Herodotus the Storyteller

Source: Law & Liberty
by Matthew K Reising

“We often forget ourselves in this modern age, and one can’t help but feel that the amnesia is by design. For better or worse, the digital revolution has turned attention into a challenge and a commodity. Because of social media’s predominance, brain rot and doomscrolling are now part of everyday vernacular. Moreover, AI has raised serious questions about the nature of human consciousness, and distress about disinformation and polarization in the political sphere is rampant. Given these woes, Emily Katz Anhalt’s latest book, Ancient Wisdom for Polarized Times, hopes to remind us what it is to be human by enlisting an unlikely ally: the fifth-century BC historian Herodotus of Halicarnassus.” (12/08/25)

https://lawliberty.org/book-review/herodotus-the-storyteller/

Trump Says He’ll Sign Executive Order Curbing State AI Rules

Source: Bloomberg

“President Donald Trump said he would approve an executive order this week to establish ‘ONE RULE’ on artificial intelligence regulation and limit state-level policies regulating the technology. ‘I will be doing a ONE RULE Executive Order this week. You can’t expect a company to get 50 Approvals every time they want to do something,’ Trump posted on social media Monday. The forthcoming order marks the latest bid by Trump to put his imprint on policy for AI, a technology that is rapidly developing and seen increasing adoption by business, government and the public.” (12/08/25)

https://archive.is/ns8Gn

The Fed’s Losses, Atlanta’s Lesson, and the Case for Balance-Sheet Reform

Source: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
by David Beckworth

“President Trump will soon announce his pick for the next Federal Reserve Chair. Whoever takes the helm will inherit a full plate of challenges from Jerome Powell: interest-rate decisions, balance-sheet runoff, payment-system reform, regulatory overhaul, growing political pressures, and more. One thing the new chair will not inherit, however, is a Federal Reserve still incurring operating losses. Yes, as our friend Bill Nelson first reported, the Fed is now generating net interest income for the first time since August 2022. … The primary reason for the recent losses is that the Fed’s interest expenses exceeded its interest income.” (12/08/25)

https://macroeconomicpolicynexus.substack.com/p/the-feds-losses-atlantas-lesson-and

Brazil: Thieves snatch eight Matisse artworks from library

Source: BBC News [UK state media]

“Two armed men have stolen eight engravings by French artist Matisse and at least another five by Brazilian painter Cândido Portinari from a library in São Paulo. Brazilian officials say the thieves held up a security guard and an elderly couple who were visiting the library before making off with the artworks on foot. … The heist comes less than two months after the art world was rocked by a brazen break-in at the Louvre museum in Paris, where thieves made off with priceless jewels. … Bibilioteca Mário de Andrade is the country’s second largest library and officials say that its building in the centre of São Paulo had cameras with facial recognition technology. The mayor of São Paulo told local media the thieves had already been identified but so far they remain on the run.” (12/08/25)

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0mp4nevdz7o

Dollar Stores: Where Trumpian Sleaze Meets Affordability

Source: CounterPunch
by Dean Baker

The Guardian had a fascinating piece on how the Dollar store chains (both Dollar General and Family Dollar) seem to have a practice of advertising lower prices on their shelves than what they ring up at the register when the person checks out. The evidence they present in the piece indicates that these mispricing cases may account for more than 20 percent of all sales. … This piece is striking for three reasons. First, insofar as this sort of cheating is common, it indicates that inflation could be greater than is generally recognized. Second, it brings home the problem of ‘affordability’ in a way that many of us probably did not anticipate. … Finally, it shows how the Trump-Musk habit of laughing at consumer fraud has very real pocketbook effects.” (12/08/25)

https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/12/08/dollar-stores-where-trumpian-sleaze-meets-affordability/

Wealth Inequality is Not a Problem in Britain

Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Kritsian Niemietz

“Gary Stevenson thinks that he has discovered the root cause of Britain’s malaise: wealth inequality. In his version of events, the super-rich are monopolising all the assets, including property and they are using the returns on those assets to buy even more assets — a self-reinforcing downward spiral. A small, super-wealthy elite is getting wealthier and wealthier, while the rest of the country is sinking into abject poverty. Gary has assembled a mass following on the basis of this thesis, so it is clearly persuasive to a lot of people. It is also completely wrong, for a number of reasons. ” (12/08/25)

https://fee.org/articles/wealth-inequality-is-not-a-problem-in-britain/

SC: Court clerk who helped with Alex Murdaugh’s trial pleads guilty to showing sealed exhibits

Source: Associated Press

“The former court clerk in South Carolina who helped out with the murder trial of attorney Alex Murdaugh pleaded guilty Monday to criminal charges for showing sealed court exhibits to a photographer and lying about it in court. Former Colleton County Clerk of Court Mary Rebecca ‘Becky’ Hill pleaded guilty in Colleton County Circuit Court to four charges — obstruction of justice and perjury for showing a reporter photographs that were sealed court exhibits and then lying about it — as well as two counts of misconduct in office for taking bonuses and promoting through her public office a book she wrote on the trial. Judge Heath Taylor sentenced Hill, 58, to three years of probation.” (12/08/25)

https://apnews.com/article/becky-hill-alex-murdaugh-court-clerk-5e25491cb1dc802f9a0a8e1c0151dda8