Source: Freedom and Flourishing
by Winton Bates
“Just as I was reading the final chapters of William Easterly’s book, Violent Saviours: The West, the Rest, and Capitalism Without Consent, the United States government abducted the president of Venezuela to stand trial on drug charges in New York. I was pleased to see Nicolás Maduro facing justice, even if for the wrong reasons, but at the time of writing it remains to be seen whether the U.S. actions will advance the economic and personal freedom of Venezuelans. In the light of recent developments, Easterly’s conclusion seem to me to be excessively optimistic.” (01/17/26)
https://www.freedomandflourishing.com/2026/01/what-was-wrong-with-washington-consensus.html
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Independent restaurants have accused global corporations of being ‘sneaky’ and ‘a killer’ to family businesses by masquerading as indies on delivery apps. Chain restaurants including Pizza Hut, TGI Fridays, Frankie & Benny’s, Las Iguanas and Barburrito have brands on apps such as Deliveroo and Just Eat, giving them different names and the appearance of being small or independent businesses. … Just Eat, Deliveroo and Uber Eats all said virtual brands could be utilised by any business, including independents.” (01/18/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0q53w1wzjjo
Source: EconLog
by David Hebert
“Economists extol the importance of competition in markets for driving prices down and quality up. But what is ‘competition’ and how does it actually work? To non-economists, the word conjures the idea of something like a sporting contest, where there can be one winner while everyone else loses. But this comparison fails on at least two dimensions.” (01/16/26)
https://www.econlib.org/econlog/what-is-competition
Source: The Bulwark
by Catherine Rampell
“Someone alert the Norwegian Nobel Committee: Against the odds, Donald Trump has succeeded in peacefully uniting the world. Unfortunately, the world has been united against us. This Pax (Ex) Americana era was illustrated Friday, as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney wrapped up a trip to China. This wasn’t just any old visit, either: It marked the first time a Canadian PM had been to the world’s second-largest economy since 2017 — and based on the glamorous video Carney’s team released, it was a smashing success for Beijing.” (01/17/26)
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-making-china-great-again-trade-adversaries
Source: United Press International
“Representatives of the European Union and South American nations signed a free trade agreement on Saturday, but it won’t be official until approved by the European Parliament. The free trade agreement would support trade between Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, collectively called ‘Mercosur,’ and E.U. member nations, but the E.U.’s parliamentarians could reject it. Mercosur is a Spanish acronym that is short for ‘Southern Common Market,’ and the European Parliament might take months to ratify the agreement, if it does at all, some European officials have warned.” (01/17/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2026/01/17/latam-paraguay-trade-agreement/6571768684223/
Source: Serious Trouble
“You Are Not Jay Powell.” (01/16/26)
https://www.serioustrouble.show/p/you-are-not-jay-powell
Source: spiked
by Étienne Vérité
“The Pahlavi dynasty laid the groundwork for the authoritarian rule that Iranians are rising up against.” (01/16/26)
https://www.spiked-online.com/2026/01/16/neither-the-ayatollah-nor-the-shah/
Source: Fox News
by David Marcus
“In a chilling series of social media posts on Saturday night, Minnesota state senator and former Minneapolis mayoral candidate Omar Fateh pledged to make the Cedar Riverside neighborhood of his city a ‘no-go zone for white supremacists.’ ‘No-go zone’ is a term popularized in Europe that refers to Muslim-majority neighborhoods where it is not safe for White people to go. The X posts began with Fateh and two other men standing before the iconic Cedar Riverside towers with the message, ‘Cedar Strong. White Supremacists aren’t welcome here. We protect our own.'” (01/18/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/david-marcus-sorry-omar-fateh-were-not-doing-somali-run-no-go-zones-minnesota
Source: Fox News
“President Donald Trump on Saturday vowed to ‘take out’ the Republican leader of the Indiana Senate after he resisted a new congressional map the president had championed. Trump wrote on Truth Social that Indiana Senate Majority Leader Rod Bray had ‘betrayed’ the Republican Party after his chamber voted down a new map last month that would have created two more right-leaning congressional districts in the state. The president said he would partner with David McIntosh, a former Indiana congressman who helped found two political groups, the Federalist Society and the Club for Growth, to target Bray. … In December, the Indiana Senate voted 31-19 against a new congressional map, with 21 Republicans joining 10 Democrats in voting against the measure. If approved, the districts of two Democratic representatives would have been eliminated.” (01/18/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-vows-take-out-indiana-gop-leader-over-redistricting-fight
Source: The Daily Economy
by Corey A DeAngelis
“Adults siphon off taxpayer money earmarked for kids, and no one is held accountable. Teachers’ unions share the same dysfunctional incentives as headline-grabbing fraudsters in Minnesota.” (01/16/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/the-public-school-shell-game/
