Source: The Bulwark
by Jonathan V Last

“Rich idiot breaks all the rules. Creates a death trap. And everyone hears the popping noises signaling that it’s all about to implode.” (08/20/25)

https://www.thebulwark.com/p/oceangate-and-the-trump-economy-implosion-jobs-prices-tariffs

Source: Reason
by Eric Boehm

“There’s nothing quite like dipping a chocolate chip cookie into a tall glass of … steel? The Trump administration’s 50 percent tariffs on imported steel and aluminum were expanded this week to cover hundreds of imports that plainly are not steel or aluminum. Among the items targeted by the new tariffs: dairy products like milk and cream, as well as gasoline and other fuels, fire extinguishers, baby strollers, furniture, engines, and motorcycles. In short, anything that contains steel or aluminum or that is (as with dairy products) transported or stored in steel or aluminum containers could now be subject to those massive import taxes. … Officially, the Commerce Department says the 407 new product categories covered by the tariffs are ‘derivative’ of steel and aluminum.” (08/20/25)

https://reason.com/2025/08/20/trumps-steel-tariffs-now-apply-to-milk-and-hundreds-of-other-products-that-arent-steel/

Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille

“Even as some Republicans mocked economists for predicting prices would rise as a result of tariffs, there was a whistling-past-the-graveyard quality to the snickering. Yes, tariffs that had been threatened, delayed, and only partially implemented hadn’t yet much increased costs for consumers, but there were clear signs that importers were rushing to beat high customs duties, and that trouble was on the way. Now we’ve had a weak jobs report and a higher-than-expected producer price index (PPI), and it’s clear that tariffs perform just as we were warned: They raise prices for domestic businesses and consumers.” (08/20/25)

https://reason.com/2025/08/20/tariffs-begin-taking-a-bite-out-of-the-economy/

Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Connor O’Keeffe

“We’re now in the second week of Trump’s so-called ‘takeover’ of Washington, DC, where he’s formally federalized the city’s police and mobilized national guard troops and federal agents to help crack down on crime. So far, a few hundred people have been arrested. … the establishment media frames the entire episode as Trump, for the first time in the country’s history, ushering in a federal ‘police state.’ The right, in contrast, has seemed to enjoy the optics of armed agents in tactical gear flanked by armored National Guard vehicles patrolling DC neighborhoods, arresting people, and clearing homeless encampments …. genuine or not, the president’s effort to clean up DC and any other crime-ridden cities is hampered by a misunderstanding of the true root of this blue-city crime phenomenon, which is the monopolization of the protection of person and property — arguably the most important service in society.” (08/20/25)

https://mises.org/mises-wire/trumps-dc-takeover-missing-point