The Fed’s Beige Book shows a weakening economy Please consider the Fed’s Beige Book for July 2025. What is the Beige Book? The Beige Book is a Federal Reserve System publication about current economic conditions across the 12 Federal Reserve Districts. It characterizes regional economic conditions and prospects based on a variety of mostly qualitative information, gathered directly from each District’s sources. Reports are published eight times per year. What is the purpose of the Beige Book? The Beige Book […]
David J. Bier Just days into his second presidency, President Donald Trump signed his first piece of legislation: the Laken Riley Act, which requires the government to seek out and arrest illegal immigrants who commit theft and violent offenses. Named after a college student senselessly killed by an undocumented immigrant after a prior arrest, the president pushed for passage “to prevent senseless tragedies.” , But going after a small number of criminal fugitives will not allow the president’s […]
Travel back in time to the year 2021 and you might find yourself in the middle of a bizarre debate over the virtues of “cancel culture”. At the time the political left was aggressively trying to secure long term power within the US through a multi-pronged psychological offensive – A war on the minds of the masses designed to force Americans into submission. A big part of their strategy relied on the fundamentals of Cultural Marxism: The combination […]
Unfortunately, the article is behind a paywall. Fortunately, the first paragraph contains the relevant information. There’s no such thing as a free fast-food lunch. Last year California super-sized its minimum wage to $20 an hour for employees at big quick-serve restaurant chains, and new research confirms that Sacramento did not repeal the basic laws of economics. According to the study, California only months later had 18,000 fewer fast-food jobs than if the law had never passed. submitted by […]
Last fall, the First Amendment Law Review at the University of North Carolina hosted a symposium on campus free speech issues. The issue with articles from the symposium is now out. You can find my contribution here. The article is called “The Value of Institutional Neutrality for Free Inquiry.” There are multiple reasons for universities to adopt a policy of what has become known as “institutional neutrality.” This article focuses on the value of such an institutional policy […]
Avert your eyes! My Sunday morning look at incompetency, corruption and policy failures: • Windsurf was a startup Cinderella story. Now it’s become a cautionary tale. Google’s unusual deal with Windsurf has left some with a bitter taste in Silicon Valley. Some Windsurf investors have also been critical of the deal. More deals like this could be on the horizon, which concerns VCs and founders. (Business Insider) • Simplify’s Sticky Fingers: “Overnight Success” with SBIL is a crass double dip: The […]
Linda Martin found out the hard way that the most powerful law enforcement agency in the U.S.—the FBI—can seize your assets without articulating why. Worse: Law enforcement took her savings in a raid that was itself unconstitutional. Worse still: A lawsuit she filed met its demise last week, allowing the federal government to continue the dubious practice of taking people’s valuables without having to explain the reason it is justified in doing so. The agency never did furnish […]