Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by James Bovard

“The Trump administration effectively condemned the downtown Washington, D.C., headquarters of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), portraying it as unfit for federal workers. HUD Secretary Scott Turner announced: ‘It is time to turn the page on the Weaver Building and relocate to a new headquarters that prioritizes the well-being of HUD employees and properly reflects the passion and excellence of our team.’ HUD posted a video exposing the ramshackle condition of its existing headquarters in D.C. and touting its new much fancier offices in Alexandria, Virginia. The video took its title from Secretary Turner’s promise of ‘The New Golden Age of HUD.’ And if you believe HUD will have a Golden Age, I have some bridge in Brooklyn I will sell you at a fire sale price.” (12/08/25)

https://www.fff.org/explore-freedom/article/a-new-golden-age-of-hud-hokum/

Source: The American Prospect
by Robert Kuttner

“The stock market has made gains at rates that are several multiples more than the growth of the real economy for three years running. Investor euphoria is always a sign of danger ahead, but this time there are other special factors signaling a pending crash. And of course, they all interact. Once investors head for the exits, others start bailing. I. Deregulation of Increasing Risk. Trump’s bank regulators are systematically dismantling the safeguards that were put in place after the financial collapse of 2008. That crash was caused by opaque financial instruments such as credit derivatives that allowed almost infinite amounts of leverage. When they turned out to be worthless, the collapse was also nearly infinite. In the aftermath, Congress and the regulators limited the risks that banks could take. In classic Wall Street form, the wise guys responded by creating non-banks that could do most of what banks do.” (12/09/25)

https://prospect.org/2025/12/09/pick-your-financial-crash/

Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman

“Most of what I know is based on secondhand information; I have never seen Antarctica but am confident that it exists. Some, however, is first hand. I mentioned one example in my previous post, an experience during a summer spent in Washington as a congressional intern in my early twenties that demonstrated that competent academics, people I liked, were willing to do deliberately dishonest work. That was convincing in a way that second-hand information, an article arguing that published work was dishonest — I have written some — would not have been. Thinking about that started me looking for other examples of views of mine based on my own experiences. Here are some of them.” (12/08/25)

https://daviddfriedman.substack.com/p/first-hand-data

Source: Antiwar.com
by Ted Galen Carpenter

“Since its creation in 1949, NATO has been the keystone of U.S. foreign policy in Europe. Indeed, the alliance has been the most important feature of Washington’s overall strategy of global primacy. America’s political and policy elites have embraced two key assumptions and continue to do so. One is that NATO is essential to the peace and security of the entire transatlantic region and will remain so for the indefinite future. The other sacred assumption is that the alliance is highly beneficial to America’s own core security and economic interests. Whatever validity those assumptions may have had at one time, they are dangerously obsolete today. The toxic, militaristic views toward Russia that too many European leaders are adopting have made NATO into a snare that could entangle the United States in a large-scale war with ominous nuclear implications.” (12/08/25)

https://original.antiwar.com/ted_galen_carpenter/2025/12/07/nato-is-a-menace-not-a-benefit-to-america