David Wessel
@davidmwessel.bsky.social
Director, Hutchins Center on Fiscal & Monetary Policy, Brookings Institution
https://www.brookings.edu/people/david-wessel/
https://www.brookings.edu/people/david-wessel/
Reposted by David Wessel
“Look: Rome wasn’t burned in a day.”
Vance on the economy:
"You don't turn the Titanic around overnight"
"You don't turn the Titanic around overnight"
January 22, 2026 at 7:04 PM
“Look: Rome wasn’t burned in a day.”
Kari Heerman distills the essence of Trump’s ‘America First’ trade policy agenda? www.brookings.edu/articles/wha... via @brookings.edu
What is Trump’s ‘America First’ trade policy agenda? | Brookings
Kari Heerman explains how the Trump administration's approach to trade policy appears to veer away from the trajectory of recent decades.
www.brookings.edu
January 22, 2026 at 1:25 PM
Kari Heerman distills the essence of Trump’s ‘America First’ trade policy agenda? www.brookings.edu/articles/wha... via @brookings.edu
Chart o day
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/u...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/u...
January 22, 2026 at 11:58 AM
Chart o day
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/u...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/u...
Talekd on @pbsnews.org last night about Trump v Lisa Cook at the Supreme Court with Ali Rogin. An excerpt.
January 22, 2026 at 11:34 AM
Talekd on @pbsnews.org last night about Trump v Lisa Cook at the Supreme Court with Ali Rogin. An excerpt.
re Fed chair sweepstakes:
“Everyone that I interviewed is great. Everyone could do, I think, a fantastic job. Problem is they change once they get the job,” Trump said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“Everyone that I interviewed is great. Everyone could do, I think, a fantastic job. Problem is they change once they get the job,” Trump said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
January 21, 2026 at 7:49 PM
re Fed chair sweepstakes:
“Everyone that I interviewed is great. Everyone could do, I think, a fantastic job. Problem is they change once they get the job,” Trump said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“Everyone that I interviewed is great. Everyone could do, I think, a fantastic job. Problem is they change once they get the job,” Trump said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Bernanke is in the gallery for the Lisa Cook hearing at the Supreme Court www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
Lawyer for Trump defends firing of Fed's Lisa Cook in Supreme Court arguments
A lawyer for Donald Trump's administration during arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday defended the president's unprecedented bid to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook in a case that ...
www.reuters.com
January 21, 2026 at 3:58 PM
Bernanke is in the gallery for the Lisa Cook hearing at the Supreme Court www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
Reposted by David Wessel
"[Trump's] acquisitiveness regarding Greenland has nothing to do with national security, and everything to do, as everything always does, with his fragile ego."
The latest from George F. Will:
The latest from George F. Will:
Opinion | Greenland, Minnesota, Army-Navy game: Another day, another emergency
Greenland isn’t about national security. it’s about a president’s fragile ego, as usual.
wapo.st
January 20, 2026 at 11:35 PM
"[Trump's] acquisitiveness regarding Greenland has nothing to do with national security, and everything to do, as everything always does, with his fragile ego."
The latest from George F. Will:
The latest from George F. Will:
WSJ.com editorial page: Trump vs. the Fed.
If he can fire Lisa Cook without cause, he will all but run the central bank. www.wsj.com/opinion/lisa...
If he can fire Lisa Cook without cause, he will all but run the central bank. www.wsj.com/opinion/lisa...
Opinion | Trump vs. the Fed Goes to the Supreme Court
If he can fire Lisa Cook without cause, he will all but run the central bank.
www.wsj.com
January 21, 2026 at 11:56 AM
WSJ.com editorial page: Trump vs. the Fed.
If he can fire Lisa Cook without cause, he will all but run the central bank. www.wsj.com/opinion/lisa...
If he can fire Lisa Cook without cause, he will all but run the central bank. www.wsj.com/opinion/lisa...
Fact o morning: China surpassed Japan in 2023 as the world’s No. 1 auto exporter. Last year, it shipped 7.1 million vehicles from its pool of domestic automakers, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, up from 5.9 million the previous year www.wsj.com/business/aut...
