Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Tim Worstall

“One meaning of the free part of free markets is that the market is free to enter. Anyone, with whatever idea, is free to set up shop and try it out. This is what is being misunderstood here: ‘In a move nobody outside of boardrooms asked for, Target has become the first fashion retailer in Australia to make its products available to order via the Uber Eats app as of September. …’ Technology changes over time. There is always some new set of possibilities among the things that can be done therefore. We don’t know whether people would like those new things done. The only way we’ve got of finding out is to do the new thing then see. No, just asking people doesn’t work, there’s always a difference between expressed and revealed preferences. This is, in the jargon, the function of the entrepreneur.” (10/21/26)

https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/misunderstanding-the-free-part-of-free-markets

Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by David Hebert

“This explainer will lay out the federal budget relay race process that takes a proposed spending plan from a wishlist to an actual check while operating under rules designed to keep total spending in line.” (10/21/26)

https://aier.org/article/how-the-federal-budget-gets-made/

Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Connor O’Keeffe

“As some have pointed out, the size of the diesel export agreed to in this supposed deal, and the scale of the sanctions that are being waived, are really quite small. This move is unlikely to have a meaningful impact on the pain Americans are feeling because of the artificially high diesel prices or change Russia’s posture in the war. But the waiver is interesting for a different reason. Because it is, in many ways, an admission that those of us who oppose Washington’s reflexive use of economic sanctions are right. It is remarkably well-documented that sanctions are atrociously bad at doing what we’re told they’re supposed to do—weaken and delegitimize a regime in the eyes of their domestic population to the point where they’re either overthrown or forced to change course by their revolting citizens.” (10/21/26)

https://mises.org/mises-wire/trump-right-lift-diesel-sanctions-russia-he-should-go-further

Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff

“In Oct. 17, the North African nation of Tunisia saw one of its largest protests in years. In the capital, Tunis, thousands of demonstrators chanted slogans like ‘The people above all else’ and ‘Work, freedom, national dignity’ – despite fears of being arrested. In recent years worldwide, such anti-government protests have surged. So why should this one stand out? Because Tunisia was the spark for the Arab Spring of 2011. … Tunisia was also the most successful Arab country to plant a democracy after 2011. That is, until 2021-2022, when a duly elected president, Kais Saied, took advantage of public frustrations over economic opportunities and canceled much of democracy, including an independent judiciary. Many democratic activists now sit in prison.” (10/20/26)

https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/1020/In-the-home-of-the-Arab-Spring-democracy-s-looking-better

Source: Expression
by Jacob Mchangama

“The Emancipation Proclamation, the defeat of the Confederacy and the adoption of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments prohibiting slavery and promising equal protection and the right to vote for the recently emancipated Black population seemed to fulfill Douglass’ life’s mission as an abolitionist and human rights defender. Yet over the following decades, Douglass’[s] joy at emancipation was mixed with bitter disappointment at the stark contrast between the fine principles enshrined in these documents and their practical nullification through oppressive laws, racist terror and mob action in the South.” (10/21/26)

https://expression.fire.org/p/douglass-and-the-betrayal-of-freedom