“On the runway in Fairbanks, Ken Jouppi was loading his Cessna for a short hop to Beaver, Alaska, a village of a few dozen folks on the banks of the Yukon. His passenger was flying out to see her husband for her birthday, and she’d packed some beer in with the groceries. Troopers showed up with a warrant before the plane ever left the ground. Some of you might be thinking, yikes, is Jouppi another Andrew Carter Thornton II? ‘Cocaine Bear,’ the sequel? Nope. Beaver’s a dry town. Not the weather, the beer. Bringing alcohol into Beaver’s a crime, and he and his passenger were both convicted of a misdemeanor. Three days in jail apiece and a $1,500 fine, as low as the law goes. But then Alaska did something extraordinary: It took Jouppi’s plane.” (11/10/26)
“In the 126 years since 1900, nearly 90 percent of the midterm elections have led to the party in the Oval Office losing House seats, and two-thirds of those same elections have led to it losing Senate seats. Given this history, midterm losses of some sort in 2026 were almost a sure bet. But what ensued in November went well beyond all normal expectations. When all the votes are tabulated, the current blue wave may match the massive midterm losses that buried Bill Clinton in 1994 and Barack Obama in 2010. First, what does this massive 2026 slapdown now portend? A second-term president in his final two years, facing a euphoric and frenzied opposition Congress, emboldened by a landslide, will have difficulty confirming federal judges or cabinet members. Most presidents in that dire situation try to rush through confirmations in the brief two remaining months of their lame-duck congressional majorities, not an easy task.” (11/10/26)
“US President Donald Trump may not be a big fan of solar, but it’s the country’s fastest-growing source of power generation. Standing up an independent domestic solar supply chain is critical to the country’s energy security and AI ambitions, and to lowering power prices, especially as Beijing moves to restrict the export of some key solar technologies. But, although it may be wise to raise trade barriers that push more China-affiliated solar components out of the US market, China’s role in global solar supply chains is so pervasive that instantly severing all ties could kill many US solar manufacturing efforts in the crib. Future growth for this industry depends on a more nuanced trade policy that gives US companies the space to benefit from China’s world-leading solar expertise while the next phase of home-grown plants gets built.” (11/10/26)
“Democrats have just won back control of Congress, delivering a major rebuke to Donald Trump and his policies. But now comes another critical question: Who should lead the new Democratic majority? Let’s look at the Senate. Chuck Schumer has been in Congress for nearly 46 years—18 in the House and almost 28 in the Senate. He has led Senate Democrats since 2017 and is already declaring that he expects to be reelected majority leader. But the public is clamoring for new leadership. A recent NBC News poll found that just 13% of voters view Schumer favorably! While most sitting senators seem reluctant to oppose him, eight newly elected Democratic senators—Abdul El-Sayed, Peggy Flanagan, Troy Jackson, Juliana Stratton, Adam Hamilton, James Talarico, Chris Pappas, and Annie Andrews—have either openly opposed Chuck Schumer or withheld their support. And there is a possibility that Senator Van Hollen will put his hat in the ring.” (11/10/26)
“I suggest there is a key difference between left and right politically. The right feels comfortable with spontaneity, thinking that when people make decisions about their lives, the overall order that emerges will be superior to any planned agenda. The left, by contrast, prefers to take society towards preconceived and planned outcomes. The divide between right and left is not mainly about money, class or even the size of the state. It is about order, and where order comes from. The right trusts order that grows. The left trusts order that is made.” (11/10/26)
“The IMF is warning heavily indebted governments to act before borrowing costs become unmanageable. With America’s debt ceiling approaching, Congress faces another fiscal showdown.” (11/10/26)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Jake Scott
“China is increasingly drawing Laos into its orbit through two main strategies: a railway freight line and a joint military air facility. Not going unnoticed among neighboring nations—especially Laos’s close ally Vietnam—the move feeds directly into China’s regional strategy of making mainland Southeast Asia a secure southern flank through close economic ties. In some ways, this is a continuation of a long tradition in the way China views the region. In the imperial era, China treated many of its neighbors as, essentially, vassals.” (11/10/26)
