Hamas’s Victory

Those who called Hamas’s attack on Israel “Israel’s 9/11” were more accurate than they realized. Just as the US reacted to 9/11 by fulfilling Osama bin Laden’s wish that the US would get bogged down in no-win wars, Israel’s reaction to the Hamas attack fulfills Hamas’s likely goal of radicalizing more Palestinians. The result of Hamas’s attack will be to strengthen the most extreme elements on both sides of the conflict.

Will a New House Speaker Solve Our Problems?

Last week we witnessed a dramatic, historical first: A Speaker of the US House of Representatives was removed from that position by a vote from Members of that body. US Rep. Matt Gaetz was able to gather enough Republicans dissatisfied with the leadership of then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy to send him packing.

What was the last straw? According to Gaetz, it was McCarthy’s secret deal with President Biden and the Democrats to bring up another huge funding package for Ukraine separately if they agreed to support a bill to keep the government open without Ukraine money in it.

Argentina: What is the Right Way To Kill a Defective Currency?

Argentina has accumulated seven months of over 100% of year on year consumer price inflation since February 2023. The official and parallel exchange rates between the Argentine Peso (ARS) and the US Dollar (USD) have doubled in half a year, while the spread between the official and parallel rates has held steadily at around 100%. The central bank of Argentina has been for most of its history the prime example of fiscal dominance and inflationary bias, despite sparse periods of de jure independence.