Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Kevin Van Elswyk

“Pikachu is a yellow mouse and the internationally-recognized mascot of the Pokémon Franchise. Pokémon’s beginning was a game and disconnected (‘Pocket Monsters’) playing cards decades ago. Over time, it has spawned a TV series, a monopoly game, and a worldwide card collection fever. The tangible cards are now an ersatz currency to reward chore completion, trade for other cards, cash, and bitcoin. Bartering lives, and the card collection fever illustrates Austrian economics.” (07/14/26)

https://mises.org/power-market/pikachus-pokemon-price-information

Source: Fox News
by Liz Peek

“Democrats are lying to voters, claiming to be the party that can deliver ‘affordability.’ Nothing could be farther from the truth. … Democrat-run cities and states are, with few exceptions, the most expensive in the nation. The reasons include pro-labor rules that drive up wages and costs, regulatory overreach that creates hurdles and delays, energy policies that inflate electricity and gasoline bills, and reckless spending, which leads to high taxes. High taxes, another Democrat specialty, inflate the price of everything as they are passed along to the consumer.” (07/14/26)

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/liz-peek-democrats-affordability-scam-collapses-states-they-run

Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Miles Saltiel

“Burnham’s Manchester model is a game of bait and switch. It uses funds obtained from the Public Works Loan Board, an arm of the Treasury, which explicitly declines to look at the uses to which its money is put. Manchester loans these funds on to local projects, also free of arm’s-length scrutiny, in effect using the national credit rating for local projects. This brings to mind other public borrowers who believed that big Daddy would keep them out of trouble (bankers call malarkey of this kind ‘moral hazard’) leading to, eg, Argentine defaults, where provincial profligacy hides behind central guarantees. The Manchester model is not yet a big thing in the UK, but Burnham gives the impression that he believes he’s found the secret sauce.” (07/14/26)

https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/on-the-manchester-model

Source: Washington Monthly
by Anita Jain

“Less than four years after ChatGPT’s debut, we are nowhere near understanding the role AI will play in our lives. Will it be as transformative as the internet? Will it cause mass unemployment? Will the next generation forfeit its capacity to think to AI models? Will we all soon be using AI agents to book our hotels and flights? How to scythe through the bramble? Cory Doctorow, a science fiction novelist and one of our keenest observers of technology, is out with The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI: How to Think About Artificial Intelligence—Before It’s Too Late, a companionable guide to the subject.” (07/14/26)

https://washingtonmonthly.com/2026/07/14/cory-doctorow-is-making-peace-with-ai/

Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff

“Starting this month, a working adult in their mid-30s seeking to upgrade their skills will have access to the same source of federal financial aid that is available to a high school graduate heading off to a four-year degree institution in the fall. Workforce Pell grants, which went into effect July 1, have the potential to widen the pathway to greater education and economic opportunity for tens of thousands of Americans not able or not ready to pursue a traditional college degree. Until now, these individuals have been limited to their own savings, employer-supported training, or costly loans when seeking to incrementally build their skills and earning prospects. ‘For students who need to be able to access short-term training … [Workforce Pell] really helps open the door for access to higher education, at that bite-size level,’ as Sarah Carrico, an administrator at Saint Paul College in Minnesota, explained to NPR recently.” (07/13/26)

https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/0713/New-federal-aid-honors-innate-aspirations