Quantum Vibe, 03/09/26
Source: Big Head Press
by Scott Bieser
Cartoon. (03/09/26)
Category: Opinion
Observe the Economic Fallout Six Years Later
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Jeffrey A Tucker
“Many people want to be done with Covid lockdowns as a topic. The trouble is that Covid lockdowns are not done with us. Nothing like this had ever been tried in real life, a forced stoppage of most human activity as it affects the material and social world. The impact would be far reaching, long lasting, and devastation – one of the more significant calamities of modern times. Prevailing economic weakness and resulting stagnation for living standards is only one result. It’s nowhere near over.” (03/09/26)
https://brownstone.org/articles/observe-the-economic-fallout-six-years-later/
A Brief History of America’s Involvement in Iran
Source: The American Prospect
by Naomi Bethune
“Why did President Donald Trump launch Operation Epic Fury? He’s provided a stream of reasons: forcing regime change; destroying Iran’s missile capabilities (to eliminate what he called ‘imminent threats’); ‘annihilating’ the Iranian navy; ensuring that Iran cannot further develop nuclear weapons; and blocking Iran’s support of groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. Regardless of the reason (if one truly exists), such military action is at odds with Trump’s stated ‘America First’ foreign-policy strategy, ostensibly prioritizing unilateralist and noninterventionist behavior. Trump has routinely made a point of withdrawing from prominent international treaties and organizations (the Paris climate accords and North American Free Trade Agreement) in an effort to isolate American interests. Why, then, did Trump join Israel in going to war with Iran? What can history tell us about the possible outcomes of this decision?” (03/09/26)
Today’s “Arrogance of Power” meets the ghost of J. William Fulbright
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Gregory Daddis
“The Arkansas senator’s words warning against the perils of Washington’s ‘war fever’ in 1966 are more prescient than ever. Are we listening?” (03/09/26)
The Real Threat Is Artificial Credit, Not Artificial Intelligence
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by George Ford Smith
“Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming one of the most capital-intensive industries in history. Consider: Semiconductor fabrication plants cost tens of billions of dollars. Massive data centers consume extraordinary amounts of electricity, sending power bills soaring. Specialized engineering talent commands premium wages. (Although the median salary for an AI professional is $160K annually, the top 1 percent of AI researchers receive compensation packages exceeding $1 million). Global supply chains must coordinate rare materials, precision manufacturing, and complex infrastructure. Yet discussions about artificial intelligence almost never address the most important economic variable shaping its development: money. From an Austrian perspective, the future of artificial intelligence ties directly to the monetary system that finances it. Whether AI produces sustainable prosperity or another boom-bust cycle depends less on algorithms than on interest rates.” (03/09/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/real-threat-artificial-credit-not-artificial-intelligence
Happy Birthday, Wealth of Nations
Source: EconLog
by Jane Bufton
“Today marks the 250th anniversary of the publication of Adam Smith‘s An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations on March 9, 1776. Wealth of Nations remains a remarkable book, not only establishing Adam Smith as ‘the father of economics’ but laying a part of the foundation for liberal political theory.” (03/09/26)
https://www.econlib.org/econlog/happy-birthday-wealth-of-nations
US and Iran Were Close to a Deal Before Trump Chose War
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ted Snider
“Iran has an ‘inalienable right’ to enrich uranium for civilian use, Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, told the U.S. delegation with frustration in the final round of talks before the bombs started to fall on Iran. And the U.S. has an ‘inalienable right’ to stop you, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff answered with hubris. Araghchi is right, and Witkoff is wrong. The U.S. and its partners have presented the public with a war that was caused by Iran’s refusal to compromise on its civilian nuclear program; however, as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran has ‘the inalienable right to a civilian program that uses nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.'” (03/09/26)
The Epstein files are off the front page, but far from yesterday’s news
Source: Los Angeles Times
by Robin Abcarian
“I’m not saying definitively that going to war against Iran when there was no imminent threat is President Trump’s way of distracting attention from the case of Jeffrey Epstein and his voluminous, sordid, incriminating files. Then again, I’m not not saying it. We certainly know that Trump has mused in the past about invading Iran as a plausible response by an American president to his own domestic troubles. … Has the president achieved his presumed objective of knocking the Epstein files off the front page? Not exactly. They may have moved below the fold, as we say in the newspaper biz, but the Epstein scandal is alive and well, jamming the courts, occupying Congressional committees, sparking investigations in at least eight countries and toppling various ‘important’ people.” (03/08/26)
The myth of the billionaire wealth tax
Source: Washington Post
by Megan McArdle
“The problem with government spending is that you have to pay for it. New programs often poll well when you tell people about the benefits. Mention raising taxes, however, and it’s a whole different story. But what if you didn’t have to tax reluctant voters to fund your big ideas? I mean, Elon Musk is sitting on somewhere north of $670 billion. If the government took just 5 percent of that, it would have almost $34 billion to spend on health care and child care and green energy, right? And there are almost a thousand other billionaires in the country, so pass that wealth tax and warm up the money cannons! If only it were so easy. … wealth taxes have been tried over and over, and most countries that adopted them eventually abandoned the idea, finding that such taxes were difficult to administer, caused capital flight and raised little revenue.” (03/08/26)
Stop the Harmful Time-Changing Ritual
Source: Town Hall
by Jeff Crouere
“Except for the wise people of Arizona and Hawaii, who have year-round standard time, Americans were once again forced to ‘spring forward’ and lose an hour of sleep on Sunday morning. This practice, known as daylight saving time, gives Americans more time in the evening to enjoy sunlight. This helps owners of golf courses, tennis courts, and other outdoor entertainment venues. Conversely, it also forces parents to drive their children to school in the dark. With the time change, accidents increase, as do health-related issues. Losing an hour of sleep disrupts our ‘body clocks’. As William Shughart, II writes in the Miami Herald, daylight saving time misaligns ‘our human body clocks with morning sunlight, thereby disrupting circadian rhythms and causing the spikes in heart attacks, strokes, depression and other health problems observed in the days following the one-hour spring and fall time shifts’.” (03/09/26)
https://townhall.com/columnists/jeffcrouere/2026/03/09/stop-the-harmful-time-change-ritual-n2672498