Rents rose 0.5% last month in another of a series of sharp increases since last summer. The cost of rent — the biggest expense for many households —has jumped almost 4% in the past year. Food prices also increased again, up almost 1% in January. The cost of groceries have climbed 7.4% in the last 12 months — a 14-year high. Dairy and fruit showed the biggest increases last month. Energy prices rose almost 1% last month due to a large spike in the cost of electricity. Cold weather also boosted demand. Gas and natural gas prices fell slightly, but the respite for consumers probably won’t...
demand
COI #207: Is Biden Turning to Diplomacy with Russia and Iran?
On COI #207, Kyle Anzalone and Connor Freeman update the JCPOA talks’ recent developments and the Russians’ security proposals presented to Washington. Kyle discusses the Russians pulling 10,000 troops off the border with Ukraine and sending them back to their bases. This is potentially a show of goodwill before the upcoming talks with the U.S. next month. Kyle and Connor then cover some recent escalations that do not necessarily bode well for substantive diplomacy like the Americans flying spy planes over Ukraine not far from the separatist Donbas region. There is also talk of a...
Vaccines, Autonomy, and Mandates: A Libertarian Analysis
Prefatory Note Given the subject matter discussed below, I believe it prudent to state at the outset that I am not at all opposed to vaccinations themselves: indeed, I have received a COVID-19 vaccine, as well as all other normal-course vaccinations recommended for someone my age. Yet there are, it seems to me, interesting, difficult questions surrounding the state’s role in promoting or mandating vaccines. The goal here is to start a conversation not about the effectiveness of vaccines, but about the individual’s sphere of autonomy and what kinds of medical decisions are within it, and...
WATCH: Dozens of NYPD Remove Child Without Vaccine Passport from Restaurant
As TFTP reported, earlier this month, New York mayor Bill de Blasio expanded the already-tyrannical “Key to NYC” program which imposed a vaccination mandate for workers and customers at indoor dining, fitness, entertainment and performance venues. Anyone who wished to enter a public place would first be required to give that place a glimpse into their personal medical records by providing proof that they had taken a covid-19 vaccination. Beginning last week, this discriminatory and unscientific practice was expanded to include children, ages 5-11, who are now also forced to show proof of...
Salafis Throwing Bombs: How American and British Planners Partnered With Al-Qaeda Affiliated Groups At the Start of the Syrian Civil War
Introduction In the mainstream view, al-Qaeda did not play a role in the Syria conflict until Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi dispatched his deputy, Abu Muhammad al-Jolani, to Syria in August 2011 to establish a wing of the group there, called Jabhat al-Nusra, or the Nusra Front. Additionally, al-Qaeda allegedly did not carry out any military operations until December 2011 and did not announce its establishment until January 2012. However, there is evidence that al-Qaeda affiliated militants were involved in the Syrian conflict much earlier. Saudi intelligence...
Lunatic With a Plan: Erdogan and Turkey’s Economic Woes
Since the first assault on Turkey’s finances in 2018, which I wrote about multiple times (here, here, and here), I’ve been the lone voice telling everyone that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a lunatic but he’s a lunatic with a plan. That plan is to de-dollarize the economy of a valuable member of NATO geostrategically. Since the first shots across the bow by the Trump administration at Erdogan’s toying with those powers east of the Bosporus (Russia, China and Iran) the Turkish lira has been the primary mode of attack against Erdogan. Erdogan has pursued what has been deemed unorthodox...
Joe Norman On Why Localism Is Coming
We don’t need “the global village”; we need a “globe of villages”. And when I say need here I don’t mean it in an ethical, or moral, or aesthetic sense. I mean it in the most practical sense: in order to survive we must re-localize. The global village idea is a non-starter. It misses that complex adaptive systems of a certain class typically have a characteristic scale. That is, a certain size at which they necessarily are realized. Nearly every adult human being you will ever meet will be between five and seven feet tall. And you will not find a land mammal larger than an elephant....
Julian Assange’s Family Begins US Tour To Demand His Freedom
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Supply and Demand
Episode 352: How to Think About the Economy w/ Per Bylund
44 Minutes Suitable for All Ages Pete welcomes Associate Professor Per Bylund to the show. Per is a Fellow at the Mises Institute and Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship at Oklahoma State University. Per is going to give a primer on production and demand. He answers the question as to whether demand drives production and innovation, or if it is, in fact, entrepreneurs innovating. More Spending Does Not Drive More Employment Per's Mises.org Page Per on Twitter Donate at the Libertarian Institute Pete's Link to Sign Up for the LP Lions of Liberty Podcast Link to Richard Grove's Autonomy...