Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Connor O’Keeffe
“[I]t’s easy to understand why many have increasingly come to consider the United States to be a gerontocracy, or a society ruled by old people. As with just about anything online, there are sophisticated and unsophisticated versions of this observation. The unsophisticated version simply points to the multitude of examples of politicians remaining in office long after most people would have retired from just about any line of work and concludes that the prevalence of exceptionally elderly politicians is hampering the government’s ability to function properly. … The more sophisticated version of the ‘America is a gerontocracy’ narrative focuses less on the politicians themselves and more on what the government is doing. … government programs are actively transferring vast amounts of wealth from younger generations to older generations who are, on average, much wealthier.” (07/15/26)
“In economics, Phil Magness is probably most famous for his synthetic control paper (with Michael Makovi) showing that Marx only became a socialist superstar after his fanatical followers conquered Russia. In this conversation, Phil and I discuss my recent pieces on ‘How socialist was Nazism?'” (07/15/26)
“Top Russian energy companies have approached Indian refiners for more gasoline after Ukrainian strikes knocked out a significant portion of Russia’s refining capacity, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday. India is the biggest buyer of Russian seaborne crude oil, making Moscow’s bid to secure Indian gasoline an unusual reversal in the countries’ energy trade relationship, highlighting the extent of the disruption caused by the Ukrainian attacks. Moscow is witnessing its worst gasoline crisis. At least one cargo of Indian gasoline has already sailed to Russia and more are expected, with nearly 40% of Russia’s refining capacity unlikely to return for at least two months if there are no further attacks, one of the sources with knowledge of the matter said.” (07/15/26)
“You’re relaxing with a cup of tea, winding down from your day, and thinking about tomorrow’s errands. And then you hear a ring at the doorbell. Followed quickly by another. And another. When you finally open the door, you’re shocked to see not a neighbor or a delivery driver, but a federal agent. He knows what you said about the government on Instagram, and he’s here giving you notice to shut up. A chilling encounter like this might dissuade even the most dogged critic from speaking their mind. In the United States, home of the First Amendment—a uniquely robust protection against censorship compared with other democracies’ rules—this kind of incursion should be unimaginable. These days, it isn’t, as a new lawsuit against Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials makes painfully clear.” (07/15/26)
“House Republicans kicked off their plans for a third party-line spending bill Tuesday, releasing a budget resolution that calls for $90 billion in new money for the military and election-related measures. With no plans to seek Democratic votes, it will be a herculean task to pass through the narrow Republican majorities, given the unpopularity of the Iran war, the lack of spending cuts to offset the new spending, which is already angering conservative hardliners, and the limits of the budget process. … It contains $12 billion for the Agriculture Committee, which is set to be used for farm assistance as the industry suffers from higher food and fertilizer prices resulting from the Iran war and the inability of ships to safely pass through the Strait of Hormuz.” (07/15/26)
“There are times you’ll begin, or join already-in-progress, a project and discover it’s bigger, more difficult, and is going to take longer than you expected. Often, much longer. Sometimes you’ll realize it won’t be completed in your lifetime – if ever. And it’s still worth it. Your part is to be a vital link in a long chain of people down through the years, working toward something you’ll never see the benefit of. Think of all those nameless laborers who helped build awe-inspiring Medieval cathedrals. Such is the case with spreading liberty. It turns out, spreading a love for liberty is a bigger job than I’d thought. A lot harder, too. As many before me had also discovered.” (07/15/26)
“YouTube has appealed the verdict of a [frivolous] social media addiction lawsuit in Los Angeles, seeking to challenge the jury’s determination that the company designed its platform to hook young users without concern for their well-being. Lawyers representing YouTube filed a notice of appeal Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, less than a week after Meta, which was also a defendant in the case, filed its own notice of appeal. The lawyers are expected to provide their arguments related to the appeal in later court filings. The case centered on a 20-year-old woman who said she became addicted to social media as a child and that it worsened her mental health struggles. The jury found that negligence by both Google-owned YouTube and Meta was a substantial factor in causing harm to the young woman, identified in court only by her initials, KGM, and her first name, Kaley.” (07/15/26)
“The U.S.-Iran war was supposed to be over when President Trump signed a memorandum of understanding last month at a dinner table in the Lower Gallery of Versailles. But Trump has a famously flexible definition of what constitutes a binding contract, Iran feels that it has little to lose from further hostilities, and the two nations have essentially remained at war ever since. The agreement was designed to make permanent a cease-fire and to usher in a negotiating period of up to 60 days to settle the many disputes at the root of the conflict. About halfway through the 60-day window, the memorandum’s 14 terms have been honored almost entirely in the breach. The only clause that took immediate effect that has not been violated is the one that says the two sides will keep talking. (Even that requires an asterisk …)” (07/15/26)
“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday announced a new effort to annually screen service members’ testosterone levels and offer testosterone replacement therapy (TRT), framing it as a way to keep troops on the ‘leading edge of lethality.’ The screening, added as part of war fighters’ periodic health assessment, will affect troops age 30 and older, though those under 30 can voluntarily choose to get the test, Hegseth said in a video message posted to X. … The Pentagon chief authorized the new screening program to ensure troops ‘have the right testosterone levels to operate at [their] absolute best because it’s well-established science that as we age, testosterone levels often naturally drop,’ he said.” (07/15/26)
“President Donald Trump, broadly speaking, is not at base a liar. Sure, almost every word out of his mouth is a lie. You don’t have to go back to his marriage vows to prove this; a simple survey of his 2024 campaign promises versus his results during the first eighteen months of his second term show it. He promised no foreign wars and bombed ten countries; he promised to release the Epstein Files and fought it; he promised to end warrantless FISA searches and lobbied to keep them going; he promised DOGE and tariff rebates to the American people and abandoned both, etc. Presidents telling lies are nothing new; they’ve become an American tradition. But I learned an important lesson a few years back about how Trump in particular is different from a now-defunct podcast called Unfilter. The podcast hosts posited that Trump was not a liar but instead is a bullshitter.” (07/15/26)
