Source: Free Talk Live
“Patri Friedman joins Sal and Mark this week for a wide ranging conversation about the Free Cities movement, charter cities, and why special autonomous zones may be the most practical path to freedom in the modern world.” (08/21/26)
Source: Cato Institute
by Andrew Gillen
“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)
https://www.cato.org/commentary/140-billion-public-college-myth
Source: New York Post
by Michael Goodwin
“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)
Source: Fox News
“A federal judge struck down the Trump administration’s freeze on immigrant visas from 75 countries Friday, ruling Secretary of State Marco Rubio lacked the legal authority to order denials for applicants otherwise found eligible to enter the United States. U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas, a Biden appointee in Manhattan, vacated the State Department policy and any visa refusals based solely on it, directing the government to revisit those cases. ‘The Court holds that the Policy is contrary to law and was issued in excess of Secretary Rubio’s statutory authority,’ Vargas wrote in her 61-page opinion.” (08/22/26)
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Stavroula Pabst
“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)
Source: The Daily Economy
by Daniel J Smith
“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)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/when-paris-went-hungry-under-government-food-controls/
Source: Engadget
“Uber has allegedly violated the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) again, but this time to the tune of a 824.9 million euro, or $966 million, fine. The Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (AP), or the Dutch Data Protection Authority, hit Uber with the massive fine, accusing the company of automatically deactivating driver accounts between 2018 and 2022 without human intervention. According to the Dutch regulatory agency, Uber has deprived its drivers of income through fully automated decisions, violating the GDPR in the process.” [editor’s note: Even if there was anything improper about that, note the word “fine.” It’s not restitution to the supposedly wronged drivers, it’s just bureaucrats demanding a huge bribe – TLK] (08/22/26)
Source: Washington Post
“Host Megan McArdle talks with UCLA sociologist Gabriel Rossman about scandal, status and public shaming.” (08/21/26)
Source: Fre Association
by Sheldon Richman
“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)
https://sheldonrichman.substack.com/p/tgif-hayek-and-the-road-abandoned
Source: Washington Monthly
by Bill Scher
“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)
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2026/08/21/el-sayed-may-be-winning-but-he-should-run-like-hes-losing/