Abundance or scarcity?

Abundance is a new book that has been attracting attention and debate among mainstream economists and politicians.  It aims to explain to Democrat members in the US why their party lost the election to Trump (narrow as that result was).  The authors, Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, writers at very liberal mainstream The New York Times and The Atlantic, respectively, argue that it was because the Democrats and supporters of ‘liberal democracy’ have lost their ability in government to carry out great projects that could deliver the things and services that working people (called the ‘middle class’ in America) need.

Abundance or scarcity?

Tariffs, Economic War, and the Emerging Post-American Order

Tariffs, Economic War, and the Emerging Post-American Order

My commentary: The tariffs imposed under the Trump administration are not genuinely aimed at revitalizing American industry. Rather, they function as a tool to destabilize China’s economic growth and position the U.S. to provoke a potential military confrontation. These punitive measures are designed to persist unless nations acquiesce to the administration’s demands, effectively coercing them into aligning with its confrontational economic agenda against China. 

Disclosure: Van Jackson used to work for Center for American Century (CNAS). 

CNAS’ supporters

Thousands of sailors get access to *trendy* weight-loss app [Noom] in new deal

Thousands of sailors get access to trendy weight-loss app in new deal

As of Feb. 1, the Navy is offering the commercial version of Noom free for a year to these sailors in what the service calls its Fitness Enhancement Program. The Navy’s contract with Noom, which is considered a one-year pilot program, is worth $466,560, paid for by excess funds released by Congress last fiscal year for quality of service initiatives.

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NewsBreak Under the Microscope: Ownership, Al, and Data Privacy

The Wikipedia entry for NewsBreak is poorly written and lacks comprehensive information about the app. It claims that the Pentagon included NewsBreak on a list of companies allegedly working with the Chinese military—a claim IDG Capital, the company’s Chinese backer, refuted in a statement to Bloomberg. This assertion is based on a Reuters article.

The information provided below was collected by ChatGPT and summarized by Gemini AI. I chose not to use my preferred DeepSeek to avoid any potential accusations of bias.

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