Founder of RealityChek - a blog covering economics, national security, tech, & their intersections. Also checking in regularly on the general human condition.
Riverdale Park, MD
Joined August 2012
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Link to above: alantonelson.wordpress.com/2…
ICYMI, my new RealityChek post does a deep dive into why US-Canada trade tensions are hardly only America's fault.
Unintentionally funny headline of the week? Month? Year? "US Sanctions Are Hobbling Cuban Economic Reform, Minister Says."
Link to above: bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
My new RealityChek post does a deep dive into why US-Canada trade tensions are hardly only America's fault.
Link to above: alantonelson.wordpress.com/2…
Generally @KeithBradsher's US-China relations coverage has been excellent, but why in the below piece does he only quote as "experts" former officials from the George W. Bush, Obama, and Biden administrations? Like they should have any credibility on such issues?
Link to above: nytimes.com/2026/09/23/world…
Fascinating - Xi Jinping's wife is charming the pants off US audiences (including @Reuters journalists), but "discussions on Chinese social media of her activities and fashion choices during the trip remain heavily limited...."
Link to above: reuters.com/business/media-t…
The new September Michigan consumer confidence survey shows that "Americans are feeling worse now than they did during wars, the 1970s oil crisis, 9/11, the Great Recession, the Covid-19 pandemic and the inflation surge afterward."
Link to above: cnn.com/2026/09/25/economy/u…
August advance figures show US core capex up 1.59% m/m. If it holds, wd mean that they're up 15.97% during Trump 2.0 vs 1.03% during final comparable Biden months. So Trump tariffs are paralyzing US businesses with uncertainty?
Links to above: census.gov/manufacturing/m3/… & associated Time Series/Trend Charts tables.
The widely followed @AtlantaFed US economic growth tracker now has GDP up 5% after-inflation in the 3Q. Down from the previous 5.1% forecast, but still roaring. If it holds, it would be the best such result since the 7% in the 4Q 2021 - during the strong covid bounceback.
The op-ed below compellingly critiques the kind of national economic strategy being pushed by regulation- & planning-happy US progressives. But it ignores the many examples over decades - ranging from ag to tech - of Washington successfully promoting world-leading industries.
The @KansasCityFed manufacturing survey's headline figure for September rises to its highest level since fall, 2022. "And All month-over-month indexes were positive." Soft data, but not exactly consistent with claims that Trump's tariffs are killing domestic industry.