US consumer prices rose 0.1% in July, as expected, putting the annual rate at 3.4%

Source: CNBC

“A key inflation reading Wednesday showed prices moderating across a range of goods and services, possibly taking the urgency out of an imminent interest rate hike. The consumer price index, part of the Federal Reserve’s inflation dashboard, showed a seasonally adjusted increase of 0.1% during July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Excluding food and energy, the so-called core CPI rose 0.2%. On an annual basis, the inflation rates were 3.4% and 2.5%, both down 0.1 percentage point from June.” (08/12/26)

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/12/cpi-inflation-report-july-2026.html

Professionals to “Labor”: Why California’s Doctors Are Unionizing

Source: The Daily Economy
by Richard Menger

“California’s unionization campaign reveals the economic and institutional shifts away from physician ownership and professional autonomy.” (08/12/26)

https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/from-profession-to-trade-why-californias-doctors-are-unionizing/

Canada: 60,000+ sign petition calling for expulsion of US ambassador

Source: CBC News [Canadian state media]

“Tens of thousands of Canadians have signed a petition calling for U.S. President Donald Trump’s representative in Ottawa to be kicked out of the country. The online petition, which is set to be presented in the House of Commons in the fall, says Pete Hoekstra should be declared persona non grata and the Canadian government should request his removal as U.S. ambassador to Canada. Nearly 60,000 people had signed the petition as of Wednesday morning, almost double the number of signatures 24 hours earlier. The petition accuses Hoekstra of making statements that undermine the Canada-U.S. diplomatic relationship and of ‘making repeated interventions in Canadian political discourse inconsistent with diplomatic protocol.’ It says the Liberal government should also direct a parliamentary committee to review U.S. diplomatic interference in Canadian affairs.” (08/12/26)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/petition-ambassador-hoekstra-removed-from-canada-9.7303372

We Need to Do Nothing About AI

Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Man Basharzad

“The mindset that governments must immediately regulate AI may prove more dangerous than AI itself. Markets generally adapt to technological change. When genuine market failures emerge, there is a case for government intervention. But where, exactly, is the market failure in AI today that demands immediate regulation?” (08/12/26)

https://fee.org/articles/we-need-to-do-nothing-about-ai/

Lebanon: Parliament passes long-sought amnesty law, a day after death penalty repeal

Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]

“Lebanon’s parliament has approved a general amnesty law that is expected to benefit thousands of convicted prisoners, detainees and wanted people. The legislation passed Wednesday in a ‘show-of-hands vote’, reported Lebanon’s official National News Agency. It is the first law of its kind since 1991. … Long demanded by numerous Lebanese political factions, the amnesty law aims to reduce overcrowding in prisons, where many inmates await trial for years. However, it has faced backlash from some family members of Lebanese soldiers and servicemen killed in attacks, who fear the perpetrators could receive undue leniency.” (08/12/26)

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/12/lebanon-passes-long-sought-amnesty-law-a-day-after-death-penalty-repeal

Hume’s Perplexing Priorities

Source: Law & Liberty
by Graham McAleer

“By focusing on Hume’s ideas about why we enter association and follow norms, [Max] Skjönsberg nicely puts in relief how Hume’s theory of historical association differs from the rationalism of the social contract theories of Hobbes and Locke: a motif of slow, uncertain growth marks Hume’s idea, whilst the mood of a blueprint marks social contract theory. Skjönsberg’s portrait also delivers a populist Hume which, I think, is something of a mischaracterization. Like other members of the Scottish Enlightenment, Hume makes establishment basic to governance.” (08/12/26)

https://lawliberty.org/forum/humes-perplexing-priorities/

Reading the TA leaves: How technical assistance can improve the odds of successful policy implementation

Source: Niskanen Center
by Amanda Patarino, Ross Apter, Jacqueline Maffucci, & Luca Giobbio

“It has been said that Congress is not one institution but ‘535 small businesses.’ When you add the dozens of congressional committees, there is no one standard operating procedure for legislative work. That’s particularly true when it comes to writing legislation that delivers intended outcomes. Certainly, marshalling the support to get a bill through the committee process with sufficient backing to carry it through final passage and signed into law are baseline metrics for legislative success. But if the purpose of legislation is to get policy implemented successfully, then the political process is just the start. No less important, if much less visible, is writing legislation that actually enables outcomes.” (08/12/26)

https://www.niskanencenter.org/ta/