Author: Thomas L. Knapp

Source: Underthrow
by Max Borders

“When Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, most people looked at each other wondering what they had missed. Now, in 2026, two Nobel laureates in economics have produced an argument that ought to make us stroke our chins. Writing in Evonomics, George Akerlof and Robert Shiller argue for more regulation. Indeed, they write that they ‘wrote it for government officials, who undertake the usually thankless task of regulating business.’ They argue that markets create powerful incentives to take advantage of people—not necessarily because entrepreneurs are evil, but because businesspeople tend to exploit opportunities to profit from human weakness.” (10/05/26)

https://underthrow.substack.com/p/the-nobel-phishermen

Source: Expression
by Jacob Mchangama

“He called press freedom ‘the Palladium of Liberty.’ But when did it become more of a curse than a blessing? What were an editor’s ethical duties? Should libels be met with speech or the law?” (10/05/26)

https://expression.fire.org/p/was-frederick-douglass-a-free-speech-79c

Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob

“What is Mr. Trump thinking? It’s simply the wrong way to govern: Using the public purse to broadcast pro-yourself messages to the people. And is there any constituency — outside of Mr. Trump — for these television spots? One that would override the stench from misusing public resources in broad daylight on Fifth Avenue? The White House calls these ads public service announcements. The whole thing smacks of leader-worship. Plus, the messages are purely political. The timing seems awfully vote-solicitous: ‘Together we will defeat.'” (10/05/26)

https://thisiscommonsense.org/2026/10/05/bad-move/

Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman

“Utility functions are observed in the form of choices. If negative utility is the level at which existence is worse than nonexistence, zero utility is the level below which a person, given the choice, would prefer not to exist. People have that choice; for many of us, suicide is not only possible but inexpensive: All it costs is our life. Following the principle of consumer sovereignty to its somewhat grisly conclusion, it seems natural to say that if a person, having access to means for killing himself, refrains from doing so, it must be because his utility for living is greater than for dying. Making allowance for costs such as pain, injury to others, and the price of the bullet, we have a definition of zero utility: A person’s utility is zero when he is indifferent between committing and not committing a costless suicide.” (10/05/26)

https://daviddfriedman.substack.com/p/optimum-population-average-total

Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille

“Fiscal year 2026 ended last week, and while official figures aren’t out yet, it looks like the federal government spent $2 trillion more than it took in. That’s not quite a record—in dollar terms, the federal government ran a bigger deficit in 2020 when the feds showered money on the country in hopes of offsetting COVID-19 lockdowns (fueling inflation in the process), and the deficit was a bigger share of GDP both that year and during the Great Recession. But given the federal government hasn’t balanced its books in 25 years, a $2 trillion deficit adds to already staggering national debt and looming disaster.” (10/05/26)

https://reason.com/2026/10/05/the-federal-government-ran-up-a-2-trillion-deficit-in-2026/