Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff

“In recent years, Africa’s economies have felt a powerful impact from drought, debt, and violent discord. Yet, amid the turbulence, the southern nation of Zambia has charted a determined, if halting, course toward potential growth. Its latest election, on Aug. 13, set another example in its ability to achieve economic gains while (mostly) protecting its democratic system. The election ‘has far greater international significance than the country’s landlocked status and modest economic size might imply’, in the view of a senior researcher at Chatham House, a respected London-based think tank. President Hakainde Hichilema, who was elected to a second five-year term with 60% of the vote, will govern ‘a country at the centre of Africa’s critical minerals competition, debt diplomacy and shifting regional alliances’, wrote Christopher Vandome this month. And, he added, ‘Zambia’s prized democratic reputation will also be tested.'” (08/19/26)

https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/0819/An-Africa-that-prizes-economic-and-political-freedoms

Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Ryan McMaken

“A common misconception about the French Revolution is that it was some sort of classical liberal or libertarian revolution. That is, some still claim that the revolution was, for all its flaws, in ‘the spirit’ of what is historically known as liberalism. The flawed interpretation of the revolution is kept alive for two reasons. One is used among the post-liberal conservatives who try to use the bloodshed of the French revolution as ‘evidence’ that liberalism leads to totalitarianism. A common mistake is to equate the liberal ideology with the theories of various ‘enlightenment’—and un-liberal—theorists such as Rousseau. Another mistake occurs when modern libertarians attempt to rehabilitate the French Revolution to portray is as pro-freedom phenomenon.” (08/20/26)

https://mises.org/mises-wire/why-french-revolution-was-not-libertarian-revolution

Source: The Daily Economy
by Karl-Friedrich Israel

“The CPI captures the rising cost of private consumption while leaving the rising cost of government consumption out of the equation.” (08/20/26)

https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/why-economists-leave-government-spending-out-of-inflation-measures/

Source: Expression
by Sarah McLaughlin

“UK nonprofit the Good Law Project is pushing an open letter, currently with over 122,000 signatures, calling for Prime Minister Andy Burnham ‘to commission an immediate public inquiry into how to ensure a responsible press given its contribution to Dr Arday’s tragic death.’ Several members of Parliament signed on. ‘Self-regulation of the press has comprehensively failed,’ the letter adds. So the government must then regulate it. Another petition calls for Arday’s Law, ‘legislative action to impose limitations on the number of news articles published about a single individual within a defined time frame’ to ‘work towards creating a framework that balances the public’s right to information with an individual’s right to privacy and mental well-being.'” (08/20/26)

https://expression.fire.org/p/the-jason-arday-tragedy-cannot-justify

Source: Jonathan Turley
by Jonathan Turley

“This week, the Fourth Circuit issued a major ruling striking down South Carolina’s limits on absentee ballots. The relatively novel basis of this opinion (by Judges Roger Gregory, Judge Pamela Harris, and Judge Julius Richardson) was that it violated the 26th Amendment as discrimination on the basis of age for voters. The opinion conflicts with rulings in other circuits and, in my view, is challengeable. … Under Section 7-15-320 of the South Carolina Code, four categories of ‘[q]ualified electors’ are allowed to vote absentee in an election: electors who are physically disabled; members of the Armed Forces and Merchant Marines of the United States, their spouses, and dependents; persons admitted to hospitals as emergency patients on the day of an election or within a four-day period before the election; and ‘persons sixty-five years of age or older’. S.C. Code § 7-15-320(B).” (08/20/26)

https://jonathanturley.org/2026/08/20/fourth-circuit-strikes-down-south-carolinas-restrictions-on-absentee-ballots-under-the-26th-amendment/