Source: Niskanen Center
by Grace Olson

“Severe weather events now cause billions in damages annually, while electricity demand is on the rise — driven by economic growth and the expansion of artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing. Building resilient, modern infrastructure will be essential for maintaining global competitiveness, ensuring affordability and reliability, and supporting a growing domestic economy. Yet even as our capacity to build the economic and technical infrastructure we need has stalled, we are also losing much of the natural infrastructure we depend on.” (02/26/26)

https://www.niskanencenter.org/we-can-build-infrastructure-and-habitat-at-the-same-time

Source: Foreign Policy In Focus
by John Feffer

“The Supreme Court’s decision is clear. The president did not have the authority to impose most of his tariffs. President Donald Trump argued that, under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, his actions were justified because of a national emergency caused by a foreign threat. In the 6-3 ruling, the court said that, on the contrary, that act provides Congress with that authority, which hadn’t delegated it to the president. The tariffs left standing are largely by sector: cars, semiconductors, steel. Trump, like the infamous honey badger, don’t care. The president immediately insulted the six justices who ruled against him, calling them ‘disloyal’, ‘unpatriotic’ and ‘lapdogs… for the radical left Democrats’. Then he turned around and reimposed a global 15% tariff rate.” (02/26/26)

https://fpif.org/the-silver-lining-behind-trumps-tariff-tantrum/

Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Jake Scott

“In the wake of Japan’s early general election on February 8, 2026, much of the commentary has focused on two major aspects: the landslide victory of Sanae Takaichi’s Jiyū-Minshutō (Liberal Democrat Party, LDP) of 316 seats; and LDP’s hardline shift against immigration and foreign workers. Underdiscussed, however, are the likely impacts the election outcome has on Japan’s economic fortunes.” (02/26/26)

https://fee.org/articles/japans-economic-plan/

Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Ben Armbruster

“Trump administration officials are apparently aware that Americans do not want to go to war with Iran. Indeed, poll after poll (after poll) shows that voters have no interest in starting another Middle East conflict, let alone embarking on an Iraq war-style regime change operation. But the White House is working on ways around that. Trump officials’ latest thinking, according to a new report from Politico, is to have the Israelis attack Iran first and hope the Iranian retaliation targets U.S. forces in the region, which, in turn the theory apparently goes, Americans back home would be more supportive of a U.S. counterstrike in defense of U.S. troops.” (02/26/26)

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/trump-iran-attack-americans/

Source: Eunomia
by Daniel Larison

“Iran may be willing to accept a new nonproliferation agreement with limits far beyond what the Non-Proliferation Treaty requires, but it is not going to accept those limits indefinitely. You can have significant limitations on Iran’s nuclear program for a certain period of time, but you are never going to get those limitations made permanent. Smart negotiators would understand that and adjust accordingly. The U.S. has Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner instead.” (02/26/26)

https://daniellarison.substack.com/p/the-presidents-stupid-and-unrealistic