“Among the most common economic justifications for tariffs today is that they’re needed to shrink a U.S. trade deficit that has long cost us jobs and dragged down economic growth. On both the left and the right (including the current occupant of the White House), trade balances — both overall and with specific countries like China or our new mortal enemy, Canada — are treated as a scoreboard for quickly judging the success or failure of U.S. trade policy and globalization more broadly. And seemingly every time the government releases the latest trade balance figures, at least one business journalist — and usually many more — will earnestly write that the U.S. trade deficit ‘improved’ (shrunk) or ‘worsened’ (increased), and that the deficit is a drag on economic growth. Yet little that I just wrote is actually correct.” (03/13/25)
“Some days it seems like oligarchy is inevitable. But as we enter the Age of Complexity and decentralization, the Iron Law might be bent or broken.” (03/13/25)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Fabricio Antezana Duran
“When thinking about Latin America, most people immediately think of its giants: Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Colombia. Big cultures, big economies, and a notable presence in international affairs. But a new player has been making increasingly prominent appearances on the global stage: Paraguay. This small, landlocked country of nearly seven million people, located in the heart of South America, has historically been overlooked in international economics and diplomacy. Yet, despite its size and relative obscurity, Paraguay is beginning to crack the formula for economic success.” (03/13/25)
“United Nations-backed human rights experts on Thursday accused Israel of ‘the systematic use of sexual, reproductive and other gender-based violence’ in its war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. … Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at the Human Rights Council, a U.N.-backed body that commissioned the team of independent experts, as an ‘anti-Israel circus’ that has ‘long been exposed as an antisemitic, rotten, terrorist-supporting, and irrelevant body.’ His statement did not address the findings themselves. The findings by the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which seeks to document in minute detail the allegations and evidence of crimes to bolster accountability for perpetrators, could be used by prosecutors at the International Criminal Court or in other jurisdictions to try to bring justice to victims and their relatives.” (03/13/25)
“Trump was handed a great economy, ‘The Envy of the World,’ according to financial media. His trade war, lack of coherent economic policy and perhaps low interest in governing when cameras aren’t present have investors close to panic. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost more than 2,000 points since Election Day. Consumer confidence just scored its largest decline since August 2021. Americans are falling behind on car payments at the highest rate in more than 30 years. Inflation and employment numbers have gone wobbly, and the U.S. dollar is losing value. (By the way, the Russian stock market is doing splendidly as are the European bourses.)” (03/13/25)
“Australia has taken a drastic step, passing a law (and apparently enforcing it) to prevent people under age 16 from using social media. Now, even more are arguing that DC needs to also enact such a law. For the entire Fifty States and territories. Not much has been published about this in the past six or so weeks, or since the new regime started taking over DC. But it has been reported that twelve States so far have restricted teen access to social media and many more have seen legislation introduced to do so. Three States’ legislation have been blocked by courts. The most recent (reported on WTVR-TV) is Virginia, where lawmakers have passed a bill limiting social media use for those under age 16.” (03/13/25)
Source: Center on Budget & Policy Procedures
by Will Fischer
“A record number of people are struggling to afford housing, and leaders from across the political spectrum have called for action. But the Trump Administration, including Elon Musk and the ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ (DOGE) has taken one step after another that will undermine the most effective policies to help people afford housing, including cutting Housing and Urban Development (HUD) staff, withholding urgently needed funds, and making harmful policy changes. In 2023, 24 million people lived in low-income households that paid over half their income in rent, forcing them to shift money away from other basic needs and often leaving them one setback away from eviction. In January 2024, 770,000 people across the country (an all-time high) couldn’t afford housing at all and were forced to live in shelters, cars, tents, or other unsafe and unstable circumstances.” (03/13/25)
“We suggest that without the preceding increases in money supply, all other things being equal, there cannot be general increase in prices, which is labelled by popular thinking as inflation.” (03/13/25)
“Mahmoud Khalil’s arrest is a cut-and-dry free speech issue that makes two things clear. First, the Right was always disingenuous when it claimed to care about free speech. Second, the Left should never have ceded the issue.” (03/13/25)
“Dexter Filkins did the world a disservice when he coined the term ‘Forever War’ for the wars I fought in — Iraq, Afghanistan, the Global War on Terror. The real forever war has been going on for half a century, ever since President Nixon signed the Substance Control Act in 1971, and it shows no signs of stopping. Over the decades, Democrats and Republicans came together to spend more than a trillion dollars — and probably much more — enforcing prohibitions on a wide range of psychoactive chemicals. … Despite the time and resources invested in the drug war, Americans continue to seek illegal drugs. The statistics are alarming: Half of Americans older than 12 have used illicit drugs, and some 700,000 Americans have died from overdoses since 2000. Now President Trump and his national security team are doubling down.” (03/13/25)
