'A recipe for higher costs and lower living standards'

'A politically captive Fed would be a weak Fed'

Ernie Tedeschi at Bloomberg

Replacing Fed Chair Jerome Powell with "someone more willing to follow the administration's preferences in setting interest rates" could have a "profound impact on the economy and the cost of living for Americans," says Ernie Tedeschi. It "could backfire spectacularly if markets started to believe the Fed is taking its cues from politicians." Undermining "trust in the Fed for short-term political gain is a recipe for higher costs and lower living standards for all Americans over time."

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'What Pixar should learn from its "Elio" disaster'

David Sims at The Atlantic

Last year, Pixar "appeared to be on the brink of an existential crisis," says David Sims. Its "status as an instant star-maker seems to have dimmed; name recognition alone is no longer carrying the day." The "fact that 'Elio' underwent such extensive tweaks does suggest internal trepidation — and that Pixar could be shying away from more novel, personal works in favor of safer material." The film's "failure to resonate with audiences likely won't help matters."

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'I was on New York's rent board. Zohran Mamdani's ideas aren't pie in the sky.'

Leah Goodridge at The Guardian

Zohran Mamdani's "proposal for a citywide rent freeze became a contentious topic," as "critics decry a rent freeze as a pie-in-the-sky, unrealistic proposal," says Leah Goodridge. But "this controversy isn't just about rent freezes — there's a larger agenda to deregulate rent-stabilized housing, under which rent ceilings" exist. Undermining "freezes is part of a larger goal to weaken rent stabilization, which landlords have consistently sought to do — and they were nearly successful recently."

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'Can Ketanji Brown Jackson save the Supreme Court from itself?'

James D. Zirin at The Hill

The "partisan Supreme Court is deeply divided," says James D. Zirin. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has "become the great dissenter," and has "erupted volcanically, writing eloquently to speak her heart and mind in advocacy for human rights or against the steady accretion of executive power." She has "not been shy about accusing her right-wing colleagues of enabling President Trump as he slip-slides the country towards a dangerous autocracy," even as "she has been the target of personal attacks."

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