Thursday, September 26, 2024, marked the end of a 56-year-long era for fans of the Oakland A’s. The Major League Baseball team played their last game at the Oakland Coliseum.

We evolved with the Earth to our current advanced technological state thanks to our ability to find and utilize new sources of energy for productive work. A million years ago, proto humans began burning wood for warmth, cooking, and safety. Homo Sapiens adopted and improved consumption of that hydrocarbon before advancing to coal, which drove machines to replace manual labor, to oil and gas, whose superior energy density allowed planes, ships, and trucks to move people and cargo quickly around the world. 

It’s a mistake to think the unemployment insurance fraud permitted during 2020’s pandemic has stopped imposing costs on its victims: American taxpayers. A new majority report by the US House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Accountability highlights the official estimates of the magnitude of the fraud:

In many Western countries, governments are enacting draconian speech laws. Politicians argue that these measures are necessary to combat misinformation and hate speech spread through social media. Nowadays, even mild insults are often labeled as “hate speech.” Illiberal politicians, government officials, and special interest groups frequently use this term to silence anyone who criticizes them. Those who dare to question their politics risk destroying their reputation and being “canceled.”

As economic educators, we wonder if we have let our students down.

Our nation is in the middle of a presidential campaign featuring campaign proposals that would be laughed out of the public square if we had an economically aware electorate. Had economic educators succeeded over the years, we would not have seen so many discredited policies from the past.

Edmundo González Urrutia, the real winner of Venezuela’s presidential election in July, has decided to go into exile in Spain, disheartening many Venezuelans. For many, he was the last hope of halting the country’s descent into chaos. According to official tallies obtained and published by the opposition, González secured nearly seventy percent of the vote. However, he was forced to spend weeks holed up in the Dutch embassy after his victory.

The U.S. government has paid its creditors more than $1 trillion in interest during its 2024 fiscal year. CNBC reports on Uncle Sam’s new grim fiscal policy milestone:

California has long positioned itself as a leader in green energy, with lofty environmental goals and a slew of policies designed to make those goals a reality. For over three decades, the state has poured billions into subsidies and mandates, from tax incentives for solar panels to rebates for electric vehicles. Yet, despite those efforts, progress is thwarted by the very regulations meant to support green development.

Presidential candidate and VP Harris has proposed giving first-time home buyers up to $25,000 to go toward their down payments, plus another $10,000 tax credit. If enacted, this proposal would raise the price of housing.

On this anniversary of “9/11,” I am mourning the loss of our American culture, of the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.