Source: The Hill
by Adam Brandon

“The 1970s are back, as are fears of an economic recession. With oil prices extremely volatile, major supply chain disruptions in the energy sector, and mixed signals from both the White House and Congress, Americans are preparing for yet another year of inflation. High gas prices are just the beginning of what is almost certainly going to be even more pressure on a struggling middle class. If there’s one thing Wall Street hates, it is uncertainty. And in today’s political climate, neither Republicans nor Democrats are providing reassurance to business leaders or the average American. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has seen enough. In a recent interview with Axios, Dimon suggested that an independent candidate might be needed to fix this dysfunction that we’re living through. Welcome to the independent movement, sir.” [editpr’s note: “Independent,” Dimon presumably means, except of the influence of JPMorgan Chase – TLK] (04/18/26)

https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/5837158-economic-recession-fears-rise/

Source: Caitlin Johnstone
by Caitlin Johnstone

“In our society, we do not push psychopaths off the ice when nobody is looking. In our society, we let them rule the world.” (04/19/26)

https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/04/19/we-should-not-fear-the-tyrants-the-tyrants-should-fear-us/

Source: spiked
by Gawain Towler

“Chartism was a constitutional movement. It operated through petition, through the discipline of the mass meeting, through the moral pressure of demonstrated popular will. The General Convention of the Industrious Classes, called regularly from 1839 onwards, styled itself a parliament of the people, not to overthrow parliament but to remind it of its obligation to the people. When three petitions, each signed by millions, were presented and each contemptuously refused, the movement’s response was not insurrection but reorganisation, continued agitation, education and, eventually, decades later, the slow grinding of history through the machinery of genuine reform. Five of the six Chartist demands are now simply the unremarkable fabric of democratic life: universal suffrage, secret ballot, payment of MPs, no property qualification for membership of parliament and equal electoral districts. The sixth, annual parliaments, we decided against, and probably wisely so.” (04/19/26)

https://archive.is/AUd6U

Source: The UnPopulist
by Lee Drutman

“The dysfunction in American politics runs deeper than the mechanics of nomination contests. The United States operates under an unusually rigid two‑party system that compresses an enormous range of political views into two increasingly polarized coalitions. Adjusting the rules of primaries may change how candidates are nominated, but it does little to change the incentives created by the larger political environment.” (04/18/26)

https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/can-primary-reform-keep-out-extremist

Source: USA Today
by Kris Edney

“The world’s tech leaders – the ones who are driving the AI revolution – insist that people like me are actually the foundation of the technology shaping the future. The numbers prove them right.” (04/19/26)

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2026/04/19/trucker-ai-trades-blue-collar-jobs/89504410007/

Source: EconLog
by Joy Buchanan

“When astronaut Christina Koch, the first woman to fly around the moon, reported an issue from space that could have been copy-pasted from any IT helpdesk ticket, something clicked for Americans. Her grievance? ‘No joy seeing the device in the list of available devices when I attempt to re-pair it after doing the Bluetooth forget.’ Commander Reid Wiseman, orbiting Earth aboard the Artemis II mission, radioed Houston with a problem millions of office workers share: ‘I have two Microsoft Outlooks, and neither one of those are working.’ So much for old ‘one small step for man …’ Internet commentators found these moments painfully relatable and shared them widely. Why did those quotes about tech maintenance go viral in April 2026? Beneath the comedy lies an underappreciated cost of modernity: we are wealthier, and that wealth means we own more things.” (04/17/26)

https://www.econlib.org/econlog/tech-troubleshooting-in-space