Oil diplomacy and politics

The cynical amongst us look to U.S. President Donald Trump’s actions to broker an international oil production cuts deal as being politically motivated in this election year.

Fake news and the Fed

President Trump has a penchant for talking about fake news, but to what extent is that simply political spin?  Recently, we saw a video about the U.S. Federal Reserve that was shockingly inaccurate and intended to mislead.  Maybe the President is on to something.

Can the U.S. seriously be considering an oil embargo?

Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s de facto leader, and Russia recently failed to agree to extend (and deepen) their oil production cuts agreement, thereby precipitating decisions to cut oil prices and expand production.  Hitting markets roiled by coronavirus (COVID-19), the impact has been seismic.

Shutting down Spring Break madness in a coronavirus (COVID-19) world

The U.S. has been slow to react to the coronavirus (COVID-19), waiting until after it was declared a pandemic to take meaningful action.  Part of the blame, if that serves any purpose now, can be placed squarely at the feet of the President, whose dismissive response in the early going led to a squandering of the opportunity to arrest the progress of the virus sooner.

Trump’s second kick at the coronavirus (COVID-19) can

U.S. President Donald Trump acts like many insecure and unreliable people, which is that he keeps everyone waiting … even when he and his team have hours to prepare for a 3:00 PM news conference (that started at 3:30 PM).  American voters should bear in mind Mr. Trump’s disdain for them later this year.

Canadian economic prosperity and political decision-making #2

This morning (March 11, 2020), Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a comprehensive response package to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, reassuring Canadians in his press conference that “We are pulling out all the stops to make sure Canadians stay safe, healthy, and supported.  We will get through what comes next together.”