Adam Smith’s observation that “the sole use of money is to circulate consumable goods” cannot be repeated enough. It explains so much, and in particular it explains why world leaders were so eager to convene at Bretton Woods in 1944 so that the world’s currencies could be pegged to a dollar that was defined […]
Those Who Would Ban TikTok Are More Dangerous Than TikTok Read More »
At issue before the Supreme Court this week is whether the national security implications of TikTok outweigh our right to freedom of speech. The belief here is we better cling to our First Amendment. Elon Musk’s motivations for purchasing Twitter were to ensure there was a place to have free and open debate on
The Real National Security Risk Is a TikTok Ban Read More »
“The greatest fever of all was aspiration, a belief in the sheer possibility to remake a life.” That’s what Evan Osnos wrote in Age of Ambition, his remarkable 2014 book about life in emerging China. Osnos reported that as of 2014 the Chinese were second only to Americans when it came to the purchase of
An Envious U.S. Political Class Protests the Chinese Eating Read More »
Andy Kessler writes in his latest Wall Street Journal column that the U.S. “is strong precisely because we don’t all think the same way. New ideas come from new ways of thinking.” Kessler puts it so well. We individuals generally see the present and future very differently, and it’s this very division praised by Kessler that powers
Freedom Is the Only Way to Beat Authoritarianism Read More »
TikTok has asked for an injunction so the Supreme Court or the incoming Trump administration may consider its argument that forcing its ownership sale violates the First Amendment. Given what’s at stake, it only seems appropriate that it’s granted. For users and content creators of this platform, what is key to be aware of is
The Drafting of Tom Brady As a Metaphor for the Absurd TikTok Ban Read More »
The big credit card companies “should have killed us when they could have.” Those were the words of early PayPal employee Todd Pearson in Jimmy Soni’s excellent 2022 book, The Founders: The Story of PayPal, and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley. Not only did the competition not see the future of payments through the unsteady rise
TikTok Is American Owned. See Elon Musk’s Career If You’re Confused Read More »
“Let many ideas flourish as industrial policy doesn’t work.” Those are the words of the excellent Andy Kessler in his latest Wall Street Journal opinion piece. Policymakers should embrace Kessler’s logic, all the while applying it to their shameful attempt to force a TikTok divestiture. And yes, the demand from politicians (and upheld last week by the D.C.
The National Security Angle With TikTok Is Bogus. This Is Industrial Policy Read More »
Bikes were “as indispensable to a Chinese as a car to twentieth century Americans.” Those are the words of Fox Butterfield from Alive In the Bitter Sea, his 1982 book about communist-era China. Call Butterfield’s account of just some of communism’s myriad horrors essential reading when it comes to attaining a tangible grasp of how
The Sickening Cruelty of Life When China Was Actually Communist Read More »
