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The Beat

Opinion

Signed commentary on the questions behind the news. Every column argues a clear position, rests on verifiable reporting, and stands apart from our news coverage by design.

28 articles Updated 31 Jul 2026 Page 2 of 2

Opinion archive

Page 2 of 2
Exterior of the United States Supreme Court building in Washington. Photo: Joe Ravi, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Opinion

Becky Pepper-Jackson Loses, and a Constitutional Category Hardens

By upholding West Virginia and Idaho, the Court did more than settle two lawsuits. It reconstituted biological sex as a permissible line in American sports law.

6 Jul 2026 ·6 min read
Price tags line supermarket shelves in a file photograph. Photo: Wolfmann, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Opinion

Tariffs Rewire the Price Machine, and the Fed Loses Its Escape Hatch

Fresh research attributes almost all of the excess in core-goods inflation to tariffs, arriving as the labor market softens and forcing the Federal Reserve into a corner it cannot easily leave.

6 Jul 2026 ·6 min read
Otay Mesa commercial port of entry on the United States-Mexico border. Photo: DHSgov, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Opinion

Trump Lets USMCA Drift Into a Decade of Doubt

Washington let the July 1 review deadline pass without renewing the USMCA, converting one of the last fixed points in North American commerce into a standing question reopened every year.

6 Jul 2026 ·6 min read
Rare earth and dual-use trade between China and Japan under new export controls. Photo: Syced, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Opinion

Beijing Turns Its Dual-Use Chokehold Into a Weapon Against Tokyo

By blacklisting Japan's premier defense research institutes, Beijing has converted its grip on dual-use supply chains into an instrument of coercion against a treaty ally of Washington.

6 Jul 2026 ·6 min read
The Federal Reserve building in Washington, symbol of central bank independence under political pressure in 2026. Photo: AgnosticPreachersKid, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Opinion

The Supreme Court Did Not Save the Fed's Independence. It Handed the White House a Manual for Dismantling It

The decision that let Lisa Cook keep her seat was widely read as a defense of the Federal Reserve. Read closely, it is something more troubling: a roadmap for removing governors the president dislikes.

6 Jul 2026 ·9 min read
Nvidia headquarters in Santa Clara, California, the chipmaker at the center of the 2026 AI investment cycle. Photo: Coolcaesar, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Opinion

The AI Trade Has Started Financing Itself, and That Is the Warning Investors Should Not Ignore

A market that funds its own buyers has stopped testing demand and begun manufacturing it. The circular financing beneath the AI rally is not a technical footnote; it is the argument for skepticism.

6 Jul 2026 ·9 min read