“‘Social sector’ workers — described by Forbes as ‘nonprofit organizations and the social sector at-large’ — have been losing jobs because of budget cuts and corruption cuts. Many newly unemployed are unhappy about having to job-hunt. Some complain about having to take jobs from profit-making businesses. Others lament sparse communication from prospective employers. … Job seekers might feel less demoralized if they didn’t take the impersonal aspects of the search so personally.” (12/09/25)
“The president’s new hemispheric strategy revives interventionist logic while ignoring the region’s urgent need for infrastructure and economic diversification.” (12/09/25)
“President Donald Trump and Argentine President Javier Milei have a special relationship. Each is engaged in a crusade to make his respective country’s economy great again. Trump was all in on helping Milei win his elections earlier this year, and he has also offered the Argentines a $20 billion ‘lifeline’ as they adjust to the bumpy path to needed free-market reforms. The stakes are gigantic because the whole world is watching Milei’s embrace of free-market ‘shock capitalism,’ which so far is working. He has restored sound money (by linking to the dollar) and taken a chainsaw to the bloated state bureaucracy as he privatizes rather than nationalizes government assets. Argentina’s tragic detour into the dead end of socialism drove the nation into a half-century-long economic ditch, with poverty rates skyrocketing.” (12/09/25)
“The first Trump administration ushered in a new era of industrial policy, attempting to reshape the macroeconomic landscape through the use of tariffs. The Biden administration built upon its predecessor’s interventions, championing massive subsidies for the semiconductor and green energy industries. In his second term, Trump has raised the tariff ante and taken an alarming step further by directly inserting the federal government into the corporate boardroom. Over the past six months, the administration has unilaterally engineered a series of deals that give the federal government ownership stakes in a portfolio of private companies. It’s a seismic and disturbing development in federal policymaking — and it’s not done. Congressional Republicans, who would be foaming at the mouth were this occurring under a Democratic administration, have thus far chosen to sit on their hands.” (12/09/25)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Julieta Clara
“I’m from Argentina, and when I hear New York’s new mayor speak about ‘democratic socialism’ as a path to ‘social justice,’ I feel like someone who has already watched the entire movie: the prequel, the sequel, the reboot, and even the director’s cut. Different actors, different scripts, different settings — but always the same finale.” (12/09/25)
“Multiple news outlets reported in September 2025 that the Justice Department was weighing a ban on gun possession by transgender people, on the theory that they are ‘mentally ill’ and therefore ‘unstable.’ That constitutionally dubious proposal provoked objections from gun rights groups that typically align with the Trump administration, including the National Rifle Association (NRA). … the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit held that ‘nothing in our tradition allows disarmament simply because [someone] belongs to a category of people’ that ‘Congress has categorically deemed dangerous.’ Such a ban would be even more constitutionally questionable if it were imposed by bureaucratic fiat.” (for publication 01/26)
“Trump first announced his massive tariffs on ‘Liberation Day,’ which was April 2. This was supposed to be the beginning of the United States rebuilding its manufacturing capacity. Since Liberation Day, the economy has lost 60,000 manufacturing jobs, factory construction is down at least 5 percent, and inflation has risen to 3.0 percent. It is also clear that businesses and consumers here have paid Trump’s tariffs, not foreigners as Trump seems to believe. Import prices have risen since Liberation Day. These are the price of the goods we import before Trump imposes his tariffs. If exporters are eating the tariffs, then the import price index should have fallen considerably. The data show this is not true. That is all pretty much textbook on what to expect from a set of ill-considered tariffs designed by a president who knows next to nothing about economics.” (12/09/25)
“While few people really think scrolling through social media is the best use of kids’ time, there are good reasons why the Labor government’s plan should and will almost certainly fail. First of all, Labor does not seem to be remotely confident in its own ability to enforce it. … A second, and more significant, problem for the Australian government is that parents are far from unified in support of the ban. In fact, some polls suggest that more than 50 per cent oppose it. Probably this is because they do not want the government telling them how to raise their children. … It won’t be bad news if the Australian government does fail, something it does most of the time, anyway. Not least because the social-media ban, while couched in terms of compassion, is part of a broader push for internet censorship, not just for children, but for adults, too.” (12/09/25)
“It is held by a popular thinking that a growing economy requires a growing money supply in order to provide support to economic growth. The idea that the money supply must grow in order to support the growth rate of an economy gives the impression that money is the means of sustenance that sustains economic activity. However, money’s main function is to fulfill the role of the medium of exchange. Money does not sustain economic activity. The means of sustenance are provided by the saved consumer goods.” (12/09/25)
“Ten years after Donald Trump first ran for president, he stands at the helm of Titanic America. How did this happen? No factors were more pivotal than the outlooks and actions of the Democratic Party leadership. Scrutinizing them now is vital not only for clarity about the past. It also makes possible a clear focus on ways to prevent further catastrophe. Here’s the actual history that corporate Democrats pretend didn’t happen: 2016: Hillary Clinton offers more of the status quo. Her allies in the Democratic Party pull out all the stops so she can win the party’s presidential nomination. With a big assist from the Democratic National Committee, she prevails over the strong primary challenge from Bernie Sanders, but her campaign trail goes downhill from there.” (12/09/25)
