Source: Cato Institute
by Ryan Bourne
“My colleague Deirdre McCloskey, back in 2018, listed over 100 economic and social problems that, through the ages, have been deemed as market imperfections, bad consequences of markets and challenges of limited government, or else failures of standard economics, that supposedly require corrective government action or at least different policies. I’ve trimmed and then added a bunch to her list below. Many of the new additions have surfaced or grown in prominence since her paper was published. What are we missing?” (03/03/25)
https://www.cato.org/commentary/problems-supposedly-requiring-government-action
Source: Big Head Press
by Scott Bieser
Cartoon. (03/03/25)
https://www.quantumvibe.com/strip?page=2524
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Mohammad Javad Zarif, strategic foreign policy adviser to Iran’s president and a prominent figure advocating for talks with the West, has again resigned amid fierce pushback from hardline opponents. The former foreign minister and face of reformist-backed negotiations with global powers that led to Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal confirmed the move in an online post early on Monday, saying it comes after ‘the most bitter era of my 40-year period of service.’ Remarkably, Zarif said he was ‘advised’ by judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei to resign and go back to a university teaching job ‘to prevent further pressure on the government’ in a tumultuous period for the country. … Centrist President Masoud Pezeshkian has yet to publicly react to the news, although state media reported his office received the resignation.” (03/03/25)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/3/3/irans-zarif-resigns-amid-political-wrangling-over-economic-woes
Source: Fountainhead Forum
“Jim Ostrowski on litigating against coronvirus nonsense.” (03/03/25)
https://rumble.com/v6q27aw-ff-282-jim-ostrowski-on-litigating-against-coronvirus-nonsense.html
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Thomas Eddlem
“Establishment Democrats have long whined that working people pay a higher rate of combined income and payroll taxes than billionaires. They’re not wrong. Income from labor is taxed three times (payroll taxes, income taxes, and inflation) while income from capital is taxed only once (capital gains). In America today, capital gains tax is capped at 20%, but labor’s floor is 15.3% with a payroll tax, plus the 3-8% inflation tax, both of which start at dollar one. Add the income tax, which tops out at 39%, and labor is generally taxed at twice the rate of capital. … The Democratic Party’s solution? ‘Tax the rich,’ as if that would put more of the workers’ own money back in their pockets.” (03/03/25)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/plutocratic-americas-war-on-the-working-class
Source: TomDispatch
by Liz Theoharis
“‘There has almost always been an outright hostility that is shown towards people of the Christian faith,’ House Speaker Mike Johnson said on a podcast recently. He was talking with Tony Perkins, a former Louisiana lawmaker and president of the Family Research Council, about freedom of religion and the actions of the second Trump administration. I have to admit that such a statement from this country’s third most powerful politician and an avowed Christian nationalist almost takes my breath away. Of all the people facing hostility, discrimination, and violence now and throughout history, Christians like Mike Johnson rank low on the list. Still, his comment is consistent with a disturbing religious trend in the country right now. As an early act of his second administration, Donald Trump has created an anti-Christian bias task force to be chaired by Attorney General Pam Bondi.” [editor’s note: Yet another “progressive” flack without a clue, just a roster of scapegoats – SAT] (03/03/25)
https://tomdispatch.com/woe-to-you-who-deprive-the-poor-of-their-rights/
Source: Orange County Register
“The Supreme Court said Monday it won’t hear a challenge from conservative college students who say their freedom of speech is violated by a university program for reporting allegations of bias.
Two of the nine justices, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, publicly said they would have heard the case. The students say Indiana University’s bias-response team stifles speech on campus by allowing anonymous reports about things that appear prejudiced or demeaning. The university says the program is aimed at education and support, and the two-person team doesn’t dole out punishment. The unnamed students are represented by the group Speech First, which says 450 universities have similar programs. The group has filed multiple similar lawsuits and come to settlements ending programs in Michigan, Texas and Florida.” (03/03/25)
https://archive.is/azf9f
Source: New York Post
“Voice of America placed one of its highest-profile journalists on an ‘excused absence’ pending a human resources probe over alleged critical comments about President Trump, according to a report. Steve Herman, VOA’s chief national correspondent, was informed of the investigation in a letter last week from the news agency’s governing body, the US Agency for Global Media, the New York Times reported. The government-funded news outlet, which broadcasts to hundreds of millions of people worldwide, told Herman he was being scrutinized due to ‘social media activity [that] has undermined VOA’s audiences’ perceptions of the objectivity and/or credibility of VOA and its news operations,’ according to the letter reviewed by the Times. Herman drew the ire of the Trump administration when he posted a link to a news story on his X account that included a quote from an analyst who was critical of the decision to defund the United States Agency for International Development.” (03/03/25)
https://nypost.com/2025/03/03/media/voice-of-america-puts-journalist-on-excused-absence-after-anti-trump-x-post-report/
Source: Center for a Stateless Society
by Kevin Carson
“The standard right-libertarian talking point is that labor is dependent on investment, that investment — in the form either of credit or equity — comes from previous capital accumulation, and that profit and interest are the rewards for the use of that money, the capitalist’s abstention from use of it, the marginal productivity of the capital, or some variation on one or more of those.” (03/03/25)
https://c4ss.org/content/60137
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“The framing that Hamas has ‘rejected’ Israel’s proposed extension of phase one is just the current propaganda line from the US-Israeli PR machine. In reality the terms of the ceasefire deal say that Israel and Hamas were supposed to move on to phase two of the agreement this weekend, but Israel has been refusing to negotiate the second stage of the agreement this entire time because it would entail a withdrawal of Israeli troops and a commitment to a lasting peace. This idea that the first phase of the ceasefire should be ‘extended’ instead of continuing on to the second phase is a brand new proposition the US and Israel just started pushing a few days ago.” (03/02/25)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2025/03/02/trump-sends-netanyahu-weapons-while-talking-tough-to-zelensky/
