Notes on the Crises on Bloomberg Odd Lots: Lev Menand and Nathan Tankus on Why Fed Independence Is Now Hanging by a Thread
Last August, President Trump made the unprecedented choice of moving to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook
Notes on the Crises
The Devil is in the Footnotes: The Fourth and Fifth Levers OMB Has Over Agencies
This is a free piece of Notes on the Crises. All pieces in this OMB series will be free. Please take out a paid subscription to support this work. Or leave a tip.
Alan Greenspan’s Death is a Chance to Remember the Heroism of his Most Powerful Critic
This is a free piece of Notes on the Crises. Subscribe to support our work. Subscribe Today! When I first learned of Alan Greenspan’s death at the age of 100 a few
Russell Vought is Using the Plumbing of Fiscal Federalism to Create a New Patronage System
EDITORS NOTE: I (Nathan) have struggled whether to rush to comment on this proposed OMB rule. Being a recent Fiscal Year 2026 OMB memo, and knowing that the OMB will continue to create
What Connects Conventional Wisdom Processors, AI and The Second Trump Administration’s Constitutional Crisis? Part Three
This is a premium piece of Notes on the Crises. Subscribe here to read the full piece- and series. Find part one here and part two here. Dear readers. I was interrupted by
Agency Independence in One Agency: Humphrey’s Executor is Cowering in the Basement of the Eccles Building
Today is the 6th anniversary of Bloomberg Businessweek's profile on me, which forever changed my life. Its so long ago now that many readers may not actually be familiar with it,
The Medium is the Message: The First Three Levers OMB Has Over Agencies
This is a free piece of Notes on the Crises. All pieces in this OMB series will be free. Please take out a paid subscription to support this work. Or leave a tip.
Collateral Worthiness in The Hierarchy of Finance in a Capitalist Economy
This is part two of an ongoing premium series. Find the introduction to the series here and part one here. Buy a Paid Subscription Since the last piece on the IOU was an
“It’s Like a Knife in the Back”: The President's Budget, Budget Preparation and the Most Important Job You've Never Heard of
This is a free piece of Notes on the Crises. All pieces in this OMB series will be free. Please take out a paid subscription to support this work. Or leave a tip.
The IOU in The Hierarchy of Finance in a Capitalist Economy
We are going to begin this series at its foundation—the IOU. The foundational capacity on which all finance is built is the capacity to make a promise.
OMB Fiscal Year 2025 Memos Part 1: The First Ten Memos
This is a free piece of Notes on the Crises. All pieces in this OMB series will be free. Please take out a paid subscription to support this work. Or leave a tip.
Trump’s 2026 Oil Crisis Again Highlights a Fundamental Truth: Bottlenecks Are the Quintessential Crisis of the 21st Century
Subscribe One of the many things I’m months late to covering is the war of choice that the United States and Israel launched against Iran. This, of course, is related to geopolitical