Author: Thomas L. Knapp

Source: Foreign Policy
by Emma Ashford & Matthew Rojansky

“The impasse in U.S. President Donald Trump’s war against Iran has now lasted for so long that even jokes about Groundhog Day have grown stale. Recent months have seen rounds of punishing airstrikes, followed by announcements that peace talks are resuming. None of this has moved the needle. Now the administration has returned to another dated strategy: maximum economic pressure, or as U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has put it, an ‘economic D-Day’ against which Iran cannot hope to stand. The administration seems to believe time is on its side, and that the ongoing blockade and sanctions on Iran’s trading partners will succeed where bombing has not. But this is a dangerous game.” (08/27/26)

https://archive.is/ZVHPE

Source: The Daily Economy
by Logan Tantibanchachai

“Individual liberty is an essential feature of the constitutional order, not a competing good. To claim otherwise, critics must reject or rewrite our Founding.” (08/27/26)

https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/postliberalism-gets-the-common-good-wrong/

Source: Washington Monthly
by David Masciotra

“Establishment is used as a description and even a slur, but it’s really just misleading.” (08/27/26)

https://washingtonmonthly.com/2026/08/27/the-myth-of-the-establishment-democrat/

Source: Bet On It
by Bryan Caplan

“Are the externalities of airports positive or negative? If you base your answer on NIMBY complaining, the answer is obviously negative. Above all, there’s the noise. The deafening sounds of take-off and landing bedevil everyone who spends time near the airport. On top of that, there’s daily traffic. Not every airport is LAX (in fact, only LAX is LAX), but congestion is a common bonus burden on locals. Renters, to be fair, don’t really suffer on balance. They get compensated for the noise and traffic with lower rent. Local workers, too, receive extra pay to compensate them for their suffering. The main victims of the externalities, then, are property owners. Living right next to an airport typically depresses their property values by 5-15%, a major hit to their net worth.” (08/27/26)

https://www.betonit.ai/p/the-externalities-of-airports-and

Source: Antiwar.com
by Brett Wilkins

“With the United States unable to militarily defeat Iran in President Donald Trump’s illegal US-Israeli war of choice, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday escalated the administration’s economic attacks on Tehran, warning countries and companies around the world that continuing to do business with the nation could expose them to punitive sanctions. … While Bessent did not say which countries would likely be targeted, China, Türkiye, and the United Arab Emirates are Iran’s biggest trading partners. The secretary was also asked why sanctions aren’t being imposed immediately. ‘Well, we are giving everyone the opportunity to remedy bad behavior,’ he replied. ‘Why would I want to blow up the global financial system?'” (08/27/26)

https://original.antiwar.com/brett_wilkins/2026/08/26/bessent-suggests-economic-warfare-against-iran-could-blow-up-the-global-financial-system/

Source: Yascha Mounk
by Yascha Mounk

“Humanity’s relationship with its mechanical helpers has always been a little bumpy. In a production of Lohengrin, the celebrated tenor Leo Slezak was supposed to climb onto a swan during his dramatic farewell. At one performance, the contraption departed without him. Slezak turned to the audience and asked: ‘When does the next swan leave?’ I was reminded of this anecdote from what very much feels like another era when I bought a coffee on the sidelines of the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing (also known as the robot Olympics). A metallic barista filled a cup with coffee, reached for a jug of hot milk, and made quick, delicate movements as it poured. The coffee was surprisingly good, and the robot had even decorated it with a remarkably detailed swan made out of milk. The performances of the robots inside the arena were more uneven.” (08/26/26)

https://writing.yaschamounk.com/p/a-dispatch-from-the-robot-olympics