“Yes the middle class is shrinking — because people in it are becoming richer. They are not (on average, certainly there are individuals who go up and down) getting poorer because the poorest band on this chart is shrinking even faster than the middle class. This is an enormous freaking victory for most everyone, but yet we are electing radical communists to tear down capitalism. Incredible.” (11/11/25)
“When the truth is ugly, people lie. That’s human nature. Psychologists call this Social Desirability Bias, and it’s the intellectual foundation of my forthcoming Unbeatable: The Brutally Honest Case for Free Markets. But there’s one classic ugly inquiry which, as best as I recall, I’ve never known to be answered with a bald-faced lie. It’s a high-stakes question that children often ask their parents. The question: ‘Will you die one day?’ Faced with this query of existential dread, plenty of parents respond evasively — or just ignore the question.” (11/11/25)
“At the U.S. Supreme Court last week, the government’s lawyer argued that President Donald Trump’s emergency tariffs, issued under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), aren’t really taxes at all. ‘The fact that they raise revenue is only incidental,’ he told the Court. ‘The tariffs would be most effective … if no person ever paid them.’ That defense captures the problem with emergency economics: Tariffs that raise no revenue still raise uncertainty. They tax planning, investment, and trust. A tariff no one pays is self-defeating. It deters trade and investment without delivering even the limited fiscal benefit of real revenue. The result is slower growth, higher prices, and weaker supply chains. Chief Justice John Roberts pressed that point, describing the government’s reasoning as ‘two-facing.'” (11/11/25)
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“While American progressives celebrate the electoral triumph of self-labeled socialist Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York City, American conservatives are lamenting his victory of socialism over right-wing ‘capitalism.’ But the discomforting reality is that although conservatives are loathe to acknowledge the reality of their own mindsets, they are, in principle, as committed to socialism as Mamdani. When it comes to socialism, the difference between Mamdani and conservatives is one of degree, not one of principle. Mamdani simply takes socialism further than conservatives do.” (11/11/25)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Pentagon contractor Elon Musk, currently the richest person alive, has posted a video clip showing off how people can use his AI video generation tool Grok Imagine to create the image of a woman’s face saying ‘I will always love you.’ The AI-generated clip looks fake and creepy, and everything about Musk’s post is downright depressing. But it’s not quite as fake, creepy and depressing as the capitalist dystopia which birthed it. … The underlying argument for continuing with the capitalism experiment even though it’s destroying our ecosystem is that these megabillionaires will save us all with green energy and carry humanity’s surplus population out into the stars to colonize the galaxy, which is a terrible vision for the future in and of itself. But that isn’t even happening.” (11/11/25)
“The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Nov. 5 in a case challenging the validity of President Donald Trump’s tariff authority. After listening to those arguments, a few things are clear. The tariff authority belongs to Congress, and in the cases that its members delegate that authority, they are clear about doing so. Trump cites imprecise language, not meant to authorize tariffs, bent to meet his needs. Congress should have stepped in to clarify that authority, but instead, the Supreme Court is once again forced to answer questions borne from congressional inaction. The Supreme Court should curb Trump’s tariff authority, even if the president will lash out at the justices for doing so.” (11/11/25)
Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman
“Many years ago I noticed that being paid to give a speech felt better than being paid to be a professor even though it was much less money. My payment for a speech was by people who wanted to hear it. My pay as a professor was decided by administrators, only indirectly by the students who were the consumers of what I was producing. It felt to my intuition less real, less something I deserved. I got the same pleasure out of collecting royalties when my books were first published. A friend and fellow professor who was also a serious gambler, a card counter at blackjack, told me that the money he got the most pleasure from was money he won from other players in open combat. I conclude that for me, perhaps for many others, being paid for something cuts both ways.” (11/11/25)
“It’s been a while since I’ve written for TomDispatch, and there’s a reason for that. About 16 months ago, I experienced a catastrophic car crash. An SUV veered across the double yellow line of the highway I was traveling on and hit my little Chevy Spark head-on — on the driver’s side. I’ve been told that I’m lucky to be alive. I was left with multiple injuries and have been on the slow road to recovery. I’ve always seen myself as a person who pushes forward to overcome obstacles. Since the collision, however, doing so has become more complicated, because I’m learning that recovery is a long road, filled with detours I couldn’t have predicted. Time and again, my expectations have been turned upside down. I’ve had to take deep breaths, sit back, and pay close attention.” (11/11/25)
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Ted Galen Carpenter
“President Donald Trump professed to be extremely pleased with the results of his recent summit meeting with Xi Jinping in South Korea. Indeed, with his typical hyperbole, he rated it ‘a 12 out of 10.’ Trump expressed special satisfaction with the conclusion of new trade agreements that significantly eased bilateral economic tensions between the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). In what amounted to a casual comment, he also stated that he had received a pledge from Xi that the PRC would not take any military action to change Taiwan’s political status during the remainder of Trump’s term. Interestingly, neither the United States nor PRC documents summarizing the summit indicated that the Taiwan issue was discussed at all — a very surprising omission given the usual importance of the topic.” (11/11/25)
“The shutdown’s uselessness is demonstrated by the fury of those who want it to keep it going (and indeed are still delaying the Senate’s final floor vote). ‘People want us to hold the line,’ thundered Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Bx-Queens), furious that eight of her Senate colleagues crossed the aisle to get the government working again (at least until January). Who to blame for the sanity caucus quashing the six-week tantrum? Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-Brooklyn) of course. Sure he voted to keep the shutdown going, but he’s friends with the ‘traitors’ and failed to make them obey the demands of the Trump-deranged.” (11/10/25)
