Source: Students For Liberty
by Ilia Zhuzhunashvili

“When the state keeps taking more, it often ends up with less. The idea is usually treated as a modern insight, associated with tax curves, supply and demand, and other economic buzzwords. But Ibn Khaldun, the 14th-century North African historian and thinker, laid out the logic long before any of that language existed.” (05/19/26)

https://studentsforliberty.org/blog/ibn-khaldun-and-the-original-case-against-big-government/

Source: Common Dreams
by Nazaneen Shokri

“A delayed shipment of medication does not make headlines. A generator failing in a maternity ward is not breaking news. A woman rationing insulin or postponing prenatal care is not framed as political violence. And yet, from Iran to Gaza, these are the quiet consequences of policies described in distant capitals as ‘pressure,’ ‘security’ and ‘strategy.’ Whether through sanctions or siege, the mechanism is different, but the message is the same: Women’s health is negotiable. The Women, Life, Freedom movement born out of Iran has captured global attention. Women in Iran are disproportionately affected by the intensity of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, with stricter restrictions on their dress, behavior, and livelihoods. The Iran sanctions regime, beginning in 1979 following the US Embassy crisis, refers to the network of international economic, trade, and financial restrictions imposed on the Islamic Republic of Iran.” (05/19/26)

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/sanctions-harm-women

Source: Libertarian Institute
by Kym Robinson

“Social media and our relationship to the digital realm inside our screens has twisted the real world into a filtered and inhuman perception. Influencers and content creators who falsify their image turn humans with imperfections into streamlined products for a cultivated audience, with particular aesthetics and quality they are now accustomed to. In turn, LLMs and these versions of AI all seek to duplicate the human experience or perspective through devious means of humanizing machines. LLM’s are expected to provide prose filled with flowery and grandiose language, its software chatting in a way the human being on the other end feels flattered and ingratiated towards. This cognitive bias can both affirm pre-established beliefs while also satiating the human ego to the point of addiction and dependency.” (05/19/26)

https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/the-so-called-ai-revolution-will-make-us-less-free

Source: Niskanen Center
by Gabe Menchaca

“Underlying every federal program are federal workers; underlying every federal worker is an obscure taxonomy that defines their job. Every year, when it hires a couple hundred thousand people, the U.S. federal government sends millions of signals about itself to the job market, its own workforce, and the broader country. A cursory glance through its job postings reveals some of the most obvious ones: that federal employment is narrow, bureaucratic, procedural, and intelligible only to insiders. It prioritizes and selects for task specialists rather than outcome specialists.” (05/19/26)

https://www.niskanencenter.org/classification-rules-everything-around-me

Source: EconLog
by David Hebert

“For your decisions, there are three options: you can get the decision right or you can get it wrong. ‘But Dave,’ you say, ‘that’s only two options!’ In the following nuance lies the heart of this piece: there are two ways in which you can be wrong. You can act when you shouldn’t have or you can fail to act when you should have. Getting things right all the time is not possible. So which type of mistake are you more likely to guard against? It depends on which one will get you fired. In most government settings, the answer is biased in particular (and predictable) ways.” (05/19/26)

https://www.econlib.org/econlog/asymmetric-accountability