Last week, it became clear that the American economy had slightly declined in the first quarter of 2025. No surprise given the "100 days of chaos" (eg, FT, NPR). The Wall Street Journal gave a good explanation for the (annualized) 0.3% decline: "The U.S. economy contracted in the first three months of 2025, as businesses rushed to stock up on imports ahead of...
There’s an interesting Dutch political trend following the course of Trump-2025 in the Russian-Ukraine war. Dutch voters, including me, are turning away from parties (ie, PVV, NSC, BBB) that seem to abandon Ukraine, like Trump does. I’m not a fan of Ukraine but I do not trust Russia - at all. Abandoning Ukraine implies a carte blanche for further Russian invasions...
I suppose that many / most of you know examples of sentences by judges that have a political bias. The most common example is judges ruling about climate change, which is - by nature - a global rather than a national event. Supreme Courts appear to recognise such a political - and non-scientific - bias. Donald Trump changed the composition of the U.S. Supreme Court...
Intro LO: Indirect gaat dit artikel ook over de prijsvorming op de woningmarkt. Een grotere vraag - met name door meer alleenstaanden (o.a. echtscheiding, overlijden) - zorgt bij gelijkblijvend aanbod voor een hogere prijs. De politiek in Nederland (en in andere landen) legt de verantwoordelijkheid (en de schuld) voor woningschaarste liever bij immigranten en...
Many articles claim that Trump's proposed surge in import tariffs (eg, Canada & Mexico, BRICS nations) will cause a surge in inflation. In and of itself, that (primary) argument is true. However, such articles often ignore its secondary impact, on demand & supply. Rising inflation will only be relevant for goods & services that we need. Items that we...
Monday, the Dutch PM said something that (very) many people (probably) believe as well: migrant integration has failed (eg, Volkskrant). In my view, not only in the Netherlands but also in Europe and in USA. Blaming Angela Merkel’s 2015 comment (“Wir schaffen das”) is relevant though too simple. The context of the PM’s remark is relevant: the Amsterdam soccer riots....
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