Australia gets a lot of well-deserved grief for its pandemic police-state policies, but the rest of the world may soon look rather similar in some ways. In particular, that unfortunate country’s closed borders may foreshadow a world of reduced travel and trade. Pandemic worries and the fallout from disrupted supply chains and shipping routes threaten […]
Ideologues at both political extremes, like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I–Vt.) on the left and Fox News host Tucker Carlson on the right, have recently pointed to pet foreign countries as exemplars of what America should strive to be. Yet Sanders and Carlson are each misled by a superficial understanding of what these countries are really […]
Another government failure, another outrage. This time the scandal is brought on by the less-than-orderly withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and the realization that 20 years of military presence in the country achieved nothing but death and chaos. Observing another instance of large-scale mismanagement, I can’t help being surprised that anyone is still surprised. […]
One of the companies clamoring for an extension of American tariffs on imported solar panels hasn’t actually built a solar panel in several years—and it doesn’t appear to do much of anything right now. Suniva, an Atlanta-based firm founded in 2007, is one of two companies to formally petition the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) […]
Are they still protesting in Cuba? I don’t know. The Cuban government has shut off the Cuban people’s internet. The big demonstrations began four weeks ago, sparked, curiously, by a rap song. The key lyric is: “Freedom! No more Doctrine!” “Doctrine” refers to the “constant cycle of propaganda” from the government, explains Cuban émigré Alian […]
The bureaucratic process established by the Trump administration to determine which American companies should be exempted from paying tariffs on imports from China is a black box of “inconsistencies” and poorly documented decision-making, according to a new audit. In a report published last week, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) cast a critical eye on the […]
The last three years have provided a pretty effective lesson about how tariffs impose immense economic costs and generally don’t achieve their primary policy aims, but Democrats in Congress apparently didn’t pay close enough attention. As part of an overall $3.5 trillion federal budget framework unveiled this week, Democrats are calling for new taxes on […]
After thousands of Cubans poured into the streets over the weekend to protest the island nation’s communist government, President Joe Biden on Monday said America “stands firmly” with the people of Cuba. The words of support for the anti-communist protesters—some of whom waved American flags as they demanded “freedom”—are good, but actions would be better. […]
More than 18 months after Congress mandated its publication, the Biden administration on Tuesday night published a Trump administration report that sought to justify imposing tariffs on imported cars under the guise of national security. The 116-page document is, among other things, a useful reminder that tariffs imposed for ostensible national security reasons do not […]
If you follow the news, you may be under the impression that nothing ever gets done in Congress, and that Democrats and Republicans can’t agree on any serious legislation. You aren’t alone. Look at the inordinate praise the “bipartisan” infrastructure deal is getting. This widespread wonder highlights the mistaken belief that our awful hyperpartisan era […]