“Gold and silver tumbled on Tuesday, as a global sell-off in tech stocks stoked by fears of higher interest rates spilled over into metals. Gold futures fell 1.5% on Tuesday to $4,142 an ounce, while silver futures tumbled over 5% to $61.80 an ounce, before paring some losses to settle around $62.25. Since the outbreak of the U.S.-Iran war on Feb. 28, gold’s reputation as a safe-haven asset in times of turmoil has come under pressure as some of the drivers behind its ascendance have been called into question. An unexpectedly hawkish Fed meeting chaired by Kevin Warsh last week boosted expectations for a year-end interest rate hike, further pressuring gold prices, as the prospect of higher interest rates tend to weigh on the non-yielding precious metal.” (06/23/26)
Source: ProSocial Libertarians
by Andrew Jason Cohen
“In my last post I discussed Early Twenty-First Century Universities. They involve 6 groups of participants, several of which are primarily involved because of ancillary provisions. The sort of college I favor—what I think of as the classic model—is different. To understand that, I here lay out an idealized and schematic history of the university system. In another post, I will discuss what I think universities should be.” (06/23/26)
Source: Law & Liberty
by James Valvo & Ryan Mulvey
“The Presidential Records Act (PRA) has lately been a source of controversy. The Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) published an opinion at the beginning of April that concluded the PRA is unconstitutional because it ‘exceeds Congress’s enumerated and implied powers’ and ‘aggrandizes the Legislative Branch at the expense of the constitutional independence and autonomy of the Executive.’ OLC’s opinion has raised eyebrows. It may even be wrong on the law. Nevertheless, it is good to see the political branches jockeying for position over the constitutionality of one another’s actions. A healthy, antifragile government requires occasional interbranch battles over the structure of our government.” (06/23/26)
“Here in the States, the major attention to borders and potential threats has long been the border with Mexico, and the Gulf Coast with access to the Caribbean and all its little island nations. The States’ border with Canada has long been demilitarized – indeed, for pushing 150 years. But in recent years, as Canada has gone more Woke, more Tranzi, and opened the Provinces to mass immigration from not just the Commonwealth but apparently everywhere else? Some people think we need a wall up there, too. (That disgusts us both politically and personally, even more than the idea we must fortify the border with Mexico.) But things are not good – and the Canada we once knew – even the Prairie Provinces – is long gone.” (06/22/26)
“Israel is deliberately targeting Palestinian children in what has become a key factor in an ongoing ‘genocide’ in Gaza, United Nations investigators charged on Tuesday, in a report slammed by Israel. The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry said it had found evidence that ‘Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed by Israeli security forces.’ This, it said, was a key factor in establishing ‘the genocidal intent of the Israeli authorities and security forces to destroy the larger Palestinian group in Gaza.’ … Israel, which has long been harshly critical of the commission, slammed the report as ‘defamatory’ and a ‘libellous sham.’ It accused the investigators of ignoring ‘the brutal tactics of Hamas, which ruthlessly attacks Israeli children and uses Palestinian children as human shields.'” (06/23/26)
“I’m skeptical that term limits, as envisioned by their promoters, would do much to restrain or improve the quality of government, and as a political matter their opponents aren’t wrong when they point out that ‘we already have term limits, they’re called elections.’ … But if we want to give term limits a real try, I have some ideas on the matter. First, the limit should be one term. Second, the term should be fairly short — say, two years. Third, once a person has been elected to a particular office, that person becomes ineligible for election to any other office, and for employment by any branch of the government in question … ever, for life.” (06/23/26)
“Britain’s problems stem from no one being able to ever do anything. Therefore we’re short of things that have been done. Sorting this out so that more people can do more things seems sensible, for then we’d all enjoy more things that have been done. The New Manchesterism then suggests that government should do all those lovely long term things that markets can’t or don’t and thus will the land of milk and honey return. We do tend to think that the long term isn’t something that politics is going to look to. Not when a Prime Minister with a stonking majority gets – well, likely will – killed off by a chippy northerner after 2 years and how many days is it?” (06/23/26)
“SpaceX stock fell before the bell on Tuesday, set to pick up on a three-day run of losses after a massive run-up following its IPO earlier this month. The company also confirmed its first-ever bond issuance in a filing. Shares in the Elon Musk-led company pulled back nearly 3% in premarket, on the cusp of dropping below $150 apiece.” (06/23/26)
