Opinion Today: The Jerome Powell test
Here’s what we’re focusing on.
Opinion Today
April 21, 2026
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Alberto Miranda

Notable

Can Kevin Warsh pass the Jerome Powell test? “If squeezed between the president and the Federal Open Market Committee, finding words that reassure both financial markets and placate Mr. Trump will be tough.”

— David Wessel, the director of the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy at the Brookings Institution

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Older Americans are hoarding the country’s potential. “Ageism has not ended, but that should not stop those questioning and seeking to rein in American gerontocracy.”

— Samuel Moyn, a professor of law and history at Yale

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Russia is building tomorrow’s war machine. “The United States starts from a far stronger innovation base line than Russia but it lacks the institutional will to make the most of it.”

— Kateryna Bondar, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies

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Spotlight

A girl in a blue dress twirls, surrounded by points of light.
A photo illustration based on a photograph of Renae Walker that was provided by the author, her mother, Rebecca Archer. Photo illustration by Amy Friend for The New York Times

When Your Child Dies of MeasleRebecca Archer’s daughter died of a complication of measles in 2023. She believes that if more people had gotten the vaccine, her daughter might still be here.

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ICYMI

The economic cost of constant chaos. “Trump’s constant policy swings are offsetting whatever benefits his business-friendly instincts might bring.”

— Amit Seru, a finance professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business

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Why Are Palantir and OpenAI Scared of Alex Bores?

Alex Bores is trying to win a congressional seat to represent part of New York City. Here’s why A.I. executives are funding the effort to stop him.

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More in Opinion

President Trump speaking to unseen reporters in front of an American flag at night.

Guest Essay

There Is a Contest Trump Is Winning

“Trump is among the most consequential presidents in U.S. history, and not in a good way.”

By Thomas B. Edsall

Guest Essay

Nearly Half the World Is Bearing the Brunt of Global Disorder. Don’t Expect Richer Countries to Get a Pass.

The Iran war is just the latest setback in the past several years to low-income and lower-middle-income countries.

By Eswar Prasad

A toy rocking horse painted in a camouflage pattern.

Guest Essay

You Can’t Defend a Nation When Soldiers Don’t Have Child Care

Trump wants to pay for the military, not child care. History shows that the armed services are at their best only when soldiers’ kids are cared for.

By Lisa Levenstein

In Your Words

Re: “The Town That Reveals All of Trump’s Bad Economic Ideas

The hollowing out of manufacturing towns and cities in Western countries around the world (including my own) was due to the voluntary decisions of governments and corporations. China did not steal the market. We foolishly gave it away. Now countries have both an opportunity, and a necessity, to rebuild what they gave away, and/or to reinvent and renew themselves. As per the article. — A comment by Vagabond Rambler from Australia

Read more comments on the story here and check out our Letters to the Editor.

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