The Lighthouse®
The U.S. federal budget deficit hit $984 billion in fiscal year 2019, a shortfall that increased Uncle Sam’s total public debt outstanding by $1.1 trillion. The deficit increased not because tax revenue fell—the Treasury Department actually collected more money in 2019 than in 2018—but because federal spending increased.
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By William J. Watkins Jr. (The Washington Times, 10/30/19)
More Ukrainians seem offended by Mr. Zelensky’s apparent kowtowing to his U.S. counterpart than by President Trump’s request for a “favor” regarding presidential hopeful Joe Biden and his son. Ukrainians are very aware of the partisan squabbles in Washington, but they’re more concerned about Russia’s aggressive occupation of their territory, the economic distress caused by the war, and the cancer of corruption threatening the rule of law.
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By Richard K. Vedder (Forbes, 10/7/19)
Small-scale investigations suggest that college stores often charge higher prices for everyday items than stores located farther from campus. This finding is consistent with other evidence that universities routinely exploit students to bolster their bottom line.
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By K. Lloyd Billingsley (California Globe, 10/28/19)
President Trump irked congressional Democrats when they learned that he failed to inform them about U.S. special forces’ planned October raid to take down ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The decision to keep Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Representative Adam Schiff, and others in the dark, the president said, resulted from a culture of distrust made worse by his opponents’ frequent leaks to the media.
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By Robert P. Murphy (The Hill, 10/31/19)
Despite frequent reports of its imminent demise, Bitcoin refuses to die. Though it faces major challenges—including a possible threat from quantum computing that Google’s recently announced breakthrough may help deliver—the world’s first and still preeminent cryptocurrency has a total market value of about $170 billion, and its continued existence after 11 tumultuous years suggests that it may be here to stay.
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Volume 21, Issue 44: November 5, 2019
By Craig Eyermann (The Beacon, 10/28/19)
The U.S. federal budget deficit hit $984 billion in fiscal year 2019, a shortfall that increased Uncle Sam’s total public debt outstanding by $1.1 trillion. The deficit increased not because tax revenue fell—the Treasury Department actually collected more money in 2019 than in 2018—but because federal spending increased.
READ MORE »
Crisis and Leviathan
Critical Episodes in the Growth of American Government (25th Anniversary Edition)
Critical Episodes in the Growth of American Government (25th Anniversary Edition)
By Robert Higgs
By William J. Watkins Jr. (The Washington Times, 10/30/19)
More Ukrainians seem offended by Mr. Zelensky’s apparent kowtowing to his U.S. counterpart than by President Trump’s request for a “favor” regarding presidential hopeful Joe Biden and his son. Ukrainians are very aware of the partisan squabbles in Washington, but they’re more concerned about Russia’s aggressive occupation of their territory, the economic distress caused by the war, and the cancer of corruption threatening the rule of law.
READ MORE »
Crossroads for Liberty
Recovering the Anti-Federalist Values of America’s First Constitution
Recovering the Anti-Federalist Values of America’s First Constitution
By William J. Watkins, Jr.
By Richard K. Vedder (Forbes, 10/7/19)
Small-scale investigations suggest that college stores often charge higher prices for everyday items than stores located farther from campus. This finding is consistent with other evidence that universities routinely exploit students to bolster their bottom line.
READ MORE »
By K. Lloyd Billingsley (California Globe, 10/28/19)
President Trump irked congressional Democrats when they learned that he failed to inform them about U.S. special forces’ planned October raid to take down ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The decision to keep Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Representative Adam Schiff, and others in the dark, the president said, resulted from a culture of distrust made worse by his opponents’ frequent leaks to the media.
READ MORE »
By Robert P. Murphy (The Hill, 10/31/19)
Despite frequent reports of its imminent demise, Bitcoin refuses to die. Though it faces major challenges—including a possible threat from quantum computing that Google’s recently announced breakthrough may help deliver—the world’s first and still preeminent cryptocurrency has a total market value of about $170 billion, and its continued existence after 11 tumultuous years suggests that it may be here to stay.
READ MORE »
The Beacon: New Blog Posts
- Blackouts and Monopolies: Public Utilities in California, by Adam Summers
- Former California Governor Jerry Brown Stokes His Climate-Change Backfire, by K. Lloyd Billingsley
- How the EPA Makes Wildfires More Likely, by K. Lloyd Billingsley
- Breakthrough Alzheimer’s Drug Puts FDA’s Drug-Approval Process into Question, by Raymond J. March
- Prohibition and Gangs Make Marijuana a Deadly Business, by Randall G. Holcombe
Catalyst: New Articles
- Cities Should Look at Los Angeles’ History of Big Data Policing and Avoid Its Mistakes, by Jonathan Hofer
- Why Are There So Many Marginally Employed PhDs in English?, by Richard Vedder
- Millennials Are Ready for a Crash Course on Tax Policy, by Luka Ladan
- America Needs Doctors in the Digital Domain, by Ross Marchand
- The Struggles of West Virginia, by Scott Beyer
- Making Preventative Care Great Again: Conversations in Health Part II, by Elliot Young
