Two months ago, the Globe’s Larry Edelman wrote a business piece with the headline. “For Trump, Wall Street is the rare check and balance worth listening to.” … Fast-forward to this morning. From the WSJ: “Trump Meets His Match: The Markets” … From the NYT: “On Major Economic Decisions, Trump Blinks, and Then Blinks Again.” … Just pointing out the two-month time gap between the pieces. … The most effective resistance to the president isn’t anger and outrage and protests and yet more protests. It’s Wall Street when it realizes it might lose a buck on his policies.
Month: April 2025
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Pegging the president’s vulnerability: It’s the market, stupid
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Warren’s not-ready-for-prime-time podcasting
Democrats have a long way to go if they’re ever going to match Donald Trump’s mastery of long-form podcast interviews. As the WSJ’s James Freeman notes, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren recently flubbed an interview with popular left-of-center podcast host Sam Fragoso, who threw Warren on the defensive with questions about her past attacks on the Supreme Court’s legitimacy and past comments about Joe Biden’s health. … The Globe also has a piece on the semi-disastrous interview. As does MassLive.com. … What is it with leading Dems and spotty interview skills? NYT flashback: “Harris Has a Lot of Strengths. Giving Interviews Isn’t One of Them.”
Oh, what the heck. Might as well roll this Karl Rove column into this post: “Democrats’ Tailspin Continues.” … Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders can’t give a straight answer to this simple question from the hosts at WBUR’s Here and Now: “Your Fighting Oligarchy Tour is drawing huge crowds, and yet polls show the Democratic Party with historically low approval ratings. What’s the disconnect?” … Fox News is loving this spat: “James Carville calls David Hogg’s plan to primary ‘ineffective’ Dems the ‘most insane thing’ he’s ever heard.” … I’m definitely with Carville on this one. Does Hogg realize Republicans, not moderate Dems, are the ones who need to be defeated? Apparently not. And he’s a DNC vice chair, for heaven’s sake.
Update — From NBC: “DNC chair rebukes David Hogg for pushing primaries against Democratic incumbents.”
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Tufts makes ‘New Ivies’ list. Take that, BC
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Tufts University has been included on Forbes’s ‘New Ivies’ list, which the business publication began compiling last year after it learned employers were down on Ivy League schools. … Tufts is the only New England school on the private “New Ivies” list. No New England school made the public “New Ivies” cut. … As a Tufts grad, I need to start practicing how I’m going to casually mention this to my BC and Northeastern friends etc. Oh, did you see how Tufts was recently named … Something like that.
An HB reader who knows I went to Tufts tipped me off to the list, via this Boston.com article, with the note: “Congratulations. Tufts is in the ‘new Ivy League.’ But sorry, now the Trump administration is going to cut all your federal funding.”
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The 60 Minutes controversy: The Norwood Connection
And, yes, there’s a local angle to the 60 Minutes controversy that’s now getting the full Drudge Report treatment, to wit: National Amusements, founded and still controlled by the famous Redstone family, is based in Norwood and owns Paramount Global, which is the latest media company accused of caving to the Great Orange One. Shari Redstone, owner of Paramount, is at the center of the media furor, as Semafor reports. … OK, it’s not much of a local angle. But it’s still a cool local angle that most locals don’t know about. … Remember: It always comes back to Massachusetts, sooner or later.
Quick background: Paramount Global and Skydance Media last year announced plans to merge – a merger that’s still pending. And guess who recently demanded that the FCC inflict “punishment” on CBS for its coverage of Greenland and Ukraine?…
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Don’t look now: more empty office space coming on the market
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Newmark reports that Boston’s office-building vacancy rate hit 22.1 percent in the first quarter, a new record high and the 13th consecutive week of rising office vacancy in the city. Newmark did note the market seems to be stabilizing a bit, amid increasing tenant activity, declining sublease space, growing investor interest etc. … But BisNow reports two big office projects with a combined 900K sf – the Hines tower at South Station and 10 Word Trade – are scheduled to finish this year and “both remain mostly empty — threatening to increase the city’s already historically high vacancy rate.” …
Newmark report via the incomparable Contrarian Boston.
Update — 2.24.25 — Actually, I’m kind of surprised it went for as much as it did. Anyway, from the Globe: “Another downtown office tower, at 99 High Street, just sold at a deep discount.”
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On second thought, maybe local biotech isn’t so dead
The BBJ is reporting that Roche, as part of its commitment to invest $50 billion in the U.S. over the next five years, is planning to open a new Roche Genetech Innovation Center Boston at Harvard’s big development site in Allston. … It’s a very encouraging move by Roche. But the long-term threat from China obviously remains.
Update – 4.23.25 – More signs of local life. From Banker & Tradesman: “Biotech Tenant Expands in Fort Point.” … It’s not that much at 14K sf. But at least it’s something.
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Is DiZoglio determined to alienate everyone?
She’s fighting the good fight when it comes to her efforts to audit the legislature. But along the way state Auditor Diana DiZoglio seems to be enjoying the good fight, and the limelight that comes with it, a bit too much. OK, she’s alienating a lot of people in her own Democratic party, as the Globe reports. They’re the establishment. Let ‘em whine. But she’s also coming across as a headline chaser, a one-hit wonder, a bit of a loose cannon. Am I missing a cliché? Now she’s involved in some sort of tiff with the Herald over a recent piece the tabloid ran about her potential conflicts of interest. Not good. … The old guard she’s battling on Beacon Hill must be enjoying this spat. …
The Hub Blog mind drifts to … Tulsi Gabbard? Sorry. Low blow. But Gabby does come to mind.
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And now they’re going after medical journals
A federal prosecutor has sent letters to at least three medical journals asking questions about their “partisan” positions in scientific debates. No mention of our very own New England Journal of Medicine. But a Massachusetts doctor is ripping mad, saying the inquiry amounts to “blatant political intimidation of our medical journals,” as MedPage Today and the NYT report. … Did we mention the interim U.S. Attorney is a Republican activist whose office has been accused of targeting Trump critics and who has hired the former spokesman for the first Trump administration’s Covid response team before he took a “medical leave after accusing federal scientists of ‘sedition’”?
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Report: Trump administration throws tantrum, plans to pull another $1B from Harvard
They’re apparently throwing a fit at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. From the WSJ: “The Trump administration has grown so furious with Harvard University after a week of escalating dispute between the two sides that it is planning to pull an additional $1 billion of the school’s funding for health research, according to people familiar with the matter.” …
And here I was, hoping for a relatively quiet Harvard-Trump week.
Update — From the Globe: “Harvard sues Trump administration over funding freeze.”
Update II — 4.24.25 – Four days later and no further cuts. … It’s always risky to predict what Trump might do next given the chaotic nature of his administration.
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Harvard donations soar (sort of) after taking stand against Trump
It’s not a lot by Harvard standards. But Harvard saw a surge in small donations after the university announced it was opposing radical operational demands from the Trump administration, the Harvard Crimson reports. The day before Harvard’s announcement, the university received 37 online donations. The day after the university received nearly 4,000 gifts, totaling $1.14 million. …
People should consider donating money to their alma maters in general. It’s only a matter of time before other schools are also hit by obnoxious funding threats.
Update — 4.22.25 – From the NYT: “As Harvard Is Hailed a Hero, Some Donors Still Want It to Strike a Deal.” …
Hub Blog 