Source: In These Times
by Alex Han

“The Left in the United States is arguably at a point of greater political power today than at almost any time in the past century. More than 100 open socialists hold office across the country, from Tacoma, Wash., to St. Petersburg, Fla., from school boards to the halls of Congress. But no advance comes without a counterattack, and the same context that has opened the space for a resurgent Left over the past decade also holds the conditions that could close that space for a generation. We look back at the post-war era as the moment that created the modern world order, and the deep contradictions involved then are reasserting themselves as we travel into uncertain times — with new economies and politics buttressed by broken institutions on a crumbling foundation.” (04/16/24)

https://inthesetimes.com/article/political-coalition-left-win-war-protest

Source: EconLog
by Pierre Lemieux

“Economic models of cooperation and conflict are often based on the Prisoner’s Dilemma (PD) of game theory. As simple as this model is, it helps us understand whether or not a war will be fought, where ‘fought’ includes escalation steps through retaliation –the current situation between the government of Israël and the government of Iran.” (04/17/24)

https://www.econlib.org/prisoners-dilemma-a-simple-model-of-war/

Source: Cato Institute
by Norbert Michel

“Last week the U.S. House reauthorized Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, continuing a controversial foreign intelligence collection program. Still, reauthorization took some political arm twisting because several members wanted to add protection against warrantless surveillance under the FISA 702 program. … It’s no surprise that privacy advocates are upset about this reauthorization. But while it’s good to see Congress at least debating these issues during the Section 702 reauthorization, it’s even better to see the House Judiciary Committee recognizing how the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 enables warrantless searches of Americans’ financial records. The BSA is an even bigger threat to the Fourth Amendment.” (04/17/24)

https://www.cato.org/commentary/bank-secrecy-act-bigger-threat-fisa

Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by Donald J Boudreaux

“It’s understandable to think that, if the enlistees in America’s military come disproportionately from lower-income groups, the all-volunteer nature of the military results in lower-income individuals bearing a disproportionate share of the burden of providing America’s military services. It’s understandable, too, to suppose that conscription would spread this burden more equally across income groups. But economics reveals that this way of thinking is mistaken. The most equitable and just sharing of the burden of America’s military is assured by its all-volunteer nature, and that conscription would be inequitable and unjust.” (04/17/24)

https://www.aier.org/article/the-justice-of-an-all-volunteer-military/