Billionaires, Not Socialists, Are the Biggest Threat to the Free Market

Source: Libertarian Institute
by Thomas Eddlem

“At its base, economic fascism is a form of capitalism, not socialism. It has always been this way, though many leading promoters of free markets today wish it wasn’t. But fascism has native-born citizenship in capitalism, in private property, and not in state property socialism. Fascism’s private property DNA can’t be denied. There are many words to describe statism generally, as well as words to describe our capitalist system that has been corrupted by parasitic billionaires. These include cronyism, fascism, corporatism, plutocracy, and kleptocracy (this latter one, admittedly, can apply to socialism or capitalism). We don’t have to shoe-horn socialism into the role.” (12/02/25)

https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/billionaires-not-socialists-are-the-biggest-threat-to-the-free-market

ICE Barbie reveals sweeping travel ban plan after meeting with senile reality TV star

Source: Axios

“Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said after meeting with President Trump on Monday that she’s recommending a travel ban on multiple countries in connection with criminal activity in the U.S. Trump widened his administration’s hardline immigration crackdown after officials said the suspect in last Wednesday’s ambush-style shooting in D.C. that killed one National Guard member and critically injured another was an Afghan national [that Trump’s administration approved for asylum]. ‘I am recommending a full travel ban on every damn country that’s been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies,’ Noem said on X, without specifying which countries she was referring to.” (12/01/25)

https://archive.is/TU0yJ

Barriers to Affordable Housing

Source: EconLog
by Tyler Watts & Joel Watts

“The economics of housing affordability is very straightforward. If prices have gone up, either demand has shifted right, supply has shifted left, or some combination of the two. While supply constraints are the major culprit in the affordability problem, we want to acknowledge that buyers are partly responsible for the market shifts that we’ve seen — it takes two to tango. Housing is a normal good with a long-run income elasticity of demand close to one, meaning housing demand rises in tandem with household income growth. To bring prices down, we need builders to shift the housing supply curve ‘out and right’ by a larger factor than buyers are shifting the demand curve.” (12/02/25)

https://www.econlib.org/econlog/barriers-to-affordable-housing/

French journalists file lawsuit against Israeli regime for blocking access to Gaza, West Bank

Source: France 24 [French state media]

“Two journalist unions have filed a legal complaint in France against Israel for allegedly obstructing the work of French journalists in the Palestinian territories, including by denying access to Gaza, they said Tuesday. Israel has not allowed international journalists into the blockaded Palestinian territory since the start of the war in October 2023 against Palestinian militant group Hamas, except when embedded with Israeli forces. … It is the latest of several such complaints linked to the Gaza war in France, where the authorities have jurisdiction in the case of an alleged breach of rights or crime against a French citizen.” (12/02/25)

https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20251202-french-journalists-file-lawsuit-against-israel-for-blocking-access-to-gaza-west-bank

US FDA’s top drug regulator submits his resignation to the agency

Source: Politico

“Rick Pazdur, the FDA’s top drug regulator, told staff Tuesday he submitted his resignation to the agency, an abrupt departure weeks after he was convinced by Commissioner Marty Makary to take the post to help bring stability to an agency reeling from months of upheaval, according to four people familiar with the decision granted anonymity to discuss the move. … Pazdur in recent weeks clashed with Makary over the Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher program, according to media reports. That program — which aims to speed final review of drugs that address health priorities, pose a transformative innovative impact, address an unmet medical need, help onshoring efforts or increase affordability — was also criticized by Pazdur’s predecessor, George Tidmarsh.” (12/02/25)

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/02/the-fdas-top-drug-regulator-submits-his-resignation-to-the-agency-00672818

Inside Israel’s shadow campaign to win over American media

Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Connor Echols

“Back in March 2011, the Israeli consulate in New York City had a problem. A group of soldiers from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) were coming to the U.S. on a PR trip, and Israeli officials needed help persuading influential media outlets to interview the delegation. Luckily for the consulate, a new organization called Act For Israel, led by Israeli-American actor Noa Tishby, was prepared to swing into action. … The previously unreported campaign appears to have violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which mandates that American citizens and organizations publicly disclose any work that seeks to influence American politics on behalf of a foreign power.” (12/02/25)

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/israel-noa-tishby/