Chinese EVs Blow Past Tesla and Tariffs En Route to Global Reign
The U.S., the European Union and Mexico are trying to quash accelerating demand for China’s hottest electric vehicles.
www.wsj.com
January 21, 2026 at 11:45 AM
Fact o morning: China surpassed Japan in 2023 as the world’s No. 1 auto exporter. Last year, it shipped 7.1 million vehicles from its pool of domestic automakers, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, up from 5.9 million the previous year www.wsj.com/business/aut...
Carney at Davos: We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition...We know the old order is not coming back. We shouldn’t mourn it. Nostalgia is not a strategy, but we believe that from the fracture we can build something bigger, better, stronger, more just.
globalnews.ca/news/1162087...
globalnews.ca/news/1162087...
Read the full transcript of Carney’s speech to World Economic Forum - National | Globalnews.ca
Prime Minister Mark Carney gave a forceful speech in Davos, Switzerland, on the 'new world order' and how middle powers like Canada can benefit by working together.
globalnews.ca
January 20, 2026 at 8:26 PM
Carney at Davos: We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition...We know the old order is not coming back. We shouldn’t mourn it. Nostalgia is not a strategy, but we believe that from the fracture we can build something bigger, better, stronger, more just.
globalnews.ca/news/1162087...
globalnews.ca/news/1162087...
My @brookings.edu colleague Gian Maria Milesi-Ferretti has updated the External Wealth of Nations database, which has data from 212 countries from 1970-2024. www.brookings.edu/articles/the...
January 20, 2026 at 8:01 PM
My @brookings.edu colleague Gian Maria Milesi-Ferretti has updated the External Wealth of Nations database, which has data from 212 countries from 1970-2024. www.brookings.edu/articles/the...
Trump is going to put SNL out of business. www.whitehouse.gov/live/
Live News
www.whitehouse.gov
January 20, 2026 at 7:49 PM
Trump is going to put SNL out of business. www.whitehouse.gov/live/
Macron at Davos: We prefer rule of law to brutality
x.com/DemocraticWi...
x.com/DemocraticWi...
x.com
January 20, 2026 at 7:12 PM
Macron at Davos: We prefer rule of law to brutality
x.com/DemocraticWi...
x.com/DemocraticWi...
A simulation of foreign currency stablecoin adoption across a sample of 45 emerging markets suggests the total value of stablecoins held in the countries could range from $250 billion to $730 billion, up from about $70 billion today, S&P Global Ratings said in a report published today.
January 20, 2026 at 5:45 PM
A simulation of foreign currency stablecoin adoption across a sample of 45 emerging markets suggests the total value of stablecoins held in the countries could range from $250 billion to $730 billion, up from about $70 billion today, S&P Global Ratings said in a report published today.
Reposted by David Wessel
WAPO: “.. The new installation, located on the Mall on Third Street NW .. stands 10 feet high by 12 feet wide. A National Park Service permit will allow the work to remain at that location through Friday.”
@washingtonpost.com
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
@washingtonpost.com
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
January 20, 2026 at 4:47 PM
WAPO: “.. The new installation, located on the Mall on Third Street NW .. stands 10 feet high by 12 feet wide. A National Park Service permit will allow the work to remain at that location through Friday.”
@washingtonpost.com
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
@washingtonpost.com
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
Reposted by David Wessel
“The system that made America the richest country in the history of world has failed America”
US trade secretary Howard Lutnick really not mincing his words here at Davos: "We are here to make a v clear point: globalisation has failed the West and the USA. It's a failed policy. It's what the WEF has stood for, which is, export, offshore, find the cheapest labour in the world."
January 20, 2026 at 3:58 PM
“The system that made America the richest country in the history of world has failed America”
Bessent (who sat in the gallery when SCOTUS heard the tariff case) says Powell’s attendance at the LIsa Cook hearing tomorrow is a ‘mistake’ www.nytimes.com/2026/01/20/u...
