Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Jake Scott
“At the stroke of midnight on January 1, 2026, the facade of the Bulgarian National Bank in Sofia was lit up with the display of a golden Euro coin. Crowds gathered in sub-zero temperatures to watch the Bulgarian lev — meaning ‘lion,’ the state currency since 1880 — relegated to history. By morning, Bulgaria had become the Eurozone’s 21st member state: a decision which, at first glance, appears nothing more than a technical monetary change. But any change as momentous as this is loaded with deep historical symbolism, economic consequences, and political tensions within the European Union (EU). As a result, whether this change is also a wise one is a live debate.” (03/11/26)
“President Donald Trump’s executive order of Feb. 18 invoking the Defense Production Act of 1950 to ensure US glyphosate production and availability is neither necessary nor helpful. HHS Secretary and Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) founder Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s endorsement of the order has created a firestorm in that health-interested base. On Feb. 22, Kennedy conducted triage explanations to his base with this statement: ‘Unfortunately, our agricultural system depends heavily on these chemicals.’ He went on to post that ‘if these inputs disappeared overnight, crop yields would fall, food prices would surge, and America would experience a massive loss of farms ….’ Kennedy then described the many weed control alternatives that are being developed. All of us farmers in the nonchemical community already use many of these innovative alternatives …. We pay a slight premium, but these farmers have great yields and are certainly not going out of business like many more conventional operations.” (03/11/26)
“Trump is more than happy to inflict a host of harms on Americans: Seven servicemen killed, a billion per day in war costs, trillions in stock market capitalization wiped out, inflation risks heightened, and oil prices on the rise. To justify his foray into regional war, Trump tells Americans they should docilely accept their fate as hostages of his endless war fantasy. He declares that $100+ per barrel is a ‘very small price to pay’ (for us to pay) for his war.” (03/11/26)
“[Adam] Smith is convinced that the commercial society which he describes and analyzes in The Wealth of Nations cannot do without the morally sensitive being of The Theory of Moral Sentiments, if markets and liberty more generally are to be sustained over the long-term. There is, however, something else that unites the two books. Both flow from Smith’s commitment to the Scottish Enlightenment project of improvement, at the heart of which is what David Hume called the ‘science of man.’ That is the light in which we should place these two volumes. It reveals to us Smith’s essential humanism as someone who believed that the economy of natural liberty was part-and-parcel of what Smith called a ‘decent’ society.” (03/11/26)
“It’s never easy working for tips. For eight years, from 2014 to 2022, I did just that. I was a server at a Maine hotel, taking orders at the restaurant and bringing customers their food. Some nights, I’d make $200 or even $300. Other nights, I’d make half that, or less. … I got married to a coworker I met on the job, and before leaving the dining room, we had two kids. I had to bring home the bacon, but it was hard to estimate how much I’d make in a given year. And every year, come April 15th, I had a choice to make. Would I report my tip income on my taxes? Or would I keep it off the books and keep more money in my pocket? I always made the lawful choice. But it was tough.” [editor’s note: The “lawful choice” would be to pocket it all as “gifts” with no paperwork involved – SAT] (03/11/26)
“The bottom-up mechanism of technological improvement that Smith showcases in the very first pages of Wealth of Nations shapes the division of labor. These technological improvements contribute to growing production (and to growing markets with more room for subdivision), capital’s profit, and cheaper goods and so raising living standards. Capital accumulation is an effect, not the cause, of technological innovation, and not just the result of the prudential habit to save.” (03/11/26)
“My country bombed a girl’s elementary school last weekend. My country killed around one hundred and sixty girls in an instant. My country is the reason that the men and women who loved those little girls have to pull their severed, bloody limbs from the rubble, find their backpacks covered in blood, and bury them forever. Then people like Karoline Leavitt, who will be remembered forever for being the spokeswoman for the human meat grinder, will refer to the mass slaughter as ‘propaganda’ when asked about it. Then, we all go to work on Monday instead of setting the world on fire — like nothing ever happened. Like one hundred and sixty girls’ lives weren’t extinguished while neocons and liberals alike justify regime change on the basis of state-sanctioned violence against women. Have we not all been here before?” (03/11/26)
“It is fighting for the survival of the organization and of Shiites there, and in the region. The US would be wise not to get sucked into this conflict, too.” (03/11/26)
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Connor O’Keeffe
“After Trump ordered this major joint US-Israeli air campaign on Iran a week and a half ago, several politicians, political commentators, and public figures heaped praise on the president for the ‘remarkable courage’ he showed to finally take on the Iranian regime. …. these characterizations already look a bit antiquated after Trump quietly dropped his initial stated goal of helping the Iranian people take over their government. But, especially as the price of oil has risen, the administration has continued to use this whole conflict to present Trump as a bold, decisive, and courageous president who is uncharacteristically willing to endure short-term economic, military, and political hardship in order do what is necessary to make the world a safer and more prosperous place for future generations in America and across the globe. That is nonsense.” (03/11/26)
