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  Nippon Steel—Japan’s largest steelmaker—has offered to buy U.S. Steel for $14.1 billion, and all the people who count are frothing at the mouth. For example, President Biden has stated: “U.S. Steel has been an iconic American steel company for more than a century, and it is vital for it to remain an American steel company […]

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) last week found Switzerland in violation of human rights in a ruling for “KlimaSeniorinnen,” a group of elderly Swiss women concerned about the climate. The plaintiffs claimed that every individual is owed protection from the state against the damaging consequences of climate change to their health, well-being and […]

  The track record of economic sanctions against Russia has proven what everybody in the West knew, or should have known, from the outset: this is a dubious weapon. The threat of sanctions had provided zero deterrence against Moscow’s ambition to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since the war, the subsequent implementation of sanctions […]

  When consumer price inflation first reared its ugly head in the aftermath of the Covid-19 crisis, the initial reaction of central bankers and politicians was to dismiss it, along with anyone expressing concern over it. As Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell put it, consumer price increases were merely “transitory” and nothing to be too […]

  The United States economy has had a good run. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth is encouraging (2.5 percent in 2023 and more than 3 percent during the last 2023 quarter), and the February 2024 price inflation rate was down to 3.2 percent  – higher than expected but still a commendable result. The labor market is […]