Source: Paul Krugman
by Paul Krugman

“On October 30, 1938 a very young Orson Welles pulled a clever stunt. He masterminded a live radio dramatization of H.G. Wells’s War of the Worlds, presented as if CBS was actually reporting on a Martian invasion. Although the program occasionally notified listeners that it was a dramatic presentation, not news, thousands of Americans panicked, packing churches, fleeing their homes, and jamming switchboards. Last weekend Citrini Research released a report — on Substack! — titled The 2028 Global Intelligence Crisis. The report, which rapidly went viral, laid out a scenario for economic and financial chaos caused by AI, written as if it were a retrospective published after the dire developments it projected. … There are two distinct questions about the huge reaction to a report that didn’t actually contain any news.” (02/26/26)

https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/when-extraterrestrials-attacked-the

Source: Law & Liberty
by Helen Dale

“The latest tranche of the Epstein Files has fleshed out the sheer scale of the billionaire’s reach and highlighted the fragility of good character.” (02/26/26)

https://lawliberty.org/epsteins-amoral-haul/

Source: Foreign Policy
by Anne Neuberger

“Innovative, low-cost weapons have destroyed sophisticated military systems that can be dramatically costlier to build and operate. Russian warships costing tens of millions of dollars have succumbed to semi-autonomous Ukrainian sea drones costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Even cheaper commercial drones have not only destroyed million-dollar tanks but have also performed missions that were once only possible with advanced military helicopters. Countering these drones can drain the defender’s coffers. … The barrier to entry for sophisticated, high-impact warfare is collapsing with the global availability of cheap, powerful, and adaptable commercial technology. This new reality leaves policymakers and citizens grappling with a set of profound challenges. Countries are confronting central issues around these novel strategic asymmetries and how to control the proliferation of advanced weapons when they are built from commercial components.” (02/26/26)

https://archive.is/FabLo

Source: Cobden Centre
by Dr. Frank Shostak

“In a market economy, a producer exchanges his product for money. He then exchanges the received money for the products of other producers. Alternatively, we can say that an exchange of something for something takes place by means of money. Things are, however, not quite the same once money is generated out of ‘thin air’ because of the expansionary central bank policies. Once money out of ‘thin air’ is employed, it sets in motion an exchange of nothing for something. This amounts to a diversion of resources from wealth generators to the holders of the newly generated money. In the process, wealth generators are left with fewer resources at their disposal, which in turn weakens their ability to grow the economy.” (02/26/26)

https://www.cobdencentre.org/2026/02/what-causes-stagflation/

Source: Common Dreams
by Klaus Moegling

“The use of key security policy terms in public discourse is intended to suggest facts that serve to calm people down. However, there are many reasons for concern that could also trigger peace forces. Political scientist and historian Herfried Münkler called for a European atomic bomb as early as 2023. There is currently an increasingly heated debate about whether Germany should seek refuge under France’s nuclear protective shield in view of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. The leader of the Social Democrats in the European Parliament, Katarina Barley, also raised the issue of acquiring nuclear bombs as part of European armament in 2024. The German and French heads of government, Friedrich Merz and Emmanuel Macron, are also paving the way for talks on European nuclear armament and the extension of France’s nuclear umbrella, according to Merz in his speech at the Munich Security Conference in early 2026.” (02/26/26)

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/no-nuclear-protective-shield