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Stuart Anderson, writing in Forbes, explains why economic nationalism is economic nonsense.  A slice:

Economists have understood for centuries that trade deficits are not a good indicator of a country’s economic well-being. For example, the U.S. trade deficit has been lower in times of recession. Moreover, the U.S. “trade deficit” is “exactly offset” by America’s “investment surplus” that reflects our ability to attract foreign investment, notes Daniel Griswold, a Mercatus Center senior research fellow and co-director of the Program on the American Economy and Globalization. “If politicians try to ‘fix’ the trade deficit, they will only succeed in cutting off the net inflow of foreign investment.”

GMU Econ alum Ben Powell, now a professor at Texas Tech, argues cogently that higher tariffs on imports into the U.S. from Mexico will increase immigration into the U.S. of Mexicans.  (Such a result, in my opinion, would be a small silver lining for Americans around the huge dark cloud of higher tariffs.)

Steve Davies is always worth listening to.

Jason Kuznicki describes how authoritarianism is getting smarter – and, thereby, more pernicious.

More immigration does not mean more crime.

I recently – and happily – stumbled upon this 2012 review, by my former law-school classmate Stephen Smith, of the late William Stuntz’s book The Collapse of American Civil Justice.

Sad news: Russell Hardin has died.  (HT Roger Koppl)

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