Source: Quillette
by Aaron Sarin

“After a lifetime listening to stories of the great miracles wrought by the Chinese economy, the truth has a disorientating, even surreal quality — in the end, China never did get rich after all. Those golden years of double-digit growth belong to history. Spiralling debt; lethargic household consumption; ever-rising youth unemployment; a property industry in crisis; a demographic timebomb — today, every trend is an adverse trend. Whether the data portend dramatic collapse or merely decades of slowdown, recovery is not an option.” (04/27/24)

https://quillette.com/2024/04/27/the-great-divide-china-inequality/

Source: Town Hall
by Rainer Zitelmann

“According to the 2023 Index of Economic Freedom, Sweden is among the most market-oriented economies worldwide. Overall, it ranks in 10th place, far ahead of the United States (25th) and the UK (28st). But public spending is still high, and while income tax rates have come down considerably from their peak in the 1970s and 1980s, they are still higher than almost anywhere else in the world. In other words, despite the ascendance of capitalist elements, Sweden is not entirely free of socialist influences. However, the image of Sweden and other Scandinavian countries as strongholds of socialism harks back to the 1970s and 1980s. During the period of socialist welfare-state expansion from 1970 to 1991, Sweden dropped far behind many of its European competitors. From fourth place in the OECD per-capita GDP ranking in 1970, socialist-era Sweden had dropped to 16th place by 1995.” (04/27/24)

https://townhall.com/columnists/rainerzitelmann/2024/04/27/sweden-the-myth-of-nordic-socialism-n2638225

Source: Tenth Amendment Center
by Rob Natelson

“The current Supreme Court is a vigorous defender of property rights. In general, I like that. But as I observed in a column last year, the court sometimes goes beyond what an accurate reading of the Constitution can justify. The Fifth Amendment is part of the Bill of Rights. It reads in part, ‘nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.’ This language is called the ‘Takings Clause.’ On Apr. 12, the court handed down a new Takings Clause decision. The case was Sheetz v. County of El Dorado. The court was unanimous. Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote the opinion.” (04/27/24)

https://tenthamendmentcenter.com/2024/04/27/scotus-defends-property-rights-but-raises-constitutional-questions/

Source: Common Dreams
by Ana Caistor Arendar

“The people of Ecuador have given a resounding NO to the return of secretive, foreign corporate courts suing the Ecuadorian state for democratic decisions. In a referendum held last week, Ecuador voted to keep its constitutional ban on using international arbitration and investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms (ISDS) to settle disputes between foreign corporations and the state. This was the second time that the Ecuadorian people have voted No to ISDS and its international arbitration courts by means of a direct vote at the ballot box. The first time was in the 2008 constitutional referendum when a new constitution, including article 422 banning ISDS, was submitted to a popular vote. Then came the task of exiting ISDS commitments which the government and legislators managed to do, taking 8 years to fully achieve, in the face of powerful lobby groups doing their utmost to uphold ISDS.” (04/27/24)

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/ecuador-corporate-power-isds-courts

Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob

“Talking to Joe Rogan about the JFK assassination,Tucker Carlson argued that Trump’s and Biden’s withholding of information runs counter to American law. ‘There’s clearly something worth protecting,’ he says, and he doesn’t mean the people involved — they’re all dead. What’s being protected are, presumably, institutions. … But there’s another generational secret that Trump and Biden share, and Tucker mentioned it too: UFOs.” (04/26/24)

https://thisiscommonsense.org/2024/04/26/so-horrible/