Economy

President Trump declared “Wow!” after he learned of the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision upholding the third version of his travel ban. It’s a big victory for him. In its decision, the Supreme Court pointed to national security concerns, which Trump has consistently invoked about immigration and trade.The dubious decision underscores the extent to America has become a national security state. The Washington Post reports that a major new study indicates that a majority of Americans believe that the United States is in peril of becoming a “nondemocratic, authoritarian country.” Eight in 10 said they are “somewhat” or “very” apprehensive about the state of democracy in America.

Jared Kushner had his security clearance restored last month. He can, once again, read classified documents, such as the President’s Daily Brief, or PDB, which contains some of the nation’s most sensitive secrets. Many American commentators said this must mean Kushner is out of danger with the special counsel’s inquiry into the Trump campaign and Russia. If the special counsel, Robert Mueller, had turned up anything really bad, they argue, he would have told the FBI agents doing Kushner’s background check. One legal expert told the New York Times that Kushner could breath a sigh of relief. Perhaps. Perhaps not. Kusher, Trump’s son in law, had been working in the White House for a year under a temporary top secret clearance.

Facebook has had a great ride, but they are now hitting limits. At least in the U.S., we can’t spend much more time than we do on social media, and Facebook can’t gain a much larger fraction of that time. So instead of seeking new vistas here, Facebook is probably now turning their attention to how to lock in their current advantage.And one classic strategy, widely known among economic and business experts, is “regulatory capture.” Get your industry regulated in a way that puts new smaller competitors at a disadvantage.

President Trump has invited Russian president Vladimir Putin to the White House. This news is rocking Washington, but it shouldn’t really come as a surprise, at least no more than Trump’s willingness to meet with the portly pariah of Pyongyang. I have long suspected that Trump would like nothing more than to hold a state dinner for Putin. Trump’s move has temporarily managed to displace his budding tariff war with China from the headlines, but it is of a piece with his embrace of what might be called his inner Trump. Recall that at the July 2017 Republican Convention in Cleveland, Trump declared that “I alone can fix it.” Now he is giving it a go. But what, exactly, is he fixing? When it comes to trade, Trump is manufacturing an artificial crisis.

Cockburn has learned that Lawrence Kudlow, the CNBC star, former Reagan official and financier, is a major candidate to replace Gary Cohn as Donald Trump’s top economic advisor, according to a source familiar with the matter.Other candidates include the man who forced Cohn’s departure: the tariff-loving Peter Navarro.Also in contention are Mick Mulvaney, the former South Carolina Congressman who is currently holding down not one, but two jobs for Trump, Andy Puzder, who was once nominated, but then withdrawn for Labor Secretary, and little-known Cohn subordinate Sharira Knight.Navarro and Kudlow are the biggest names.