Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Ryan McMaken
“Decades before the Marxists came along, the classical liberals exposed how some classes exploit other classes. Through taxes and inflation, government regimes transfer wealth from the more productive members of society to the less productive ones. For at least two centuries, political theorists have attempted to identify and understand the ways that various social and economic classes have interacted within this system of state exploitation. … Among these classes we also find a group that is often ignored, or at least it is infrequently mentioned. It is the class small enterprise: the owners of small factories, the artisans, and the shopkeepers. Or, to use a term more frequently found outside the United States: the petite bourgeoisie.” (02/16/26)
“2025 was a good year for the stock market. Americans who invested in a broad market index like the Standard and Poor 500 did really well. But not as well as 29 members of the U.S. Congress who beat the market in 2025. Beating the market is not easy and beating an index like the S&P 500 in 2025 means getting gains of more than 16.8%. Unusual Whales compiled a report on the members of Congress whose investments beat that return in 2025. I compiled the chart below from the report to focus on the 29 members of Congress whose investment portfolios grew by more than 16.8% last year.” (02/16/26)
“A Dallas-area federal jury indicted five people this week accused of defrauding customers of their cattle company of $220 million. The defendants operated through the company Agridime LLC, the Justice Department said Thursday. … Federal prosecutors allege that between January 2021 and December 2023, the five told clients, including feedlots, cattle ranchers and people wanting to buy individual cattle, that Agridime would use the money the clients paid to buy and raise specific cattle before selling the meat at a profit. … The Justice Department accused the group of instead using incoming payments from customers to pay off company operating expenses, pay money owed to previous customers, pay personal expenses and buy real property.” (02/16/26)
“Perpetual Trumpworld figure Steve Bannon is taking a lot of heat this month as newly released Jeffrey Epstein files show he maintained close ties with the notorious sex trafficker, even after many of Epstein’s worst crimes were exposed. But that’s not the only perilous legal matter on Bannon’s plate. The influential conservative podcaster also finds himself in hot water for his management of the disastrous ‘Fuck Joe Biden’ cryptocurrency.” (02/16/26)
“The history of ‘President’s Day’ is a convoluted one. (Isn’t everything with government?) Legally, for the FedGov, it is officially still ‘Washington’s Birthday’ and just the calendar date was changed back in 1971, from 22 February to the third Monday in February. (Many States have officially changed the name; the common title reflects the popular belief that it also replaced any celebration of Honest Abe’s birthday (12 February) honored ‘all POTUS.’ Yup, even Nixon.) But since most of us treat this like ‘All Presidents’ Day’ (and absolutely nothing to do with the idea behind All Saints’ Day), let us look back at one of the few POTUS that has some really good things to say about him. Thomas Jefferson.” (02/16/26)
“Newly elected Bangladesh lawmakers have been sworn into parliament, days after the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) swept the first vote since the 2024 student-led uprising that expelled former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Tarique Rahman will take the oath as prime minister later on Tuesday, as the BNP is expected to form a new government after securing more than a two-thirds majority in the elections last week. … The BNP won at least 212 seats in the 300-seat parliament, giving it a strong majority, while the Jamaat-e-Islami party won 77 seats. Hasina’s Awami League was banned from participating in the polls.” (02/17/26)
“As ICE tactics continue to undermine due process rights, the New York Times editorial board and kindred others have reflected on the role ICE plays in a broader challenge the Trump administration poses to democracy. Trump’s immigration policies are dramatically unjust. But meaningful reflection on what’s wrong with them means recognizing an uncomfortable fact: they are not ‘undemocratic’ but all too much a product of democracy. It’s an uncomfortable fact that Donald Trump won the 2024 election, not just in the electoral college but by 2 million in the popular vote. And he did it by loudly campaigning for his immigration policy. He promised to carry out ‘the largest deportation effort in American history,’ and his running mate suggested starting with deporting 1 million people. Remorseful Trump voters have no excuse for thinking they voted for something else.” (02/16/26)
