A tale as old as time: Congress is in the process of passing a budget framework that would add trillions of dollars to the debt over the next several years. This proposal cuts taxes significantly, while making only modest spending reductions. While the tax cuts should be applauded, not pairing them with the spending cuts necessary to achieve a balanced budget will inevitably mean future inflation and tax increases to pay for years of accumulated debt. The specifics will have to be decided later when a formal budget is passed, but the framework taking shape is certainly lackluster.

This budgetary news comes on the heels of new reports revealing the Biden administration went on a massive spending spree during the final days of the presidency. Craig Eyermann covers the details and questions how much taxpayer money has been doled out with little to no oversight.

Just as with spending, bad environmental strategies have also had downstream effects. Using New Mexico as a case study, Kenneth Costello shows how flawed energy policies persist while efficiency and resilience are sacrificed.

In the meantime, across the Atlantic, Ethan Yang covers the changing of the guard in the European Union, indicating that the E.U. is likely to lean into antitrust rules as an industrial policy tool. Alvaro Vargas Llosa points out that while the headlines intimate a worldwide upsurge of right-wing politics, the situation is much more nuanced, especially when it comes to economic agendas.

Read about all these topics in our latest issue of Independent Weekly!

Jonathan Hofer
Managing Editor