WSJ: “To broaden access to private markets, we should first restore public markets for small and medium-size companies so that all investors have an array of public and private choices.”

Brandan Buck: From Venezuela to Iran, the president thinks he can avoid ‘the forever war trap’ but that is exactly what we’re going to get. 

Today’s capitalism reflects a tragic reality: artificially oversized corporations; monetary systems designed for credit expansion; recurrent financial bailouts; state-financed armed conflicts; and selective subsidies granted to favored sectors. Rather than promote general prosperity, the prevailing order tends to secure recurrent benefits for a narrow group while transferring its costs to the rest of society. This is not an excess of capitalism but its degeneration: the inversion of an institutional order originally meant to coordinate knowledge, responsibility, and production.

The 10-year Treasury yield — the benchmark for U.S. government borrowing — added nearly 10 basis points to 4.382%....

“[The Pentagon] announced the deployment of 5,000 marines and sailors, as well as USS Tripoli, an amphibious assault ship, to the Middle East, signalling the possibility of a ground operation.”

Politico: Support for the war among all Republicans remains solid, even among non-MAGA GOP. Republicans only oppose wars when a Democrat is president. 

“I don’t think $150 is out of the question in another month…You start talking about June, I’ll give you $180.”

[Free Will: A Very Short Introduction by Thomas Pink (Oxford University Press, 2004; x + 134 pp.)]