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Yes, bring back the woolly mammoth

We have the dire wolf again. Thanks to the heroic work of Colossal Biosciences, the canine species that went extinct more than 10,000 years ago has been revived in a stunning act of so-called de-extinction. The dire wolf is a bit of a Late Pleistocene celebrity thanks to its role in the “Game of Throne” series as a symbol of the Stark family. What’s happening on the company’s 2,000-acre enclosure isn’t worthy of that fantasy book and HBO series, although it naturally brings to mind the blockbuster “Jurassic Park,” where a similar project inadvertently looses ...

Trump’s tariffs are likely to cause future economic trouble

Futures markets on Sunday were signaling more market carnage on Monday after two days of extraordinary declines. Normally you’d expect some rebound, even if it’s a dead-cat bounce, after such a huge selloff. But there are canaries in the tariff mine that are warning of economic trouble ahead. One canary is the biggest selloff in the junk bond market since 2020, the pandemic year. The premium that investors demand for holding high-risk corporate debt rose a full percentage point to 4.5% late last week after Mr. Trump’s tariff assault, according to the ICE BofA index. At a minimum ...

Economic chaos is anti-globalist revolution

Figuring out the future impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s new global tariffs has turned into the economic equivalent of trying to decode modern art: confusing, polarizing and mostly just a bunch of projections. Economists are squinting at charts like they’re Jackson Pollock paintings while totally missing the point. Maybe they should try asking the same people who’d just look at it and say, “Yep, that’s a masterpiece ... or maybe just something my kid made in daycare.” Those folks seem to have a better grasp of what’s going on right now. Just like “climate ...

The markets don’t lie

As I watch the turmoil unfolding resulting from the president’s new trade and tariff policy, I wonder how, as a commentator, I can avoid writing about this. But what do I say? What side do I take? Yes, per President Donald Trump, the tariffs are the hard medicine we need to swallow to counter many years of unfair policies of our trading partners. Or no, free trade is and always has been the best policy, even when things are not perfect and some do not play by the best rules. I am not an economist and cannot dissect the fine points about trade deficits, trade accounts, capital ...

‘You have to set yourself free’

Mattie Jones turned 92 at the end of March. Friends, family, state senators and our U.S. congressman filled the First Congregational Methodist Church to celebrate her. I first met Mattie Jones a year ago when she spoke to a racial justice class designed for white allies. Jones is a civil rights icon in Louisville, Kentucky. At the end of her talk, I introduced myself as she was about to schedule an Uber to get home. I asked if I could drive her instead. She said yes. For the next 30 minutes, I got to soak in more of her story. I will treasure that drive always. Now, as we remember ...

Trump seems bent on political self-harm

Is President Donald Trump bent on political self-harm? It often seems that way. His overall job approval rating still hovers within a point or two of the 50% popular vote he received last November. But he is losing support on the economy and inflation, the No. 1 issue last year, while his overwhelming success in reducing illegal immigration has reduced the salience of what was the No. 2 issue. Meanwhile, he is taking positions that a critical majority of voters consider simple lunacy. A prime example is tariffs. Tariffs make things cost more. If you slap a 25% tariff on imported ...