“President Donald Trump is correct that Ukraine’s survival matters more for Europe’s security than it does for U.S. security. After all, during the Cold War, the United States lived with a more powerful Soviet Union that included Ukraine. Therefore, he is right to expect wealthy NATO countries to pay more for Ukraine’s defense. Yet Trump has gone too far by essentially changing sides and backing aggressive Russian President Vladimir Putin; in contrast, President Joe Biden, Trump’s predecessor, had backed Ukraine wholeheartedly. Trump has blamed Ukraine for a war that Russia started by its invasion and has pressured the defending country to achieve peace by giving up territory it has not lost militarily.” (10/14/26)
Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman
“Someone invents an inexpensive and reliable way in which parents can choose the gender of their offspring. From the economic standpoint, this represents an increase in quality — you get a child of your preferred gender instead of a fifty-fifty chance — at no significant increase in cost. Increased quality at constant cost corresponds to decreased cost at constant quality; you are now getting more for your money. Lowering the cost of something increases the quantity demanded. Do you conclude that, as a result of the new invention, the birth rate goes up? If not, why not? Are children Giffen goods?” (10/14/26)
“Campus deplatforming attempts have reached a disturbing new milestone. For the first time since FIRE began tracking these incidents, more than 200 attempts to prevent invited speakers from appearing on campus have been recorded in a single year — and 2026 still has nearly three months to go. The previous record, set just last year, has already been shattered. And the problem isn’t confined to one side of the political spectrum.” (10/14/26)
“Israeli forces have [abducted] more than 2,000 Palestinian children since October 2023, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said. In a report released on Wednesday, the Palestinian rights group said Israeli authorities continue to escalate their targeting of Palestinian children. At least 350 Palestinian children are currently facing ‘harsh conditions’ in Israeli prisons. … The organisation said information regarding the number of children arrested in Gaza is unclear, given the thousands of missing persons in the besieged Gaza Strip, including children, and the ongoing policy of enforced disappearance. The group said Israel’s policy of detention without charges or a release date constitutes ‘an additional violation and crime that leaves children facing the unknown and deprives them of family and educational stability’.” (10/15/26)
“The Senate needs to actually work. Legislation that goes through the committee process often stalls because whichever party has the majority doesn’t want to burn valuable floor time. Too often, though, the chamber looks like a glorified human resources department, with nominations taking center stage while legislation waits for an opening. Advice and consent is an important constitutional responsibility. It shouldn’t become the Senate’s entire identity.” (10/14/26)
“AI companies like Anthropic and OpenAI have long mentioned the possibility that their products could be existentially dangerous, but this has recently crescendoed into even more dire warnings, including suggestions that we have to pace the frontier, ie coordinate to slow AI progress. In response, cynical commentators have suggested this is a conspiracy to boost the companies’ stocks. The exact motives imputed vary from person to person. Some say the companies are hyping the product by talking about how dangerous it is …. Others say they’re trying to distract from near-term harms …. But the most popular story involves regulatory capture: if the product is unsafe, maybe it can only be trusted to a few big politically-connected companies, and everyone else should be banned. Many debates about AI are complicated and hard to resolve, but this one isn’t: all of these stories are clearly false.” (10/14/26)
