Remembering Charlie Kirk

And more from this week…

In an era when overwrought commentary strives to make every happening “important,” the assassination of Charlie Kirk, an immense tragedy for his family and for our nation, stands as an event of genuinely outsized significance.

Daniel says: Charlie Kirk was a man of consequence. In his 31 years on this earth, he built a political organization that amassed millions of followers, millions of critics, enabling him to influence the outcome of federal elections and shape policy at the highest levels of government.

Charlie had friends in high places, as evidenced by an Oval Office address from President Trump and remembrances from Vice President Vance and other political leaders. Despite this, he made time for the little guy. I never met Charlie. But I have many close friends who did, all of whom say he was one of the nicest guys in politics—a man of generous spirit, willing to talk to and engage with them, when most people of his stature would view them as unworthy of their time.

Charlie was a man of faith motivated by love of country, a political professional who would remind his audience that there was more to life than politics; that they should get married and go to church. He was a happy warrior in the arena of ideas who traveled the country to debate his ideological enemies, not behind a computer screen, but face-to-face, with the conviction that his arguments were better than theirs.

On September 10, a coward ended that debate with a bullet. May he face justice in this life and the next. An assassin made a wife a widow. Two young children will grow up without their father. Our nation lost a great American. May his memory be eternal. – Daniel

Other developments pale in comparison but, for what it’s worth, here’s what else we’ve been reading.

ON THE ECONOMY

The coming week will be a big one for the Federal Reserve, with the Senate considering Stephen Miran’s nomination to join the Board of Governors and the Board meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the possibility of interest rate cuts. For the administration’s latest thinking on all matters Fed and monetary policy, read Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, “The Fed’s ‘Gain of Function’ Monetary Policy.”

Also in the Journal, in honor of Klarna’s IPO, a good column from Allysia Finley on “America’s ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ Economy.” Did you know: “Retail traders can borrow at rates as low as 5.75% on Robinhood to buy and flip stocks.”

And the New York Times highlights the importance of remittance payments from immigrants to their home countries and the surge driven by stepped-up enforcement, which may well inform their willingness to be reliable partners in stemming the flow of illegal immigration.

ON TRADE AND INDUSTRY

The Good: With renegotiation of USMCA scheduled to begin in earnest in the coming weeks, Mexico announced that it will increase tariffs on a range of manufactured goods from China and other Asian countries as part of its budget. This provides a strong foundation for future negotiations, constitutes a step toward the construction of a Fortress North America, and underscores the reality that trade with Mexico will become more important, not less, in a post-Liberation Day international trading system.

And, read the new paper from the Hudson Institute’s Nadia Schadlow on Rebooting the Defense Production Act. Nadia recently joined the American Compass podcast to discuss rebuilding strategic depth—the resilience and flexibility afforded to a nation that extends protection beyond geography into domains like cyberspace, outer space, and their industrial base.

The Bad: Executing an ambitious trade agenda requires the administrative capacity to enforce it, which means Congress must provide trade enforcement agencies with adequate resources. Unfortunately, appropriators in the House took a step on Wednesday toward defunding the trade police: “The cuts include a 14 percent reduction for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, which would bring the agency’s already slim yearly funding level to just over $50 million, as well as a 2.5 percent cut for the Commerce Department compared to fiscal 2025, according to a fact sheet. Within Commerce, the House committee is asking for a 23 percent reduction in funding for the International Trade Administration, which administers anti-dumping and countervailing duties.”

And the Trump administration “has withdrawn the nomination of Landon Heid, a China hawk, for a key post in the U.S.-China tech battle, raising questions about whether the move signals a more dovish approach to Beijing” (Reuters). Heid was slated to serve as assistant secretary for export administration at the U.S. Department of Commerce and the withdrawal of his nomination is especially concerning in the context of other administration moves loosening export controls.

The Ugly: The story of Intel’s decline told with fittingly dark humor.

ON ENERGY

“Detroit’s Carmakers to Save Billions in Trump Emissions Rollback,” reports Bloomberg. In Europe, meanwhile, “Stellantis CEO Calls for EU Action to Save Fading Auto Industry.” According to CEO Antonio Filosa, EU emission targets are “‘unrealistic’ and excessive regulation end up increasing the cost of small cars, causing a slump in volumes and putting the auto industry at risk.”

Offshore, the Trump administration’s obstruction of wind projects is highlighting the many ways that vital projects such as natural gas pipelines have long faced obstructions of their own. Now, “governors in the US Northeast are considering dropping resistance to natural gas pipelines and other fossil fuel projects in the hopes they can convince President Donald Trump to allow offshore wind farms to move forward” (Bloomberg).

And at BlackRock, CEO Larry Fink—acknowledging the practical and political limitations of an aggressive climate agenda confronted with real-word constraints—is continuing his rethink of globalization and the rest of the Davos agenda, this time warning the World Economic Forum’s Board of Trustees that “prosperity cannot be sustained without energy pragmatism. Efforts toward decarbonization have not always considered the cost to the average person, or to the emerging world.”

ON TECH

Only bad news here, beginning with some dark quotes from this New York Times story on AI-enabled consumer technology. If you think this is bad…

It may even help you become a better parent. Mr. Siroker shared this example: Recently, during a trip to a theme park, his children begged him for more credits to play in an arcade, and he caved. His A.I. assistant, which had been listening, sent him a text message explaining what he could have said to remain firm.

…maybe skip this one altogether:

“The truth is, most people don’t have much they need to get done beyond feeding themselves, clothing themselves and watching the game,” Mr. Evans said. “Do you really need your phone or something else to do all this crazy stuff?”

But do read the extraordinary investigative reporting from the Associated Press, “Silicon Valley enabled brutal mass detention and surveillance in China, internal documents show.”

ON POLITICS

New polling from NBC highlights the starkly different priorities of young male Trump voters (34% say “having children” is important to their personal definition of success; top of the list) and young female Harris voters (6% say the same; bottom of the list). The Economist’s Mike Bird has a more positive spin, noting that “wanting to be debt-free, own a home, and make your family and community proud are all basically margin of error equally popular across these very divided groups.”

Gallup finds that “just 54% of US adults view capitalism positively, down from 60% in 2021 and the lowest since Gallup began asking the question in 2010. And while overall support for socialism remains mostly stable at 39%, the partisan divide has grown—especially among Democrats. Two-thirds of Democrats now view socialism favorably—up from half in 2010” (Bloomberg).

At The Liberal Patriot, Ruy Teixeira considers the limitations of “Abundance” as a political project:

There is no hint here of moving to the center on the wide variety of culturally-inflected issues…that have come to define the image of the contemporary Democratic Party and are tanking the Democrats’ performance among working-class voters…The contrast between what most liberal Democrats, including abundance advocates, want such voters to want and what they actually do want is a fundamental problem…Tweaking the current system to get better outputs assumes more faith in the current system than plausibly exists among most voters.

Wishing you peace this weekend,

Oren and Daniel