Setting the Record Straight About the Panama Canal
Friday January 17, 2025 | Alvaro Vargas Llosa

President Trump has convinced many Americans that the Panama Canal, a vital shipping route for international commerce—particularly for cargo going to and originating in the United States—is controlled by China. He views this as a direct threat to the U.S. He also believes that the Panamanians are charging U.S. ships too much for using the canal. As a result, he threatened Panama with military force, intending to take the canal from them and put it under Washington’s control. (more…)

Automakers and the Right-to-Repair Battle
Thursday January 16, 2025 | Michael Makovi

Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and Josh Hawley (R-MO) penned a letter urging top automakers to end their opposition to right-to-repair legislation. These laws generally require automakers to share proprietary data for third-party maintenance and repair. For example, automakers would be required to provide maintenance manuals as well as whatever electronic tools and credentials are needed to access cars’ onboard data and diagnostics systems. (more…)

The Great Game Heats Up in the Arctic
Thursday January 16, 2025 | Scott Semet

The US has several goals in the Arctic: Militarily, the United States wants to increase monitoring and deterrence of Russian naval and air activity in the region and into the North Atlantic. Economically, it is important that US companies profit from the development of mineral resources in Greenland and the Arctic. Strategically, to maintain global hegemony, it is vital that the US control the region and not allow any other great power to rise. All these ends can be achieved by negotiation. Furthermore, Greenland is not for sale and military action seems highly unlikely. Therefore, recent statements by the president-elect and his camp should be construed as posturing ahead of negotiations to secure US goals in Greenland. (more…)

When Governments Fail, Private Initiative Is the Solution
Wednesday January 15, 2025 | Lawrence J. McQuillan

In a disturbing number of incidents in recent years, local governments have withheld critical services, resulting in destruction and death. Consider, for example, the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022. (more…)

The Banking Surveillance Industrial Complex
Tuesday January 14, 2025 | David Iglesias

A bombshell report was released in December of 2024 by the House Judiciary Committee, revealing that a massive and constitutionally dubious surveillance operation has been underway by the federal government against countless Americans. Titled, “How the Federal Government Weaponized the Bank Secrecy Act to Spy on Americans,” its key findings demonstrate that the FBI and the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) have been working together to undermine the 4th Amendment and conduct widespread warrantless surveillance on the financial transactions of innocent U.S. citizens engaging in constitutionally protected behavior. (more…)

Will Am I Racist? Stand the Test of Time?
Monday January 13, 2025 | Samuel R. Staley

Am I Racist?, Matt Walsh’s searing attack on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, dominated the documentary film box office in 2024. Screening in 1,600 theaters at its height, the film earned $12.3 million before streaming on the Daily Wire. Walsh’s film grossed more at the box office than any other documentary since 2019. That’s when Peter Jackson’s artistically boundary-pushing World War I film They Shall Not Grow Old brought in $12.2 million.  (more…)

No, Marx Was Not an Important Economist
Monday January 13, 2025 | Phillip W. Magness

An odd battle erupted on social media last week when economist Ben Golub questioned whether students in his field needed to work through “classic” authors such as Adam Smith and Karl Marx to claim expertise in economics. In a viral tweet, English professor Alex Moskowitz cited Golub’s question to indict the entire field: “[E]conomics is not a real discipline…because it hasn’t properly historicized it’s own methods of knowledge production.” “[A] knowledge of the history of one’s discipline is a fundamental part of disciplinary knowledge,” Moskowitz continued, confident he had uncovered a fundamental shortcoming of the economics profession. He then likened the alleged oversight to a sociologist who had never read W.E.B Du Bois, or a psychologist unfamiliar with Sigmund Freud. (more…)