The Cato Institute’s Dan Ikenson makes the case for the TPP.
Speaking of trade, Derek Scissors – writing in the Wall Street Journal – reports on a new study that finds an increase in private capital from China being invested in America. Such investments, of course, cause the U.S. trade deficit to rise. But this news is good. Contrary to the mistaken, mercantilist assertions of the likes of Donald Trump, Chuck Schumer, Peter Morici, and countless other politicians and pundits, these investments are evidence of America’s economic strength relative to that of China, and they are transactions that further strengthen the American economy. If private companies to which lots of investors are flocking are recognized as being economically promising relative to private companies from which investors are fleeing, why do people not apply the same logic to national economies? Surely national economies to which investors are flocking are economically promising relative to national economies from which investors are fleeing – despite the fact that the results of all this flocking and fleeing include an accounting artifact called “trade deficits” for the former countries and an accounting artifact called “trade surpluses” for the latter countries.
My Mercatus Center colleague Michael Farren celebrates Pokémon Go.
Daniel Bier has data on violence against police officers.
In this short video, Johan Norberg corrects a myth about infant mortality in Cuba.
George Leef is pleased that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg spoke her mind.
Jonathan Fortier reveals some of the fruits of free trade in South African film studios.
