Swamp Notes: Is it the economy, stupid?

US health insurance stocks plunged yesterday, and New Delhi and Brussels have agreed a trade deal that will eliminate up to €4bn of tariffs on EU exports. Plus, Nato is increasing its military presence in the Arctic to counter Russia. Mentioned in this podcast:US health insurer s ...  Show more

The Trump administration has linked security guarantees for Ukraine to Kyiv ceding the Donbas region to Russia, and there’s speculation that the US and Japan could be working together to support the yen. Plus, Israel’s military announced it had retrieved the remains of the last h ...  Show more

Should we be celebrating a Biden boom? Lamenting inflation and its consequences? Both?

We know how to talk about booms, like the ’90s. We know how to talk about busts, like after the financial crisis. We know how to talk about stagnation. What we don’t know how to talk a ...

Inflation is way down, the U.S. is faring better than other major economies, and people broadly say their own personal financial situation is good. So why are people so down on the economy? This episode: voting correspondent Miles Parks, White House correspondent Tamara Keith, an ...  Show more

Unemployment in the United States is near record lows, wages are growing quickly, and spending in the service sector is increasing as the pandemic lulls. But there's also some worrying news: more job openings than people who want to fill them, global economic uncertainty stemming ...  Show more

The past few weeks have been head spinning: U.S. job numbers? Solid... except for those layoffs in the tech sector. Inflation? Slowly dropping... but still high. Not to mention the bank failures...   It all has made us wonder: Why was it so hard for economists to predict this? Wh ...  Show more