Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Cláudia Ascensão Nunes
“In the end, the digital euro does not liberate Europe, modernize it, or make payments more convenient. It merely changes who holds control, shifting it from American private companies to European public authorities, and strengthens that control in the process. At its core, this project reveals a profound civilizational choice: money ceases to belong primarily to individuals, as the state assumes the power to define the limits of financial freedom.” (07/13/26)
“India’s consumer price inflation rose to 4.38% in June, up from 3.93% in May as the U.S.-Iran war and a weak monsoon raised food and fuel prices, adding to cost pressures. The headline inflation number was above economists’ expectations for a 4.30% rise, according to a Reuters poll. … Last month, India’s central bank kept interest rates unchanged but said it expects inflation to rise and growth to temper in the financial year ending March 2027.” (07/13/26)
“The cure for a regime of establishment-approved ideology does not come from government censorship of conversations. That should be clear to anybody who believes in freedom, and it’s a point strongly made by a federal appeals court in overruling Florida’s Stop WOKE Act. Saying the First Amendment is incompatible with ‘an official government line—in a college classroom of all places,’ the court overruled the state’s effort to battle ideological orthodoxy by imposing its own orthodoxy.” (07/13/26)
“With sweltering temperatures once again gripping much of the world, it is worth appreciating air conditioning — the quiet invention that transforms dangerous heat into manageable discomfort, shields millions from heat-related suffering and death, boosts productivity, and makes once-hostile climates livable. It is a powerful reminder that wealth, innovation, and human ingenuity enable societies to adapt to nature’s extremes and protect human life. To understand why the US heat death rate is 59 times lower than that of Europe, it helps to begin with a young engineer named Willis Carrier.” (07/13/26)
“El Salvador President Nayib Bukele has secured the nomination of his ruling Nuevas Ideas party for the 2027 presidential election, the party said late on Sunday, following legal changes that cleared the way for his seeking a third term. … In July 2025, the ruling party’s allies in Congress dismantled previous constitutional safeguards and approved new measures that allow indefinite presidential reelection.” (07/13/26)
“For all practical purposes, the U.S.-Iran Memorandum of (Mis)Understanding is over. The dispute over how to manage the Strait of Hormuz in the interim has pushed the two sides back into open war. But to what end? There is little reason to believe another round of fighting can alter the fundamentals enough to change the reality from which the two sides must ultimately negotiate. If they are fortunate, the MOU’s collapse may yield another round of talks in which the allure of reshaping facts on the ground through force has finally faded.” (07/13/26)
“A driver was shot dead Monday while [supposedly] trying to mow down Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) [gang members] in Maine, according to authorities. Graphic footage on social media shows a man lying by the side of the road near a car, with a bullet hole visible through the driver’s side of the front windshield following the incident in Biddeford just after 7:15 a.m., the Portland Press Herald reported. The unidentified driver reportedly accelerated at ICE [gang members] at an intersection in the small town before the officers shot him dead, eyewitnesses said. … Details on the fatal shooting are still coming through, although locals reported seeing an increase in ICE [gang] activity in Biddeford in recent weeks.” (07/13/26)
“Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas (MH), seeks to inject wisdom into a discussion often dominated by two extremes. The first is a wild-eyed techno-utopianism that would drag us into what the Cambridge literary critic F. R. Leavis called a ‘technologico-Benthamite civilization.’ The second is a techno-catastrophism inclined to see every technological development as an existential threat to humanity. In many ways, MH is an impressive document. … There is, however, one matter that has been passed over too lightly. This concerns MH’s commentary on economic questions.” (07/13/26)
