“The public’s confidence in higher education is falling rapidly. The share of the public that has confidence in higher education declined from 57% in 2015 to 38% in 2026. As colleges and their advocates try to win back the public’s confidence, one of their strongest arguments is that college is worth it for both students and for the country broadly. While it is true that a college education generally pays off for the typical student, there are a few problems with this view. The biggest, and most obvious, problem to note is that there are many predictable cases in which college is not worth it from a financial perspective.” (08/21/26)
“New Yorkers who pay close attention to such things have long understood why Gov. Hochul deserves her reputation for being the Waffler-In-Chief. Time and again, she’s revealed herself to be the consummate weather vane, shifting her stance on important matters depending on which way the wind is blowing. For novices interested in seeing a prime example, I recommend an article about an interview the governor gave last week to The New York Times. True to the Gray Lady’s political tilt to the left, the resulting article is puffery to the extreme. So, too, is a longer Saturday article where the paper goes to great lengths to separate Hochul from City Hall’s nasty and incompetent roll-out of the pied-à-terre tax.” (08/22/26)
“The Trump-connected Polymarket is likely helping gamblers with inside military information cash in on wars the president wages. According to Reuters, a report by the Anti-Corruption Data Collective found that 152 ‘exceptionally successful’ Polymarket wallets otherwise known as ‘Orcas’ may have traded on inside military information to place high-stakes bets on critical U.S. defense operations, including the June 2025 attacks on Iran. According to the non-profit research group, these wallets had a 97.2% success rate and won $8 million collectively. President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., is an adviser for Polymarket. 1789 Capital, his venture capital firm, invested in the platform soon after it was founded. Moreover, Trump Jr. and his brother, Eric Trump, continue to profit from defense industry investments as the war with Iran continues.” (08/21/26)
“During the French Revolution, authorities in Paris turned to ‘a series of ventures in price-fixing and food control’ to ensure people did not go hungry. It didn’t work as planned.” (08/21/26)
“When Hayek was writing, the air was filled with the poisonous creed that, with individual freedom obsolete, central planning of society was the future. The wise ones understood that collectivism was the order of the new day and that no one could be allowed to thwart the leader or ‘the people.’ Fewer and fewer people were aware of what was being lost: a civilization marked by a custom-shattering, liberating individualism that brought commerce, innovation, and progress without a single imposed plan.” (08/21/26)
“If the Democrats’ brash Senate nominee in Michigan believes only the good polls and not the bad, he may wrongly conclude he need not adjust to woo swing voters.” (08/21/26)
“One presidency was just not enough for Donald Trump. But what will he be remembered as? It is possible that his tombstone will have a forty-something on it, but the ‘th’ may very well stand for ‘trillionth’ — for under his watch the public debt of the federal government rolled over on Wednesday, past $40 trillion. I remember when people held signs up emblazoned with ‘No Trillion Dollar Debt!’ How ‘forty years ago’ is that?” (08/21/26)
“Until this week’s Florida primary, corporate and AIPAC Democrats could comfort themselves with the belief that the surge of democratic socialists was largely limited to a few big cities and college towns. But then DSA member Angie Nixon, a three-term state rep from Jacksonville, trounced the impeccably credentialed centrist Alex Vindman by 12 points. Vindman, with heavy AIPAC and corporate support, had outraised Nixon 19-to-1, having a war chest of more than $16 million compared to Nixon’s less than a million. Nixon’s victory was so improbable that she was not even on the radar of DSA, which did not bother to endorse her. … Expecting to cruise to victory in the primary, Vindman did not deign to campaign, saving his war chest for the general election.” (08/21/26)
Source: The American Conservative
by Leonid Ragozin
“As the liberal Yabloko party got dropped from the ballot, a chorus of analysts came up with predictable claims that Putin increasingly fears his own people. Ukrainian deep strikes and Western sanctions, the story goes, have forced him to tighten the screws to try to prevent social unrest. Also predictably, another story in the hackneyed ‘Russia is finished’ genre is making headlines: Russia’s major state-run bank VEB has fired its chief economist Andrey Klepach for making dark predictions of the country’s future. One can only pity the professional doomsayers for the shortage of really inspiring stories as they try—for the umpteenth time—to sell the idea that Ukraine should suffer for just a little while longer in hopes of Russian collapse.” (08/21/26)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Ryan Devine
“Azalea Fresh Market opened last September to address a growing demand for a grocery store in downtown Atlanta. Its opening was the result of a partnership between the City of Atlanta, the Independent Grocers Alliance, and a successful local mini-grocery store chain, Savi Provisions. With no major grocery company inclined to open a location in the downtown area, the City of Atlanta managed to contribute roughly $8 million in cash, loans, and grants to provide the infrastructure needed to help open the business …. Given the intent behind the establishment of this store, it’s difficult to imagine why it’s gaining so much praise from advocates for Zohran Mamdani’s proposed government-owned markets. Mamdani’s goal isn’t to target food deserts; he aims to outprice private grocers in areas where supply is abundant because he’s convinced that businesses are price-gouging consumers.” (08/20/26)
