Source: The American Conservative
“Andrew Day and Luke Nicastro discuss the Trump-Putin diesel deal, the Trump-Zelensky spat, the ‘energy ceasefire’ that wasn’t, Ukraine’s grim prospects this winter, and a new book on progressive foreign policy edited by Matt Duss, A World for All.” (10/16/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/tac-right-now-trump-turns-on-zelensky/
Source: The Daily Economy
by David Hebert
“Nobel laureates helped explain how expectations shape spending decisions, inflation, and the effectiveness of economic policy. Yes, that feels obvious.” (10/16/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/expectations-matter-this-years-economics-nobel-explains-why/
Source: Exiled Policy
by Jason Pye
“A religious undecided voter questioned James Talarico on abortion.” (10/16/26)
https://exiledpolicy.substack.com/p/the-bible-doesnt-prohibit-abortion
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“An 80m (263ft) luxury vessel has been repeatedly spotted in satellite images off North Korea’s Wonsan coast from July to mid-October this year. What stands out is the 50m swimming pool along the deck, with a cluster of waterslides at one end. After sitting idle for months at a maintenance facility, it relocated in early July to waters off a strip of coastline known as the Kalma Peninsula. This is close to Wonsan, a seaside resort with a sprawling villa used by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his family. It was not the only large vessel on the move. A handful of others were also repeatedly seen near Kim’s villa, in satellite images analysed by the BBC. The vessels are widely believed to be used by Kim and his family.” (10/17/26)
Source: The Dispatch
“Our Populist Hissy Fit Needs to Stop | Ruminant.” (10/17/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/remnant/our-populist-hissy-fit-needs-to-stop-ruminant/
Source: Law & Liberty
by Jon Miltimore
“An intelligent, attractive former student commits a ghastly murder, reasoning that he is doing society a favor by ridding the world of a greedy capitalist. He is eventually taken into custody by authorities, jailed, and tried. This scenario does not describe Luigi Mangione, the affluent 28-year-old who recently admitted to killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in 2024 in an apparent message to the health-insurance industry. The tale is far older: it describes Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, the protagonist of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s nineteenth-century masterpiece Crime and Punishment.” (10/16/26)
Source: The American Prospect
by Robert Kuttner
“On Wednesday, the Consumer Price Index for September came in hotter than expected. Inflation was up at an annual rate of 3.7 percent. Gasoline prices rose 34 percent over the past year, and home heating oil is up a staggering 74 percent. Combined with other factors, this news spooked the stock market. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell by 2.7 percent. Then on Thursday, the Producer Price Index (PPI) report clocked a wholesale price rise of 1.3 percent just in September, an increase of 6.3 percent over the past year, and the largest 12-month increase since December 2022. The other factors signaling deep trouble include a bond market that keeps bidding up rates on long-term Treasury securities, now the highest since 2002, reflecting expectations of more inflation, and increasing interest costs throughout the economy. This in turn adds to consumer and small-business pain and increases borrowing costs for the heavily leveraged tech sector.” (10/16/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/10/16/perfect-economic-storm-trump-inflation/
Source: NBC News
“Pope Leo XIV was discharged from the hospital on Saturday after undergoing surgery for lung cancer, with his surgeon saying he could be fully recovered in about 10 days. Dr. Stefano Margaritora told Vatican News there were ‘no clinical reasons’ preventing the pontiff from making his planned trip to Latin America next month. The pontiff, who had been recovering at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital since Tuesday, walked out unaided before spending a couple of minutes speaking with well-wishers. He appeared to accept a gift of a homemade smiling Pope figure before getting in a car and being driven back to the Vatican.” (10/17/26)
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Bombs, Backroom Deals & Blowback, Trump’s Iran Gamble and Kushner’s Private Diplomacy.” (10/16/26)
Source: Independent Institute
by Alex Tokarev & Kristin Tokarev
“Everyone knows the math is getting worse. Americans are living longer. Birth rates are falling. Fewer workers are supporting more retirees. The Social Security trustees project the program’s trust funds will be depleted in the early 2030s, leaving payroll taxes insufficient to pay all scheduled benefits unless Congress acts. Yet every election brings the same warning: Don’t touch my Social Security! That’s why President Donald Trump’s reported interest in Australia’s retirement system matters. Not because Australia has discovered the silver bullet for that fiscal monster. Because someone in Washington is finally asking whether a retirement system designed during the Great Depression is still the best America can do in the 21st century.” (10/16/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/10/16/the-third-rail-is-dead/