Lone Candle
Champion of Truth
One reason the U.S. is behind China in rare earth metals is that China can tell companies what to do for the good of the country, while Congress and presidents have allowed companies to chase short-term profits at the expense of the country.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNrMWJiJ3sc
Steve Rattner: The job market is clearly getting rough right now
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zs0TTfacwCY
The U.S. economy is a giant bet on AI. The stock market is driven by AI companies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SSs7WDYEck
“In 2023, California passed a law requiring a $20 per hour minimum wage for all fast-food restaurants with more than 60 locations nationwide.
…
New research suggests that the mandate has also resulted in fewer jobs for struggling entry-level workers.
The law went into effect in April 2024 and increased the hourly pay of an estimated half a million workers across the state. But without the law in place, thousands more workers would likely have been employed.”
https://reason.com/2025/10/11/californias-minimum-wage-law-cost-18000-jobs/?nab=1
“Not even shutting down the government can stop Republicans from forcing their way into corporate boardrooms these days.
The federal government is, at the moment, incapable of completing its most basic and routine task—passing a budget—and yet it is simultaneously expanding its portfolio to include a 10 percent ownership stake in an Alaskan mining company.”
https://reason.com/2025/10/07/republican-socialism-the-trump-administration-buys-a-stake-in-yet-another-company/?nab=1
“New York’s experiment with delivery driver wage mandates hasn’t gone well. Pay went up after the 2023 rule kicked in, but so did prices—and many drivers left the market altogether. The city saw an 8 percent drop in its delivery workforce, while food delivery costs rose 10 percent, including a 12 percent jump in restaurant prices and a staggering 58 percent spike in app fees. Tips, meanwhile, plunged 47 percent. Platforms even started capping drivers
…
Seattle followed suit in 2024 with a $26-an-hour minimum wage for delivery drivers—and immediately watched the system collapse. Apps tacked on a new $5 delivery fee, and with taxes added, customers were soon paying bills with nearly 30 percent of the cost unrelated to the food itself. DoorDash saw 33,000 fewer orders in just the first two weeks, wiping out about $1 million in restaurant sales.
Counter to the law’s intention, many Seattle delivery drivers saw their earnings slashed by over half. “Demand was dead,” according to one such driver. A recent report from gig companies found that, following the ordinance taking effect, delivery orders dropped 25 percent, and driver pay fell 28 percent per hour logged on.”
https://reason.com/2025/10/11/new-york-doubles-down-on-delivery-wage-disaster/?nab=1
“”The most persuasive case against protectionism is not the standard one that undergraduate students are taught in their introductions to international economics, which goes like this: Tariffs distort the allocation of resources and impose a ‘deadweight burden,'” Mokyr wrote in the June 1996 issue of Reason. “The standard argument is certainly correct, but somehow it has failed to persuade many people since it was first enunciated by Adam Smith and David Ricardo.”
The better argument, instead, is that “protectionism and insularism impede innovation, depriving our children of the comfort and security that progress and economic growth bring,” he said. “Free trade and international competition not only lead to a better allocation of resources; they ensure that countries do not lull themselves into the technological lethargy that is the archenemy of economic growth.””
https://reason.com/2025/10/13/this-years-nobel-winners-for-economics-explained-how-innovation-makes-us-rich/?nab=1
Mobilising For Failure – The Economic Transition to War and how Nations get it Wrong
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqyDWT0pUsU
Deploying the National Guard isn’t just costly in the direct costs of the deployment, but in how it takes workers and students away from work and school.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-STmAGQwqvM
Many private data sources rely on BLS data. BLS data is extremely important for knowing what’s happening in the economy. It needs more resources to improve its processes. Instead, it’s being politicized by Donald Trump.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSnOSSP8lOE