Slow Boring

Slow Boring is a blog and newsletter created by Matthew Yglesias that focuses on American politics and public policy. The title is inspired by Max Weber’s essay “Politics as a Vocation,” in which he describes politics as a process that involves “slowly and steadily boring into tough issues,” requiring both enthusiasm and insight.

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Thursday thread

6 days ago | slowboring.com | Ben Krauss

I wasn’t planning to write again (yet) about Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the migrant deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador despite an order protecting him from being sent there, but I continue to be frustrated by politicians from both parties (and their associated media outlets) telling only half the story and skewing the facts in one direction …
Wednesday thread

1 week ago | slowboring.com | Ben Krauss

This is a good primer to send someone who is making the Deluzio/Trump/Sanders argument about trade leading to reindustrialization.
It’s not just trade

1 week ago | slowboring.com | Matthew Yglesias

I did not sell any shares of stock when Donald Trump won the presidential election. I also didn’t dive into the market, full of enthusiasm for his promised new golden age of American prosperity. But I didn’t panic sell. I was aware of Trump’s extremely dubious ideas about trade policy and thought it was definitely possible that he would implement them.
Four trade deficit myths hurting the economy

1 week ago | slowboring.com | Matthew Yglesias

Donald Trump stepped back from the brink of his Liberation Day tariff insanity. But even in rolled-back form, he’s still pushing taxes on imports up to the highest levels in American history. In fact, I think the sheer insanity of the “reciprocal tariffs” has obscured exactly how radical the policy Trump landed on — ten percent across the board tariffs, plus higher tariffs on Canada and Mexico, plus gargantuan tariffs of over 100 percent on China — actually is.
Monday thread

1 week ago | slowboring.com | Ben Krauss

Paul Krugman’s great here. Democrats really do not need to be playing the tariff game. It’s bad policy and bad politics.
The troubling rise of World War II revisionism

1 week ago | slowboring.com | Matthew Yglesias

We had planned on running the post below for paid subscribers later in the week, with a trade deficit explainer today. But without overstating our knowledge of the specific motives or facts in play in the Passover arson attack on Governor Josh Shapiro’s house, this morning felt like the right time to send it to everyone. The Trump administration’s trade policies will still be chaotic and misinformed tomorrow, and probably forever.
Mailbag: Condescending to the wine moms

1 week ago | slowboring.com | Matthew Yglesias

It’s been incredibly hard to do editorial planning for next week’s newsletters given the wild gyrations in trade policy. The good news is that while this is annoying and difficult to deal with from the standpoint of a small family newsletter publishing business, we’re not talking about eight-figure fixed investments that are supposed to pay off on a 10+ year time horizon.
Thursday thread

1 week ago | slowboring.com | Ben Krauss

All the arguments for Trump's tariffs are wrong and badWell, after a stock market crash, a bond market crash, and a blizzard of recession predictions, Donald Trump has paused some of his massive “Liberation Day” tariffs. But the reprieve is only partial and temporary. The very high tariff on China is still in place (and in fact has been increased). The 10% tariffs on all imports are still in effect.
The fall of The White Lotus

2 weeks ago | slowboring.com | Matthew Yglesias

One of my hottest takes is that I don’t like the rise of “prestige” television dramas. Structurally, one big advantage of movies over TV shows is that if a critic writes a positive review of a film, it’s because she’s seen the whole movie from beginning to end and decided to tell people that it’s good. Similarly, if a movie has positive word of mouth, that’s being spread by people who saw the entire movie.
Tuesday thread

2 weeks ago | slowboring.com | Ben Krauss

Dems will not take back the Senate in 2026. But this is good news for down the line.