Author: Thomas L. Knapp

Source: Free Association
by Sheldon Richman

“Undesigned order may be the most counterintuitive idea around, but it is crucial to understanding how free societies work. Trump and his gang don’t get it. Observe that he thinks he knows when the Federal Reserve should cut interest rates or how national trade statistics should look. The price system, of which interest rates are a part, is generated, not by a central plan, but by the countless daily decisions of buyers, sellers, and abstainers acting according to their articulated, unarticulated, and even inarticulable personal information, know-how, preferences, and purposes. That ‘data’ cannot be recorded in a central and accessible place for use by anyone, bureaucrats included. So attempts at conscious government planning will only muck up the price system, along with everything else. A bull in a china shop is an apt image. If you don’t get this, you don’t get freedom.” (05/09/25)

https://sheldonfreeassociation.blogspot.com/2025/05/tgif-on-importance-of-undesigned-order.html

Source: The Bulwark
by Sonny Bunch

“When news broke on Sunday that Donald Trump wanted to implement ‘100% Tariffs’ on foreign-made movies, no one was entirely sure what he meant. I mean, about any of it. Did he mean foreign movies like The 400 Blows or American movies that are made overseas like the forthcoming Avengers: Doomsday? Did he mean a tariff on the budget, on foreign subsidies, what? There are no actual ‘imports’ of goods, so how would you levy these tariffs: on ticket sales, by taxing studios, what? Wait, a tax — doesn’t that require Congress? (Hahaha, just kidding!)” (05/09/25)

https://www.thebulwark.com/p/some-hollywood-tariff-game-theory

Source: Reason
by Jonathan H Adler

“As my co-blogger Ilya Somin notes below, White House aide Stephen Miller commented today that the Trump Administration is ‘actively looking at’ whether it would be possible to suspend the writ of habeas corpus on the grounds that the country is suffering an ‘invasion’ by illegal immigrants. My own view is that the White House can look at this question all it wants, but it is ultimately up to Congress whether the writ should be suspended (at least during times of peace). This is clear form the Constitution’s text and structure. The suspension clause is in Article I, section 9, as among several enumerated constraints on legislative power. It is an interesting question whether Courts can review a legislative suspension of the writ, but I think it is relatively clear that the Executive cannot do so unilaterally. I also think that the Supreme Court has fairly consistently operated under this assumption.” (05/09/25)

https://reason.com/volokh/2025/05/09/only-congress-may-suspend-the-writ-of-habeas-corpus/

Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Peter Jacobsen

“Harvard is upset that the government is trying to tell them what to say, while simultaneously demanding that it continue sending them money. Of the $9 billion being threatened, not all goes immediately to Harvard. Some funding goes in grant form to students who then transmit it to the university in fees. Other grants go to researchers who share a portion (often more than half) with the university. But, regardless of the transmission mechanism, this funding is critical to Harvard’s current operations; otherwise, Trump’s threat would be inconsequential. Is Harvard entitled to receive millions of taxpayer dollars, directly or indirectly? Are the wealthy administrators and faculty the proper owners of taxes paid by Americans of all economic classes? In my view, no.” (05/09/25)

https://fee.org/articles/sorry-harvard-theres-no-such-thing-as-a-free-grant/

Source: Brownstone Institute
by Andrew Lowenthal

“Last week, my non-profit liber-net unveiled a new database of US government awards to mis-dis-and-malinformation (MDM) and other content control initiatives. A previous Network Affects post broke down where that money came from. This one details where the money went, specifically the countries, regions, topics, and activities, and the top organisations that took home the cash. The below graphs are based on 867 awards made between 2016-2024, out of nearly 1,100 that we reviewed from 2010 to the present day.” (05/09/25)

https://brownstone.org/articles/where-the-money-went-usg-funding-to-counter-mis-disinformation-initiatives/