“That working from home is now an expected entitlement is the result of a changing business culture and company structures. In FTSE 100 companies, you will find tiers of well paid employees who are not exactly stretched to breaking point, some preoccupied by what David Graeber called ‘bullshit jobs’ or what the sociologist Roland Paulsen called ‘empty labour’. Examples can be seen in the ever-burgeoning human-resources departments. This growth of non-jobs and sinecures has wiped out the gains expected from productivity improvements and the adoption of new technologies. What’s more, as long as CEOs equate prestige with head count, these jobs look impervious to technological changes such as AI. It was the management and executive class who revelled in the opportunity to work from home when lockdowns were declared in 2020 – and who were the biggest beneficiaries.” [editor’s note: I have a feeling this will be the dumbest article I read this week – TLK] (02/15/26)
Source: Orange County Register
by Agustina Vergara Cid
“Looking at the history of the U.S. founding and how this country originated by defying overbearing authority, one would think that suing the government for rights violations would be rather straightforward. It is not. Instead, it’s a Kafkaesque nightmare that often leaves Americans unprotected and with untold damage left unrepaired in the face of government force. As the Trump administration continues with its mass deportations (a program that has swept up U.S. citizens as well), Americans are made to confront the harsh reality of our legal system: Suing the government is incredibly hard, and government actors wielding force inappropriately against individuals often go unpunished. This shouldn’t happen in America of all places.” (02/15/26)
Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman
“Sites online have posts about the genius trick that … . Mostly they aren’t genius, a label much misused, but that started me thinking about small changes in what you do that are clear improvements, typically when you realize that what you were doing was stupid.” (02/15/26)
“Donald Trump’s second term as president is mired by two different anxieties, and he has put them on a collision course. Trump openly fears the Republican Party losing control of the U.S. House in November’s midterm elections, and now his free-falling approval ratings could also put control of the U.S. Senate in play as well. Democratic control means serious oversight for a president who seriously needs oversight. Impeachment could be on the table, too. But Trump also shows great concern about losing control of the Republican Party in Congress. He tosses telling tantrums whenever Republicans in either chamber dare to act like a coequal branch of government rather than subservient sycophants, like his party’s leaders in the House and Senate.” (02/15/26)
“I released a story last Thursday about MAGA lobbyists pushing the Justice Department to settle its monopolization case against Ticketmaster. By the middle of that day, Gail Slater, who was the head of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, resigned, and it was clear that her choice was either to resign or be fired. A lot of reporting about this situation dropped almost immediately after the resignation (CBS, The Guardian, The Free Press, the Financial Times) regarding tensions between Slater and Attorney General Pam Bondi, internal insubordination, whether Vice President JD Vance would act as a shield for his former staffer Slater, what this means for the populist right, and more. As you might expect, I’m not wired into the inner workings of the Trump White House enough to generate one of these palace intrigue articles. But I don’t think they have as much value as the basic facts.” (02/16/26)
“Until recently the question of who pays tariffs wasn’t controversial among economists. The overwhelming consensus was that under normal circumstances tariffs — taxes on imported goods — are passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices. There are caveats and exceptions to this consensus, but these caveats are well understood and for the most part don’t apply to the tariffs imposed by the Trump 47 administration. Once tariffs became a centerpiece of Trump’s economic policy, however, views about their impact became politicized, and Trump supporters were obliged to echo his claim that foreigners, not U.S. consumers, bear the tariff burden.” (02/15/26)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Kimberlee Josephson
“Spring school picture day arrives with predictable rituals — the combing of hair, the practicing of smiles, and the filling out of order forms that get crumpled up in backpacks. This year, it brings something else: scrutiny. America’s largest school photography company, Lifetouch, has landed in the headlines this month after newly surfaced Epstein-related ownership-chain disclosures triggered parental anger. The facts remain contested, but the reaction is revealing. For many families, the controversy isn’t just about one vendor. It’s about the uneasy feeling that they never had a choice to begin with. Regardless of order form submission, pictures are typically taken anyway.” (02/15/26)
“Among the nine people Donald Trump named to his Board of Peace to run Gaza – which holds its first meeting in Washington DC February 19 – is billionaire private equity operator Marc Rowan. The board’s stated tasks include establishing financial controls and managing the reconstruction of a Gaza. You might think a savvy financier would bring solid credentials to such a job. You would be wrong. Let’s start with the obvious: this ‘Board’ is little more than a colonial operation—a modern day version of the British East India Company. And Marc Rowan is a perfect avatar for such an operation. Rowan runs Apollo Global Management, one of the world’s largest private equity firms, not with prudent stewardship but via a financial scheme that bears the hallmarks of two of history’s most infamous frauds: the accounting chicanery of Enron and the Ponzi dynamics of Bernie Madoff.” (02/15/26)
“Since voting is purely ceremonial affirmation of our masters’ authority over us, I don’t see that adding a card-flashing element to the liturgy makes much difference. I am, however, glad to see Trump once again reaffirming Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought’s 2022 observation that ‘we are in a post constitutional moment in our country.’ Vought says that like it’s a bad thing, calling on his audience to become ‘radical constitutionalists.’ His version of ‘radical constitutionalism,’ though, can’t be found anywhere in the actual Constitution. Instead of the mere functionary described in the Constitution, whose job is to ‘take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed,’ Vought envisions the president as Kim Jong Un on the Potomac. Which brings me back to voter ID.” (02/14/26)
“The Trump administration has announced that it is abandoning its ‘surge’ — you’ll remember that term from the Iraq War — in Minneapolis. Other than two dead Americans, millions and millions of dollars in economic losses, and the further erosion of trust in armed federal agencies, what exactly has been accomplished? … at least one observer who had been very skeptical about the wisdom of so-called sanctuary city policies is now a little more sympathetic to those arrangements — and surely I am not the only one.” (02/13/26)
