ICE’s Private Prison Contractors Spent Millions Lobbying to Force Banks to Give Them Loans

Source: The Intercept
by Biplob Kumar Das
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“Some of the largest banks in the nation for years have eschewed the business of private prison giants like GEO Group and CoreCivic, the two firms that operate more than half the private carceral facilities in the country, including many U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers. … Now, the private prison firms are fighting back, spending millions on lobbying Congress to pass a law to require that the banks can’t deny their business.” (02/05/26)

https://theintercept.com/2026/02/05/private-prison-corecivic-geo-group-ice-bank-loan/

Thomas L. Knapp

The killing nature of inflation

Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathan Barton

“Inflation is indeed a killer. It is only the incredible productivity of even our badly-perverted and severely-damaged free market economy that makes a Quarter-pounder meal cost ‘only’ somewhere between $9.00 and $12.00 (well, FRNs). Plus sales tax, as government rip us off for another 6-10% (between 54 cents and a dollar-twenty more). We can count our blessings that we are only paying TEN times what that same food cost a half-century ago.” (02/05/26)

https://thepriceofliberty.org/2026/02/05/the-killing-nature-of-inflation/

Thomas L. Knapp

Europe’s future pivots on a Hungarian election

Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff

“A recent rise in anti-corruption movements in Europe has upended politics from Serbia to Bulgaria to Romania. Now, one of the continent’s most entrenched leaders, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary, faces a serious challenge this April in a parliamentary election that could be determined by what one commentator calls a public ‘yearning for integrity’. For the European Union, too, the stakes in the election are high. Mr. Orbán and his ruling populist conservative party, Fidesz, have often obstructed the 27-member bloc in helping Ukraine and countering Russia. The EU has also held back funds for Budapest over its shrinking rule of law. After nearly 16 years in power, Mr. Orbán has left Hungary with the lowest household living standards in the EU. The country of 9.6 million people has experienced three years of economic stagnation.” (02/03/25)

https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/0203/Europe-s-future-pivots-on-a-Hungarian-election

Steve Trinward

How to evaluate state pro-housing policies: Mind the empirical pitfalls

Source: Niskanen Center
by Jenny Schuetz

“State and local policymakers urgently need to know how well pro-housing policies are achieving their underlying goals. Have they resulted in higher quantities of new construction, especially in targeted locations and structure types? Have development timelines been shortened, yielding cost savings for new homes? Are there spillover effects on the rents and prices of existing homes, or other changes in key housing market outcomes, such as vacancy rates?” (02/05/26)

https://www.niskanencenter.org/how-to-evaluate-state-pro-housing-policies-mind-the-empirical-pitfalls/

Thomas L. Knapp