Immigration, Innovation, and Half-Truths

Source: Bet On It
by Bryan Caplan

“Critics of low-skilled immigration usually lament their effect on low-skilled natives. Once in a while, however, the critics bemoan the effect of low-skilled immigrants on robots. Without low-skilled immigrants, there would be a much stronger incentive to mechanize agriculture, deliveries, driving, gardening, and beyond. Indeed, without low-skilled immigrants, we should expect much faster innovation for a vast range of labor-saving technologies. As J.D. Vance explained earlier this year: ‘[C]heap labor is fundamentally a crutch, and it’s a crutch that inhibits innovation.’ … The argument is correct — and deeply misleading. It’s a technophile’s variant on the classic Broken Window Fallacy.” (11/17/25)

https://www.betonit.ai/p/immigration-innovation-and-half-truths

Bitcoin drops below $90,000

Source: Reuters

“Bitcoin slipped below $90,000 for the first time in seven months on Tuesday in the latest sign that investor appetite for risk-taking is drying up across financial markets. The risk-sensitive cryptocurrency has erased 2025 gains and is now down nearly 30% from a peak above $126,000 in October. It traded down 2% at $89,953 in the Asia afternoon, having collapsed through chart support around $98,000 last week.” (11/18/25)

https://archive.is/TwveV

Trump’s Saudi First Foreign Policy Continues

Source: Eunomia
by Daniel Larison

“Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to Washington is a disgrace, and it is outrageous that he will likely leave with new U.S. pledges of support and more arms deals. The crown prince is a war criminal and a murderer in addtion to being an increasingly repressive despot. He is the de facto leader of one of the world’s worst governments, and he ought to be treated like a pariah. Welcoming him to the White House is an affront to American interests and basic human decency. Trump defined his first term with his abject servility to Saudi and Emirati interests. It seems that he wants to outdo himself in the second term.” (11/17/25)

https://daniellarison.substack.com/p/trumps-saudi-first-foreign-policy

Japan: Regime says warplanes scrambled as Chinese drone detected near southern island close to Taiwan

Source: CBS News

“Japan said Monday that it had scrambled aircraft after detecting a suspected Chinese drone near its southern island of Yonaguni, which is close to Taiwan, on Saturday, as tension between the Asian adversaries spiked. On Sunday, Chinese coast guard vessels spent several hours in Japan’s territorial waters around the disputed Senkaku Islands, known as the Diaoyu in China and a frequent flashpoint, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said. The incidents came amid escalating tension between the neighbors over remarks by Japan’s staunchly conservative new leader, who suggested Tokyo could intervene militarily in any hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan.” (11/17/25)

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/japan-china-tension-taiwan-war-takaichi-intervention/

Ending the trade war would do more to help families than tariff dividend checks

Source: Orange County Register
by Alex Durante

“President Trump began his second term with a trade war, and the sentiment among US workers has been anything but great. Last week, however, the president surprised his cabinet and introduced a new idea: sending out a $2,000 ‘dividend’ check to Americans. Using revenue from the trade war, Trump is proposing the influx of money be put into people’s pockets as well as ‘lower our debt.’ What’s old is new. This isn’t the first time the president has floated sending out checks, and the idea faces countless hurdles were it ever to become law. However, one thing remains certain: sending out tariff rebates does not provide a long-term solution for families, but ending the trade war would.” (11/16/25)

https://archive.is/ZlAU7

Judge pauses release of grand jury material to Comey after magistrate hints at dismissal

Source: CNBC

“A federal judge on Monday paused an order by another judge requiring the Department of Justice to give FBI Director James Comey all grand jury materials related to a criminal indictment that accuses him of lying to Congress in 2020 testimony. Judge Michael Nachmanoff said he would rule on whether to allow the order to take effect after considering objections to it by the DOJ and arguments in favor of it by Comey’s lawyers. …. The judge’s action came hours after Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick issued the order, and suggested that the charges against Comey could soon be dismissed because of potential ‘misconduct’ by the prosecution.” (11/17/25)

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/17/trump-james-comey-doj-grand-jury.html

Robert Nozick, From Socialist Youth to Libertarian Visionary

Source: Libertarian Institute
by Alan Mosley

“Born on November 16, 1938 in Brooklyn, Robert Nozick began his intellectual life as a young socialist but ended it as one of the twentieth century’s fiercest defenders of property rights and limited government. Raised in a Jewish immigrant household, he joined Norman Thomas’s Socialist Party youth wing and helped organize the Student League for Industrial Democracy, yet his curiosity soon led him beyond doctrinaire leftism. While studying at Columbia and later Princeton, he encountered thinkers such as Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, Murray Rothbard, and Ayn Rand, whose arguments for self‑ownership and free markets challenged his egalitarian assumptions. In the preface to his most famous book, he recalled that a long conversation with Rothbard ‘stimulated my interest in individualist anarchist theory’ and began a process that changed his mind.” (11/17/25)

https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/robert-nozick-from-socialist-youth-to-libertarian-visionary

Poland: Tusk says rail track explosion was “sabotage”

Source: Politico

“A rail line linking the Polish capital to the eastern city of Lublin and on to Ukraine was blown up Sunday in an ‘act of sabotage,’ Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Monday morning. Train traffic along the busy route was halted Sunday morning after a high speed Intercity train driver spotted damage to the line, warning nearby trains. ‘The track might have been destroyed deliberately,’ Tusk said Sunday. Authorities now say they are certain the damage is the result of a planned attack. … The Polish prime minister did not directly indicate who was responsible, but linked the incident to Russia’s war in Ukraine.” (11/17/25)

https://www.politico.eu/article/polish-pm-donald-tusk-says-rail-track-explosion-was-sabotage

The Supreme Court made a horrible mistake when it gave Trump absolute power

Source: The Hill
by William S Becker

“By now, the U.S. Supreme Court surely must see that it made a horrendous mistake last year when it ruled that presidents are above the law. The court’s conservative majority should admit its error and fix it. Their decision in Trump v. United States was naïve at best. More likely, the court bought into the right wing’s confusion about the difference between a unitary president and a dictator. Either way, the ruling put the Constitution and the rule of law into the hands of a president who willfully abuses both. It was an especially reckless act when President Trump was seeking the presidency again. … he was clearly running for office to escape trials and jail time for dozens of additional alleged crimes. Trump ran on a platform of personal retribution rather than public service. Once in office, he wasted no time proving how ill-advised the court’s decision was.” (11/17/25)

https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/5606565-trump-presidential-abuse-power/