You don't need the protocols of Zion to believe that Israel pulls a lot of strings in the world. However, perhaps it pulls fewer strings now than in the past. Only time will tell, Carol. No other nation would have gotten away with 60 years of occupation, however.

Regardless of perceived threats by Israel, the whole reason for anger in the mideast is Israel's refusal to allow the two state solution that it agreed to. Israel says the Palestinians are not an occupied people but then refuses a state for them. Common sense is that this is an occupation. Anyone can see plainly that it is an occupation. And being an occupation, adding your own people to occupied land is a war crime. Israel has committed thousands of war crimes when the US was there to protect that nation at every turn. Now we are getting weary, as is the world. 60+ years off occupation is just beyond anything that is moral and just.

The only supply side that worked was Reagan, who cut taxes for the middle class and poor and Trump will not get money into the hands of labor.

Donald Trump thinks the New Normal is a political fantasy, Paul.

China has sold treasuries before and they were absorbed. But this article gives a lot for people to ponder.

I hate to break this to you, but America abstained from that vote. The vote was 14 to 0, with one abstention. I don't think that Obama is behind the resolution to condemn Israel for settlements when even the Bush Administration and every administration for 50 years has opposed the settlements as an obstacle to a two state solution. So, the US has not decided to stop protecting Israel, just to join with the entire world that believes the continual theft of Palestinian land is a violation of agreements and maybe even a war crime. It should be stopped and a peaceful resolution would calm everyone down in the middle east.

You have to realize that the labor statistics chart is based on current population. In 2006, when labor participation rate was 66 percent there were 298.4 million people in the USA. Now with labor force participation around 63 percent, there are 324 million people in the USA. I would guess that from 2006 when Bush was president til now, there are 8 million or so more people in the work force, although others have retired. Not sure of the exact numbers. But the idea that these were all temp jobs doesn't make sense to me. There were many jobs lacking hours, but they were permanent. And there were many temp to hire that resulted in permanent work. So, it is pretty bleak, but maybe not as bleak as stated here. After all, there are many under the table jobs that do not get reported at all.

Trump cannot make those businesses expand. Those businesses, especially smaller businesses, have to perceive bigger demand for products before they will expand unless they feel they can capture a bigger market share. Where is that demand going to come from? Yes, it is likely that big companies will simply buy back more stock and small companies will hoard cash and bonds.

I agree, it is difficult to tell where this private road building is headed, Jason. Orange County privatized the fast lanes and it didn't work. Texas has experienced a bankruptcy, and certainly there is much discontent about private roads in Kentucky and most are no longer toll roads. And yes, the costs of building private roads could easily be inflated, like the defense contracts. It could be a real windfall for some companies, but is not an answer for people who do not want to or can't pay to use the private roads. Shunpiking is a popular sport by many people who think that people at the top are avoiding taxation and should pay for roads and who think many toll roads are not kept up correctly.

So, where is this increase in aggregate demand going to come from?