Outside the Beltway

The 2018 midterms were mostly about Donald Trump. The results were idiosyncratic.

National Republicans are worried that the President’s concentration on hot-button issues could end up backfiring. They should be.

Despite the relatively strong economy, President Trump and many other Republicans are relying on the politics of fear to drive voter turnout on Tuesday.

Jobs Growth in October exceeded expectations, as did wage growth. It’s unclear, though, how long these numbers can be sustained.

The economy appears to have grown strongly in the third quarter, but concerns about long-term growth remain.

Authorities have arrested a Florida man named Cesar Sayoc, a 56-year-old Trump supporter, in connection with the wave of bombing attempts directed at critics of the President.

Nearly two years into Republican control of Washington, the budget deficit is headed back up.

September jobs growth fell short of expectations even as the top-line unemployment rate reached a point unseen since 1969.

As expected, President Trump announced a new round of tariffs against Chinese goods yesterday, and China quickly retaliated.

Jobs growth in August was slightly better than expected, but still nothing overly impressive.

The target is not just on illegal immigrants.

Donald Trump is now attacking his own appointee to head the Federal Reserve Board.

The Trump Administration has taken the latest step in a process that began in May with the withdrawal from the JCPOA. Where it takes us is anybody’s guess, but the probability of something going wrong is quite high.

Jobs growth fell short of expectations in July but was still relatively decent. Wage growth, however, remains stubbornly stagnant.

The recent report of 4.1% GDP growth over the previous quarter is indeed welcome news. However, taking a look at the data both recent and in the past and there are some reasons to be concerned about GDP growth in general.

I have heard Trump supporters offer the following rationale for Trump’s tarris, “It is a bargaining strategy.” Then they sit back and smirk, and tell me, “Trump really wants zero tariffs, but to get these other countries to come to the table he has to get their attention. And once he has softened them up, they’ll be willing to reduce their tariffs.”

Trump’s trade war will claw back 25% of the growth in GDP, slightly more than 20% of the wage growth and more than wipe out all the jobs his tax cuts would provide.

The economy grew at an exceptionally strong pace according to the first estimate of GDP growth, but several caveats remain.

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 213,000 in June and the unemployment rate rose to 4.0 percent.

Donald Trump wants Republicans to make his immigration policies the centerpiece of the midterm campaign. What could possibly go wrong?

Donald Trump’s approach to international trade has nothing to with economics and everything to do with politics and the culture war he loves to provoke.

In an exceedingly narrow ruling, the Supreme Court sided with a Colorado baker who refused to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding reception. However, the ruling did not address the broader issues raised by the case.

Republicans are at least a bit more confident that they’ll hold on to the Senate this year.

The President teased the Jobs Report an hour before it was officially released. This was both a violation of Federal law, and yet another example of this President violating long-established norms governing how politicians are supposed to act.

May’s jobs report was stronger than the previous two months, but not entirely great.

Donald Trump chose to mark Memorial Day by talking about himself.

The Federal Reserve sees the economy staying relatively the same for the foreseeable future, which is both a good and bad thing.

In an election that pretty much everyone agrees was illegitimate, Nicolás Maduro has won a second term as Venezuela’s President.

The unemployment rate hit a point unseen since Bill Clinton was President in April, but jobs and wage growth remain tepid at best.

March’s Jobs Report fell far short of expectations.

It is a fair question. But judging the Trump administration on tax cuts, Gorsuch, and the DJIA is to ignore a lot of profound problems.

A better than expected jobs report for February, but wage growth slowed for the month.

Congress seems likely to pass a budget deal today that will massively increase spending, putting to rest once and for all the rank hypocrisy of Republicans when it comes to claims that they are “fiscally conservative.”

Donald Trump spent much of the past year touting the rising stock market, now he’s getting a lesson in reality.

The first jobs report for 2018 beat expectation slightly, but the most positive signs came in the underlying data on wages.

The President talked about national unity last night, but given his own rhetoric as a candidate and as a President, it’s a call that seems to be hypocritical.

The recent cooling of relations between North and South Korea has led to some talk of eventual reunification, but for many South Koreans that idea is a non-starter.

President Trump and his supporters like to claim that the economy has been booming since he became President. A look at the numbers reveals that this is not the case.

One year after his Inauguration, Donald Trump is the most unpopular new President since the invention of modern polling. However, his numbers are generally the same that they’ve been for some time now.

Contrary to expectations, jobs growth in December was relatively modest.

November’s Jobs Report was stronger than expected, but there are several caveats to keep in mind.

Most Americans are unlikely to remember John Anderson, but he was a harbinger of things to come.

The Supreme Court held oral argument in a case that pits First Amendment rights against the rights of LGBT Americans.

After more than thirty years in power, Robert Mugabe is on his way out in Zimbabwe, but that doesn’t mean things will improve.

Since taking office, President Trump has made an average of 5.5 false claims per day.

The Jobs Market bounces back in October, but the numbers are far from impressive.

President Trump has selected Jerome Powell, a member of the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, to replace Janet Yellen as Chairman.

More bad polling news for President Trump.

A very weak jobs report thanks mostly to the impact of two Category 5 hurricanes.

Some interesting statistics.