Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman
“Most of what I know is based on secondhand information; I have never seen Antarctica but am confident that it exists. Some, however, is first hand. I mentioned one example in my previous post, an experience during a summer spent in Washington as a congressional intern in my early twenties that demonstrated that competent academics, people I liked, were willing to do deliberately dishonest work. That was convincing in a way that second-hand information, an article arguing that published work was dishonest — I have written some — would not have been. Thinking about that started me looking for other examples of views of mine based on my own experiences. Here are some of them.” (12/08/25)
“President Trump on Monday unveiled $12 billion in aid to US farmers, as the agricultural sector deals with the fallout from his sweeping tariff policies. Trump and other top administration officials discussed the package at a roundtable event with farmers at the White House. … Trump said the money for farm relief would come from a ‘small portion’ of tariff-related revenues.” (12/08/25)
“Since its creation in 1949, NATO has been the keystone of U.S. foreign policy in Europe. Indeed, the alliance has been the most important feature of Washington’s overall strategy of global primacy. America’s political and policy elites have embraced two key assumptions and continue to do so. One is that NATO is essential to the peace and security of the entire transatlantic region and will remain so for the indefinite future. The other sacred assumption is that the alliance is highly beneficial to America’s own core security and economic interests. Whatever validity those assumptions may have had at one time, they are dangerously obsolete today. The toxic, militaristic views toward Russia that too many European leaders are adopting have made NATO into a snare that could entangle the United States in a large-scale war with ominous nuclear implications.” (12/08/25)
“Israeli forces raided the headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in occupied East Jerusalem on Monday morning, in the latest assault on the body by Israeli authorities. Troops stormed the premises, carried out searches and confiscated the phones of security guards, witnesses told Palestinian news agency WAFA. The Jerusalem Governorate said security guards were detained during the raid, which occurred during the early hours of the morning. … ‘The unauthorised and forcible entry by Israeli forces is an unacceptable violation of UNRWA’s privileges and immunities as a UN agency,’ said agency spokesperson Tamara Alrifai.” (12/08/25)
“‘Affordability’ epitomizes how Trump is floundering on what had been one of his strongest issues. A Gallup survey found that only 36% of Americans approve of Trump’s economic performance while a Fox News poll found that 76% of voters disapprove of Trump’s economy — an even worse rating than Joe Biden scored at the end of his presidency. The White House acts as if more bluster can solve the problem. But is the Trump administration now targeting its economic message solely to people who failed high-school mathematics? On Truth Social last month, Trump proclaimed, ‘DRUG PRICES ARE FALLING AT LEVELS NEVER SEEN BEFORE, 500%, 600%, 700%, and more.’ Actually, drug prices cannot fall more than 100% unless people are getting paid to swallow the durn free pills. But it’s worse than that. Prescription-drug prices have in fact increased roughly 2% this year, according to federal data.” (12/08/25)
“Bitcoin attempted a late weekend rally, but even those small gains were mostly reversed in early U.S. action Monday, with the price quietly settling in near the $90,000 area for the remainder of the day. Trading around $90,500 as U.S. stocks closed, bitcoin was lower by about 1% over the past 24 hours. Altcoin majors also struggled to hold on to their gains. … While the crypto action was muted, long duration government bond yields spiked amid fears of trouble in Japanese bonds spilling over to the other markets. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield surged to 4.19%, its highest level in about three months, while U.K. and other European countries’ government debt also sold off.” (12/08/25)
“In these fraught political times when our political choices are largely limited to authoritarian Republicans and totalitarian Democrats and federal agencies vie for opportunities to violate individual rights, it’s difficult to feel anything other than contempt for government. It’s worth remembering, though, that the current mess isn’t a good representation of the Founding ideals of our republic. In particular, consider the protections for liberty embodied in the Bill of Rights, which is celebrated every December 15.” (12/08/25)
“Congress is using its marquee defense [sic] bill to force the Pentagon into turning over videos of strikes against suspected drug-smuggling boats off the coast of Latin America. Lawmakers plan to withhold a quarter of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s travel budget until the Pentagon provides them with the videos. The demand, quietly tucked into the final draft of the annual defense [sic] policy bill, calls for ‘unedited video of strikes conducted against designated terrorist organizations in the area of responsibility of the United States Southern Command’ to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees. Congressional leaders released their final draft of the defense [sic] bill Sunday, which is expected to be approved — without changes — by the House later this week and then the Senate.” (12/08/25)
“In one sense, the global crackdown on online speech is understandable. Most people support freedom of speech, but balance this support with their support of other priorities, such as their desire to cultivate a culture that respects the rights and dignity of minorities. In the last decade, social media has shocked many of us with evidence of how heinous the views of some of our fellow citizens are. It’s understandable that someone might see a post on X with thousands of likes that implies that black Americans are genetically inferior to white Americans, and conclude that the government ought to do something to punish this kind of hateful speech. But for all that the impulse to censor can be noble-hearted, it’s also wrong-headed. In practice, attempts to punish so-called hate speech run into several big problems.” (12/08/25)
