The Fed’s Overton Window Is Shifting
Source: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
by David Beckworth
“From supply-driven reserves to demand-driven liquidity.” (04/08/26)
https://macroeconomicpolicynexus.substack.com/p/the-feds-overton-window-is-shifting
Category: Opinion
A casket cartel tries to bury the competition
Source: Washington Post
by George F Will
“In the town of Calvin, the married couple Candi Mentink and Todd Collard conceived an entrepreneurial idea that their state’s law says is forbidden. They sell inexpensive caskets wrapped in vinyl graphic designs depicting hunting, fishing, religious motifs, sports teams’ logos, perhaps even the likeness of famous Oklahomans. Imagine whiling away eternity in a Mickey Mantle casket. Heavenly. Thanks to the internet, they can sell caskets to people in Orlando or Ottawa or Oslo or Okinawa. But not Oklahoma, as they learned when the law, in its majesty, pounced on their company’s booth at the state fair.” (04/08/26)
Digital Hopes, Real Power: How the Arab Spring Fueled a Global Surveillance Boom
Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation
by Sarah Hamid
“When people remember the 2011 uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), they picture crowded squares, raised phones, and the feeling that the internet had finally shifted the balance of power toward ordinary people. But the past decade and a half is also a story about how governments, companies, and platforms turned those same tools into the backbone of a powerful state surveillance apparatus. For activists, journalists, and everyday users, that means now living with a constant threat: the phone in your pocket, the platforms you organize on, and the systems you rely on for safety and connection can be weaponized at the flip of a switch.” (04/08/26)
No 4D Chess: War With Iran Helps China
Source: The American Conservative
by Liam Childers
“We’ve heard it all before. Pro-war MAGA commentators insist that every move President Donald Trump makes is a strategic masterstroke. The war with Iran is no exception. What appears to be a Middle Eastern quagmire in the making is not a blunder at all. Instead, this war is ‘really’ about China. Another oil shock is nothing to worry about. It is ‘really’ leverage against America’s ‘main rival.’ Another open-ended entanglement is not overextension. It is ‘really’ the opening act of a coherent Indo-Pacific strategy that the ‘America Lasters’ are too daft to understand. This is the 4D chess defense of the Iran war. It is also nonsense, cooked up by propagandists and consumed by those eager to believe Trump hasn’t betrayed his base.” (04/08/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/no-4d-chess-war-with-iran-helps-china/
An Unlikely (and Unstable) Ceasefire Deal and Trump’s Iran Blunder
Source: Common Dreams
by Trita Parsi
“Yesterday began with Donald Trump issuing genocidal threats against Iran on social media and ended (just ten hours later) with the announcement of a 14-day ceasefire, on Iran’s terms. Even by the volatile standards of Trump’s presidency, the whiplash is extraordinary. What, then, have the two sides actually agreed to, and what might it mean? In a subsequent post, Trump asserted that Iran had agreed to keep the Strait of Hormuz open during the two-week pause in hostilities. Negotiations, he added, will proceed over that period on the basis of Iran’s 10-point plan, which he described as a ‘workable’ foundation for talks. … The United States has not, of course, signed on to all ten points. But the mere fact that Iran’s framework will anchor the negotiations amounts to a significant diplomatic victory for Tehran.” (04/08/26)
A ceasefire on Iran’s terms underscores war’s strategic blunder
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Trita Parsi
“Trump’s failed use of force has blunted the credibility of American military threats, introducing an entirely new dynamic into the diplomatic track.” (04/08/26)
Why Keynes Would Have Feared AI — and Why We Shouldn’t
Source: The Daily Economy
by Michael N Peterson
“The economist who predicted abundance also worried about displacement. He was only half right.” (04/08/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/why-keynes-would-have-feared-ai-and-why-we-shouldnt/
When America Becomes Its President
Source: CounterPunch
by Peter Bach
“At some point—and I can’t quite say when—it has become harder, at least from this side of the Atlantic, to separate our image of Donald Trump from the United States itself. The two have begun to blur in ways that feel new, and, frankly, unsettling. Until recently, I tried to be careful about this. I love my American friends. And it’s worth saying very plainly that millions of Americans continue to oppose these policies, often loudly and at great personal cost. Any criticism here is directed at decisions made in power, not at the people who live with their consequences. … However, as the consequences of Trump’s leadership continue to play out—not only in the Middle East but across much of Europe—that distinction has come under real strain.” (04/08/26)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/04/08/when-america-becomes-its-president/
A Coalition for Abundance
Source: Law & Liberty
by Nathan Smith
“The Building Chips in America Act (2024) offers a glimpse of a possible modus operandi for a liberal abundance coalition. By exempting semiconductor fabs funded under the CHIPS and Science Act (2022) from some NEPA reviews, Congress cleared a major obstacle that had threatened to derail a factory investment boom. Industrial policy — planning as accelerator — overrode stultifying environmental protectionism — planning as brake. The modest precedent might become a template for using industrial policy as a crowbar for deregulation.” (04/08/26)
The War Will End With a Hormuz Toll Booth
Source: Foreign Policy
by Amir Handjani
“Most of Tehran’s demands to end the war are maximalist, as are Washington’s right now. One of Iran’s demands may be achievable if structured correctly: the right to operate the Strait of Hormuz as a tolled waterway, in formal partnership with Oman. This is not a fantasy. Iran’s parliament is already debating legislation to collect transit fees from ships passing through the world’s single-most important maritime chokepoint. Since mid-March, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has turned the strait into a de facto toll booth, collecting fees in exchange for safe passage. … it’s difficult to imagine any situation short of the Islamic Republic’s collapse whereby Tehran doesn’t retain some form of control of the Strait as an insurance policy against persistent U.S. and Israeli attacks in the future.” (04/07/26)