Millions of retirees will get a modest 1.6% cost-of-living increase from Social Security in 2020, an uptick with potential political consequences in an election year when Democrats are pushing more generous inflation protection.

Who in America today paying even scant attention to the Left's plot to unseat President Trump has not heard of Adam Schiff? While he was not a party to the origins of the coup, once the Mueller investigation/cover-up was begun, Schiff became the self-designated point man, the dedicated fool, the clown, the person who would daily promise that Trump was going to be found guilty of colluding with the Russians in order to win the election.

The world’s central banks face unprecedented challenges in the 21st century. With balances sheets expanded by more than US$10 trillion and seemingly stuck in a low interest rate quagmire, central banks are increasingly strained in dealing with low inflation and economic uncertainty. This event will discuss what Allan Meltzer, the late renowned monetary theorist and historian, might have made of current monetary policy developments.

Herewith a relatively trivial but, I hope, fun application of marginal thinking. Actually two applications: a subtler one by my non-economist wife (who has lived with an economist for 37 years) and an obvious one by me.