Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Peter Jacobsen
“Democrat lawmakers have been rallying behind a simple slogan in opposition to DOGE (the ‘Department of Government Efficiency’): ‘Nobody elected Elon.’ The slogan might be convincing if the irony behind the statement weren’t so apparent. Much of the consternation surrounding DOGE has been due to Elon Musk’s involvement in downsizing federal bureaucracies such as USAID. But if this criticism (that nobody elected Elon) were applied to all bureaucrats, all the agencies Musk is targeting would be closed already.” (03/31/25)
“Earlier this month, Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner introduced a resolution threatening to cancel the O Cinema’s lease. The theater’s crime? Showing No Other Land, a documentary about the Israeli occupation of Palestinian villages in the West Bank. … Many libertarians would argue that no cultural institution should receive taxpayer funding, especially when such funding will inevitably be used to promote viewpoints that some segments of the taxpaying public will disagree with. That argument would hold water if Meiner’s opposition were rooted in a belief that taxpayer-funded entities should not be permitted to exhibit any documentaries that contain politically sensitive content. Unfortunately, Meiner only appears to care about profligate government expenditures when they manage to inconvenience Israel.” (03/31/25)
“President Donald Trump is clearly worried about the security of the Arctic. Most obviously, he has made numerous controversial statements about the need for the United States to have control over Greenland. Similar comments about Canada bespeak his underlying concern: Neither Greenland nor Canada is being vigilant enough about the threats facing them. Those threats are widely acknowledged. As a warming world makes the Arctic more navigable, Russia and China are seeking to take advantage. The Trump administration underlined its seriousness by sending Vice President JD Vance to an American air base in Greenland last week. In a different context, such demands for accountability are already driving change. In February, Mr. Vance made a similar trip to Europe, delivering rebukes. Europe has since taken dramatic steps to reimagine its security structure and free itself from dependence on the U.S.” (03/31/25)
“The news of Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest surprised me. It’s not that I doubted the former leader of the Philippines was guilty of the horrific crimes detailed in his International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant. Duterte himself boasted quite openly of the mass killings he’s been accused of. But I always thought that the prospects of bringing that brutal, outspoken politician to justice were remote indeed. After all, Duterte’s daughter Sara is currently the vice president of the Philippines and that country is no longer a member of the ICC. On top of that, Duterte himself was so sure of his immunity that he was running for mayor of the city of Davao. In mid-March, after returning from campaigning in the Filipino community in Hong Kong, he suffered the indignity of being arrested in his own country.” (03/30/25)
Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman
“A variety of different things have been used for money in the past, are being used now. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the alternatives? What, at present, would be the best form of money?” (03/31/25)
“For a man who hates academia, Donald Trump has had a revolutionary impact on political science. He’s rendered libraries of doctoral theses irrelevant by reducing the discipline to one phrase: Plata o Plomo. Silver or lead — bribe or bullet — has long been the motto of Colombian drug lords. That bared truth exposes the enormity of our challenge and, perhaps, our path to overcome it. Silver or lead, money or force. In American politics today, those are the only things that matter. There’s nothing novel in money shaping politics. What’s new is that you can buy the government for pennies on the dollar with enough cash — and (crucially) a ruthless will to deploy it as a weapon. The difference between Trump 1.0 and Trump 2.0 is the introduction of Elon Musk, the wealthiest human in the universe.” (03/31/25)
“Before President Trump even took office in January, his personal envoy delivered an unlikely win. Since last spring, President Biden’s diplomats had been unable to get Israel and Hamas to agree to a cease-fire. But Trump’s man, real estate billionaire Steve Witkoff, joined the Biden team’s effort weeks before the inauguration. Witkoff put immense pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reportedly saying that his relationship with the incoming American president depended on him accepting the deal. After a 96-hour marathon of talks in Qatar, Witkoff clinched a cease-fire and hostage exchange. In so doing, Trump appeared to make good on his robust outreach to Arab and Muslim voters, who had helped him carry swing states.” (03/31/25)
“The U.S. government is one of the only ones in the world that routinely threatens other states with illegal punitive military action. Americans have become so accustomed to hearing these threats from our leaders that many of us can forget how insane and outrageous this behavior is. If any other major power made threats like this against smaller countries, our government would be among the first to denounce them as aggressors. It can’t be stressed enough that any U.S. attack on Iran would be illegitimate and unjustified. As a matter of international law, even the threat to use force against another state is a breach of the U.N. Charter. Using force when it is not in self-defense is a flagrant violation of international law. No one honestly believes that the U.S. would be defending itself if it bombed Iran.” (03/31/25)
“President Donald Trump isn’t the first U.S. leader to contemplate annexing Canada, though he may be the first to take the idea seriously in a long time — if he is serious. The ’51st state’ comments and maps of a unified North America could be an elaborate joke with no obvious punchline. If it’s a joke, Canadians aren’t amused; they’re upset and making plans to defend their country against a hostile takeover. Standing in the way, though, is their country’s pathetic excuse for a military, and the severe restrictions, relative to the U.S., that Canada’s government imposes on private weapons needed to resist an invasion. If they’re to avoid becoming Americans, Canadians need to become a little more American.” (03/31/25)
