Trump says that Russia will be pushing hard for the Democrats in the mid-terms!

I had to read this a second time to see if he was making a joke, but he apparently was not. He claims Russia will be helping the Democrats because he is so tough on Russia.

You have to give him credit. He is the master of what Hitler called The Big Lie – a distortion of the truth which is so gross that it requires brass balls to make it public – and is effective because people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one, so the theory goes, especially it is repeated frequently.

This does raise the question that always pops into my mind with Trump – can he be so delusional that he actually believes he has been hard on Russia, and can just ignore the obvious pro-Trump posts from the Russian bots that appear every day on social media, or is he just a pathological liar who is willing to cynically manipulate his gullible base? I still can’t figure that one out. Either way is terrifying.

SIDEBAR: While Hitler did coin the phrase “grosse Luege” in Mein Kampf in 1925, Hitler and Goebbels did not advocate the use of the big lie, contrary to popular belief. They condemned it! Hitler used the term in his book to accuse “the Jews” of this technique; Goebbels accused the British of it on many occasions during WW2.

Real wages are falling faster than ever

Be afraid. Be very afraid. If Trump’s trade wars heat up inflation, real wages could plummet.

Here is an article from Harvard Business Review which examines the long-term trends in the real wage decline, with explanations and nuances. See the comments section for additional insights.