Bessent Calls Powell’s Attendance at Supreme Court Arguments on Fed Independence a ‘Mistake’
www.nytimes.com
January 20, 2026 at 4:00 PM
Bessent (who sat in the gallery when SCOTUS heard the tariff case) says Powell’s attendance at the LIsa Cook hearing tomorrow is a ‘mistake’ www.nytimes.com/2026/01/20/u...
My brother writes about the welcome our mother and her parents received from the U.S. when they fled Nazi Germany. Remembering with gratitude the Quakers of Scattergood in Iowa and the Disciples of Christ church in Eureka, Illinois. www.newhavenindependent.org/2026/01/20/o...
Opinion: How We Used To Welcome Immigrants - New Haven Independent
Paul Wessel recounts how his mother's family fled Nazi Germany, was welcomed by Iowa Quakers.
www.newhavenindependent.org
January 20, 2026 at 3:21 PM
My brother writes about the welcome our mother and her parents received from the U.S. when they fled Nazi Germany. Remembering with gratitude the Quakers of Scattergood in Iowa and the Disciples of Christ church in Eureka, Illinois. www.newhavenindependent.org/2026/01/20/o...
Reposted by David Wessel
US citizen says he felt fear, shame and desperation a day after ICE officers broke down his door with guns drawn, handcuffed him and dragged him into the snow wearing half-dressed.
He was later returned home without explanation or apology, he said.
He was later returned home without explanation or apology, he said.
ICE broke into Minnesota home, dragged barely clothed man into snow
A Minnesota man told Reuters he felt fear, shame and desperation a day after ICE officers broke down his door with guns drawn, handcuffed him and dragged him into the snow wearing shorts and Crocs.
www.reuters.com
January 20, 2026 at 3:09 PM
US citizen says he felt fear, shame and desperation a day after ICE officers broke down his door with guns drawn, handcuffed him and dragged him into the snow wearing half-dressed.
He was later returned home without explanation or apology, he said.
He was later returned home without explanation or apology, he said.
Guess we'll learn if Trump responds when the market drops on his policy du jour. TACO?
January 20, 2026 at 3:18 PM
Guess we'll learn if Trump responds when the market drops on his policy du jour. TACO?
Reposted by David Wessel
The Prime Minister of Belgium speaks:
January 20, 2026 at 12:47 PM
The Prime Minister of Belgium speaks:
Why the independence of the Fed matters. A short video from Ben Bernanke and Janet Yellen. youtu.be/xeIAlIEzlI8?... via @brookings.edu
The Independence of the Federal Reserve: Why It Matters
YouTube video by Brookings Institution
youtu.be
January 20, 2026 at 12:18 PM
Why the independence of the Fed matters. A short video from Ben Bernanke and Janet Yellen. youtu.be/xeIAlIEzlI8?... via @brookings.edu
Reposted by David Wessel
Treasury Secretary Bessent has become a comedian, he is calling on allies to honor their trade agreements after his boss explicitly said he has no use for international law www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Bessent Urges Calm Over Greenland, Downplays Treasuries Threat
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged calm amid a growing transatlantic rift over President Donald Trump’s ambitions to take over Greenland, calling for allies to honor their trade agreements and ...
www.bloomberg.com
January 20, 2026 at 11:58 AM
Treasury Secretary Bessent has become a comedian, he is calling on allies to honor their trade agreements after his boss explicitly said he has no use for international law www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
“We know from a lot of historical experience that the sort of things [Trump is] doing are antithetical to prosperity in the long run,” said Greg Mankiw. But it's impossible to know exactly when or where those consequences will be felt. via @bencasselman.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/20/b...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/20/b...
Trump’s First Year Could Have Lasting Economic Consequences
www.nytimes.com
January 20, 2026 at 12:02 PM
“We know from a lot of historical experience that the sort of things [Trump is] doing are antithetical to prosperity in the long run,” said Greg Mankiw. But it's impossible to know exactly when or where those consequences will be felt. via @bencasselman.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/20/b...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/20/b...