Source: The Daily Economy
by Caleb S Fuller & Scott Burns
“At the end of January, President Trump penned a triumphant op-ed declaring ‘Mission Accomplished’ for the signature economic policy of his second term: tariffs. Unfortunately, his entire victory lap revolved around phony numbers, cherry-picked facts, and a strawman caricature of his critics’ arguments. Trump began by claiming all the ‘so-called experts’ predicted his tariffs would trigger ‘a global economic meltdown.’ Instead, he boasts, they’ve ushered in ‘an American economic miracle.’ He’s wrong on both counts.” (02/17/26)
“Peace talks between Russian, Ukrainian and American negotiators are set to resume in Geneva today after a ‘very tense’ session on Tuesday. Six hours of talks took place on Tuesday in a mixture of two-way and three-way formats but yielded no breakthrough,a source told Russian news agencies. ‘They agreed to continue’ on Wednesday, the source said. US special envoy Steve Witkoff said the talks ‘brought about meaningful progress’ in Donald Trump’s push to end the Ukraine war. Earlier, Volodymyr Zelensky said the US president was exerting undue pressure on the Ukrainian side during the peace process.” (02/18/26)
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Wendy McElroy
“Rosa Parks’s death on October 24, 2005, was met with tributes from across America and around the world to memorialize the impressive role she played in the Civil Rights Movement. On December 1, 1955, Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man on a crowded Montgomery, Alabama, bus. Instead, the 42-year-old black woman defied Jim Crow segregation laws and local customs …. Parks’s ensuing arrest for disorderly conduct rallied the city and state’s black community, which staged a one-day bus boycott by blacks on December 5. It was almost 100 percent effective, and its amazing success sparked the much larger 1955–1956 Montgomery bus boycott, which lasted over 300 days, and from which Martin Luther King, Jr., emerged as the primary leader of the movement. … A woman named Claudette Colvin died on January 13, 2026, to far less acclaim than Parks received two decades earlier.” (02/17/26)
“Peru’s Congress on Tuesday voted to remove interim President José Jerí from office as he faces corruption allegations, triggering a fresh wave of political instability just weeks before the nation’s April presidential election. Jerí is under a preliminary investigation into corruption and influence peddling, stemming from a series of undisclosed meetings with two Chinese executives. With 75 votes in favor, 24 against and 3 abstentions, Peru’s legislature voted to remove Jerí from the position he had assumed on Oct. 10. His predecessor, Dina Boluarte, was dismissed as a crime wave gripped the country. Jerí’s removal from office is the latest chapter in a prolonged political crisis in a country that has seen seven presidents since 2016, and is about to hold a general election amid widespread public outcry over the surge in violent crime.” (02/17/26)
“The Munich Security Conference is underway, and both American and European politicians have taken the opportunity to lament the end of the old ‘rules-based’ order. The problem is that the order to which they refer never truly existed. With a quarter century of the new millennium behind us, we have an opportune time to reflect upon the international system that has defined this new period. The decades between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the present day bore witness to several important and unprecedented military interventions that give shape and structure to this new world order. Perhaps the most pivotal of these episodes was the United States-led attack on Yugoslavia in the last months of the twentieth century.” (02/17/26)
“Agrochemical maker Bayer and attorneys for cancer patients announced a proposed $7.25 billion settlement Tuesday to resolve thousands of U.S. lawsuits alleging the company failed to warn people that its popular weedkiller Roundup could cause cancer. The proposed settlement comes as the U.S. Supreme Court is preparing to hear arguments in April on Bayer’s assertion that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s approval of Roundup without a cancer warning should invalidate claims filed in state courts. That case would not be affected by the proposed settlement. But the settlement would eliminate some of the risk from an eventual Supreme Court ruling. Patients would be assured of receiving settlement money even if the Supreme Court rules in Bayer’s favor. And Bayer would be protected from potentially larger costs if the high court rules against it.” (02/17/26)
“Much of President Donald Trump’s economic policy rests on the idea that the United States doesn’t need global trade in order to prosper. A sizable portion of the rest of the world might be ready to put that sentiment to the test. Canada, Mexico, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and 11 wealthy nations across the Indo-Pacific region are taking the first steps toward a globe-spanning trade deal that would encompass nearly 40 nations and over 1.5 billion people …. Though it is a long way from a done deal, the attempt to link most of the world’s largest non-U.S., non-China economies into a single economic bloc is perhaps the most significant sign that the rest of the world is preparing for a future where America is no longer pushing for open markets and free trade. But it is not the only sign.” (02/17/26)
“Iran and the United States reached an understanding on the main ‘guiding principles’ in a second round of nuclear talks in Geneva on Tuesday, but work still needs to be done, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said. … After the exchange of documents, the two sides will decide on a date for a third round of negotiations, he said. The U.S. has sent a battle force to the Middle East to press Tehran to make concessions in the decades-long nuclear dispute and President Donald Trump has said ‘regime change’ in Tehran may be the best thing that can happen. Iranian state media reported earlier that Iran would temporarily shut part of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global oil supply route, as it held talks over its nuclear program with the United States, which has sent a battle force to the Gulf region to press Tehran to make concessions.” (02/17/26)
“You probably use a computer — in fact, you’re probably reading this column on a computer. For 72% of you, that computer is the ubiquitous ‘standard’ Windows PC or laptop. For 20% of you, it’s a Mac. The other 8% of you oddballs mostly use Linux or (Linux-based) ChromeOS. I know the 92% of you who use Windows or macOS get tired of the cool kids telling you this, but it should be the other way around. Almost everyone should be using Linux almost all the time. Instead of leading off with the technical reasons why, though, I want to hit you with the political, and personal financial, reasons for making the switch.” (02/17/26)
