Trump’s War on Capitalism
by David Stockman
Hot Books, 2024; xi + 245 pp.

The Gary G. Schlarbaum Prize

For excellence in research and teaching for a promising young scholar.

There are no secrets about the world of nature. There are secrets about the thoughts and intentions of men.

—J. Robert Oppenheimer

No big deal, it was just “a milk run.”

In this age of relativism, where one often hears reference to “your truth” and “my truth,” there are so many varying interpretations of truth that the concept of truth itself seems devoid of meaning. It is fashionable to see the concept of truth as indistinguishable from opinions or preferences. For example, Mari Fitzduff writes that

The Road to Freedom: Economics and the Good Society
by Joseph E. Stiglitz
W.W. Norton, 2023; xxiv + 356 pp.

Following the European elections, French credit default swaps have soared to a post-2020 record of 39 points. Many commentators blame the rise of the National Front for market turmoil, which has sent all euro area spreads higher. However, none of this would have happened if France’s debt was low, finances were strong, and the euro area economies enjoyed healthy economic growth.

Following last week’s decisions, which represented a significant blow to the American administrative state, today, the Supreme Court did what was widely expected: rule in favor of Donald Trump in a case related to federal prosecution over January 6. In a 6-3 decision, the court ruled that presidents have “presumptive immunity” for “official acts” while in office.

Robert Reich is on his fifth myth, but so far, he has just been recycling the same progressive talking points in each one. The overall message is that big corporations and the super wealthy wield too much political power and that they shape the law in their own favor, contributing to terrible economic inequality. For Reich, the U.S. economy is a zero-sum game and the people at the top have rigged it so they win and everybody else loses.