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ICYMI: On Monday we published an exclusive interview with Edmund Burke Foundation Executive Director Saurabh Sharma going over the events of the NatCon Brussels conference last week, which the far left Brussels Mayor tried to shut down using political threats and police.
We are enjoying this interview series. As always, let us know what you think.
Here are some of our previous interviews: Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Anti-Monopoly activist and researcher Matt Stoller, and Tom Shakeley of Americans United For Life.
#Trans – Important in the battle over women’s sports, and the Biden Administration’s new Title IX rules: Over 3,000 Current & Former Female Athletes, Coaches Urge NCAA Board Of Governors To ‘Protect Women’s Sports’
#Noncompetes – Surely the biggest economic regulation news in the past 24 hours: the FTC banned non-compete clauses. Most investors and economists we know think non-compete clauses are evil and support such a ban. However, not all business support it, and the Chamber of Commerce opposes it. But whether or not you support or oppose non-competes, there is the question of authority: can the FTC legally change such a rule without congressional mandate? According to industry group TechFreedom, no it doesn’t.
#Economics – Important and welcome piece from Mises Institute’s Marina Rocha, calling on libertarians to take free-market-skeptical conservatives seriously. This is indeed an interesting debate and both sides need to take it more seriously.
#Life – Important point made in a WSJ op-ed by EPPC Fellows Eric Kniffin and Rachel Morrison: even if you believe abortion policy should be left up to the states, that still involved engaging in Federal policy, namely “undoing a long list of Biden regulations that restrict states’ freedom to enforce pro-life laws.”
#Chyna #EVs #Manufacturing – Lots of people are sharing this New York Times piece about China’s glut of car manufacturing, especially electric vehicles, with manufacturers including Tesla and BYD slashing prices to try to move product. Our understanding is that EVs simply don’t live up to the hype, as products, and so people don’t want to buy them. Which is why policymakers, including the European Commission and the Biden Administration, want to force people to buy them.
#Chyna #Macroeconomics – Yesterday we mentioned a research report from a macroeconomics research firm suggesting that China was gearing up to devalue its currency, the Yuan or CNY. Well the CNY has been trending lower versus the dollar. As CFR’s Brad Setser, our favorite trade expert, points out, “the move isn’t big, but the direction of travel matters.” If China does decide to sharply devalue the CNY, the consequences for the global economy, and especially for US domestic manufacturing, will be significant, so something to watch.
#Immigration #Economics – From the “saying the quiet part outloud” files: IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva declared yesterday that “A surge in immigration has made the U.S. economy more competitive by preventing wages from rising more than they otherwise would have.” Quite. “Not a good look”, as the kids say.
#TaxPolicy – Tax Foundation’s Scott Hodge has a new book out titled Taxocracy. Here’s a podcast discussing it.
Chart of the Day
From Human Progress, a project of the Cato Institute, a chart looking at how more abundant commodities have become since 1980, expanding on the famous Julian Simon Bet, and putting a lie to the environmentalist fallacy of “infinite growth on a finite planet”
Meme of the Day
