- Democracy in America: Tocqueville v. Trump Harvey Mansfield, City Journal
- The tyranny of the “national interest” Pierre Lemieux, EconLog
- Ayn Rand had Asperger’s Syndrome Shanu Athiparambath, Veridici
- Autism and National Public Radio Jacques Delacroix, NOL
Author: Brandon Christensen
Nightcap
- Christianity and the West: which came first? Jonathan Sumption, Spectator
- Argentina’s infernal cycle Branko Milanovic, globalinequality
- Good riddance to the INF Treaty Andrew Erickson, Foreign Affairs
- The assault on American excellence? Nicholas Lemann, New York Times
Nightcap
- The ongoing chess match between Iran and Israel Saeid Jafari, Al-Monitor
- Britain’s not-so-evil empire Daniel Bring, Modern Age
- “The point is not to win, though.” Rick Repetti, Quillette
- Exposing capitalism’s blind domination Lambert Zuidervaart, Footnotes to Plato
Nightcap
- The threat of fanaticism Chris Dillow, Stumbling & Mumbling
- On targeting the price of gold George Selgin, Alt-M
- Reinventing language Catherine Charrett, Disorder of Things
- Geopolitics and Greenland Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen, War on the Rocks
Nightcap
- The oligarch threat Tamsin Shaw, New York Review of Books
- Vasily Grossman’s lost epic Sophie Pinkham, New Republic
- It’s time for Germany to step up Mathieu von Rohr, Spiegel
- How slavery shaped American capitalism John Clegg, Jacobin
Look what just arrived in my hands

Trent MacDonald is an economist in Australia. You can order the book here. Or you might have better luck hollering at him on Twitter. Thanks Trent!
Be Our Guest: “Of Monies and Juries and Freedoms”
Be Our Guest is a new, experimental series at NOL. Basically, NOL is invite-only but you can, and should, submit your thoughts to us. The latest piece is by Michalis Trepas, a Greek national working in the financial sector. An excerpt:
The judicial system was reluctant to intervene, out of respect of the separation of powers (according the Weimar Constitution, currency matters were reserved for the parliament). So, at first, the courts upheld the nominalistic principle and refused to accept a revalorisation of debts. But then, something began to change in the courts’ reasoning. The currency’s slide prior to 1921 could be attributed to the conditions of the “war economy”, whose burden was to be shared by everyone in the country. The unrestrained fall thereafter, the courts said, was a monetary phenomenon, punishing “blindly and unpredictably” only the creditor class.
If you cannot guess by now what Michalis is writing about, read on! If you have figured out what the subject of his piece is about, read on, as it only gets more interesting.
There are cultural and geopolitical considerations to think about here, too, in regards to Greece and Germany and financial markets and constitutionalism.
Nightcap
- Why Islamic debates over slavery still matter Bruce Clark, Erasmus
- Stealing corpses in Gabon Lionel Ikogou-Renamy, Africa is a Country
- The last of the Beatniks Kaya Oakes, Commonweal
- Subscription capitalism Tim Gooding, American Affairs
Nightcap
- Indonesia is building a new capital city Niniek Karmini, Associated Press
- Blasphemy laws are quietly vanishing…in the West Bruce Clark, Erasmus
- Lonely Russia and its multipolar world Hélène Richard, Le Monde diplomatique
- Brasilia, urban planning, and spontaneous order Bruno Gonçalves Rosi, NOL
Nightcap
- Israel’s un-Machiavellian Prince Ben-zion Telefus, Duck of Minerva
- Macron’s Iranian G7 gamble Herszenhorn & Momtaz, Politico
- Why the French love to say ‘no’ Sylvia Sabes, BBC
- An ah-hah moment while shopping David Henderson, EconLog
Nightcap
- Criticizing libertarianism (meh; racism is a much bigger problem) Arnold Kling, askblog
- The Black Boys’ rebellion Michael Taube, Claremont Review of Books
- Rudyard Kipling’s American years John Butler, Asian Review of Books
- The strangling of European democracy Daniel Ben-Ami, spiked
Nightcap
- What does a post-Putin Russia look like? Jakub Grygiel, American Interest
- A primer on China’s “People’s Armed Police” Joel Wuthnow, War on the Rocks
- How can people be smart consumers, but dumb voters? Chris Dillow, Stumbling & Mumbling
- The imperial myths driving Brexit Alex von Tunzelmann, the Atlantic
Nightcap
- From Lahore to Lancashire: Untold stories from imperial Britain John Keay, Literary Review
- The younger sons in Jane Austen’s England had to work Richard Francis, Spectator
- How soon we forget Scott Sumner, EconLog
- Gin, sex, malaria, and American anthropology Charles King, Chronicle Review
Nightcap
- The concept of “myth” in postwar Germany Tae-Yeoun Keum, JHIBlog
- Notes on Warsaw (good comments, too) Tyler Cowen, MarginalRevolution
- What if everyone’s wrong about China? Tyler Cowen, Bloomberg
- Film criticism’s boring left turn Steven Volynets, Quillette
Nightcap
- How to flip a yield curve George Selgin, Alt-M
- How ergodicity reimagines economics Mark Buchanan, Aeon
- How to think better about debt Lou Brown, Crooked Timber
- Why even have kids in today’s world? Bryan Caplan, EconLog