Source: EconLog
by Maria Pia Paganelli

“Smith attributes the remarkable economic growth that Scotland experienced in the 18th century to the development of a vigorous banking system, made prudent through competition. In the 18th century, banks are a bit controversial. Some believe that banks, by introducing paper money, increase the quantity of money in a country, thus making it richer. Others claim that banks make a country poorer instead, because paper money substitutes for gold and silver as a means of domestic payment, thus decreasing the quantity of gold and silver, thereby decreasing the country’s wealth. Smith differs. For Smith, banks do help an economy to grow richer (not poorer) by decreasing (not increasing) the quantity of gold and silver in the country! Smith’s logic relies on economic forces and government regulations to generate the prudent financial conduct needed for stable growth.” (03/18/26)

https://www.econlib.org/econlog/wealth-of-nations-book-2-prudence-competition-and-party-walls-at-econlib-2

Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Connor O’Keeffe

“It is an almost constant frustration for Democratic members of Congress, their ideological supporters, and the American left more broadly that — whenever they propose a new social program or demand-side subsidy — Republicans immediately push back that the program is unworkable because the federal government is drowning in debt and teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. And yet, after Republicans launched this extremely expensive war, nearly all the same politicians who had been preaching fiscal restraint have now rallied behind an operation that has already cost billions of dollars in the first few days alone. Democrats have been quick to point out this hypocrisy. … However, the left-wingers leading this charge right now are wrong to imply that the GOP’s hypocrisy is actually evidence that there is plenty to spend on all these government programs. There isn’t.” (03/18/26)

https://mises.org/mises-wire/no-we-cannot-afford-war-iran-either

Source: Brownstone Institute
by Alan Cassels

“anity can make people do stupid things. Want to look better in a bathing suit? Great goal, now with a small potential wrinkle: the treatment your doctor prescribes might be so good you won’t see your fat anymore, because that treatment made you go blind. This latest dispatch from the world of pharmaceutical safety comes from that drug class that is a gift that keeps on giving, the blockbuster weight-loss drugs known as GLP-1s. Branded as Ozempic, Wegovy, or the pill version Rybelsus, these drugs continue to be hailed as modern miracles …. According to a recent study published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology, people taking Wegovy may face a five-fold greater risk of a condition charmingly known as NAION for non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy. The European Medicines Agency released a warning last year about this risk, known in plainer English as an ‘eye stroke.'” (03/18/26)

https://brownstone.org/articles/you-cant-unsee-this/

Source: The Daily Economy
by Stefan Bartl

“Freedom of speech is a natural right, not a privilege dispensed by governments when convenient. It precedes the state itself. Behind the vowels and consonants that leave our lips lie creative expression, communication, and ultimately liberty. As captured memorably in Good Will Hunting, ‘Liberty is the soul’s right to breathe.’ Yet in the digital age, speech is increasingly treated not as something to be protected but as something to be managed, licensed, monitored, and punished when it produces discomfort.” (03/18/26)

https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/free-speech-in-the-digital-age-from-natural-right-to-digital-credential-2/

Source: In These Times
by Max B Sawicky

“It’s increasingly difficult for U.S. political commentators to neglect the centrality of socialism to the country’s affairs. We now see a spate of polling results and other commentary testifying to the popularity of socialist ideas, if not the label, as well as to the prospects of rising political stars like Mayors Zohran Mamdani in New York City and Katie Wilson in Seattle, as well as State Senator Omar Fateh in Minneapolis. Whenever democratic socialism has a moment in the mainstream media, as it is having now, pundits and reporters ponder what ​’democratic socialism’ really means. Those on the Left speculate on how, if at all, it differs from ‘social democracy’ — generally taken to refer to the more egalitarian economic arrangements observed in the Nordic countries, and to a lesser extent across Western Europe.” (03/17/26)

https://inthesetimes.com/article/democratic-socialism-economy-sanders-mamdani-aoc