivot his attention away from his economic legislative agenda and more toward foreign policy matters. Given the legislative frustrations over Obamacare repeal, and his Goldman-led Treasury’s insistence on the sort of revenue-neutral tax reform that may have a hard time getting through a Republican Congress, Trump defenders could place most of the blame for this strategic shift to the political realities of Congress.

In the wake of the United Airlines debacle — in which the airline had airport police assault one of its own customers — customers have begun to ask why there doesn’t seem to be more competition for United to contend with. They ask: would United treat its customers so poorly if they had more competition? 

Maybe not. 

As Yellen and the rest of the Fed cohorts talk rising interest rates and balance sheet shrinkage, Trump makes it clear: the dollar is too strong. As such, he opposes the Fed’s recent efforts on interest rate policy. He likes low interest rates. This makes sense — politicians love cheap debt — though it is a sad deviation from his more critical stance on financial bubbles during his candidacy years.

Will Grigg, full name William Norman Grigg, passed away today after a series of hospitalizations. He was much too young to leave us.

Will was a dedicated voice for liberty, and a prolific writer and blogger on the subjects of police misconduct and police militarization. An archive of the many articles he wrote for LewRockwell.com is here. He also appeared on our Mises Weekends show discussing the growing police state.

By now, most of us have finished our binge-watch of Netflix’s latest Marvel series Iron First. Billionaire Danny Rand gets stranded in the Himalayas at the age of ten after a plane crash and is raised by warrior monks who turn him into a superhero sworn to fight against the evil Hand organization. I am a mega-geek when it comes to anything Marvel, and my Austrian economics loving libertarianism is generally on hibernate mode until I’ve completed my twelve-hour marathon of these shows.

Donald Trump campaigned on the economic issues of international trade, immigration, and jobs. He condemned international trade, immigrants, and the economic policies of countries such China and Mexico. As such, he should be made an honorary member of the mid-19th century “Know Nothing” political party.

Every day that passes brings further evidence, in the marvelous phrase of Bill Kauffman in Chronicles, of “the enormous gulf between those who live in America and those who run it.” We who live in America are firmly convinced that we are taxed far too much, that government spending and taxation are eating out our substance to support a growing parasitic army of crooks and moochers, and that the accelerating burden of government has caused our economy to stagnate over the last two decades.

Echoing the thoughts of Yellen and other Fed members, the Dallas Fed’s Robert Kaplan indicated that the $4.5 trillion balance sheet should begin the scale-back process this year. “Gradually and patiently” was the phrase used, as they are ever wary of a tantrum on Wall Street. Reuters reports:

When Alexis de Tocqueville set forth his observations on American democracy, he began his story with a description of township government.