Author: Thomas L. Knapp

Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Jennifer Kavanagh

“Lawmakers will feel good voting for Lindsey Graham’s ‘passion project’ but it won’t end the war and if anything hurts American economic and political interests.” (08/04/26)

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/russia-sanctions-bill/

Source: Independent Institute
by K Lloyd Billingsley

“Longtime NIAID director wielded unprecedented influence over COVID policy with little public accountability.” (08/04/26)

https://www.independent.org/article/2026/08/04/was-anthony-fauci-too-powerful/

Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Wanjiru Njoya

“Economists who worry about wealth disparities between racial groups are preoccupied with addressing the causes of racial inequality. They all have different theories and explanations about the causes of racial wealth gaps, but the prevailing assumption is that some form of unfairness must be driving it. The key form of unfairness thought to produce disparities in racial outcomes is discrimination. Discrimination may be direct or indirect. According to critical race theories, it includes things like legacies of oppression, systemic racism, and even unconscious bias. The general idea is that government can fix these manifestations of discrimination—by banning or penalizing them—thereby reducing or eliminating the racial attainment gap. Those who assume economic disparities are caused by racial discrimination rely on what Robert Nozick termed ‘normative sociology,’ where any narrative can be used to derive one’s preferred causal explanations.” (08/04/26)

https://mises.org/mises-wire/problems-causation-race-and-discrimination

Source: Washington Monthly
by Bill Scher

“The opposition party is on an electoral roll yet is pilloried for not fighting Donald Trump hard enough.” (08/04/26)

https://washingtonmonthly.com/2026/08/04/democratic-voters-anger-establishment/

Source: EconLog
by Jon Murphy

“A major objection by protectionists is that international trade with other countries, especially low-wage countries, will undermine American workers. As a consequence, there will be a ‘giant sucking sound’ (to use Ross Perot’s phrasing) as jobs are pulled from the United States to these countries. From a purely theoretical perspective, there is little reason to think this will happen. Wages are determined by the marginal productivity of workers. Workers across countries are not identical, which is why firms do not necessarily pursue low wage workers. … Standard theory gives us good reason to doubt protectionist claims. But the protectionists present an alternative theory. We can test the empirical claims of the protectionists to see which theory better explains the empirical evidence.” (08/04/26)

https://www.econlib.org/econlog/trade-and-employment

Source: The Daily Economy
by David Youngberg

“When policymakers obsess over inequality statistics, they often overlook the institutions and policies that actually keep people poor.” (08/04/26)

https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/the-mcnamara-fallacy-returns-how-inequality-metrics-distract-from-the-real-causes-of-poverty/