Time for my weekly Current Events Write-Up! These are articles and
opinion pieces that I found interesting, and I am sure there is another
side to what they present.
Townhall: “CFPB Settlement Threatens to Destabilize Student Loan Market,” by Shannon Watkins
“Private student loans might soon become more difficult to
obtain…[T]he stability of the securitization industry helps foster a
healthy economy. One way it does so is by connecting investors to those
who need loans. The more capital that is made available to student
loans, the lower the interest rates borrowers will have to pay. In other
words, the more competition that exists between investors, the lower
the interest rates will be for borrowers.” Maybe. My understanding,
though, is that private student loan servicers charge high interest
rates.
Federalist Radio Hour: “Why Does Everybody Hate Each Other? Politics, Trust, And Twitter”
Some of these episodes I like better than others! This one, I
liked. Will Rahn and Ben Domenech talk about how the hard Left cheapens
terms like “Nazi” to the point that they become meaningless. Rahn then
says that the Right went through something similar. It called Barack
Obama and Nancy Pelosi socialists. Now, who is the most popular
politician in America? A self-professed socialist (Bernie)! This
episode was made before Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s stunning victory in
New York. I doubt that an overt Nazi in the U.S. will become a popular
politician, but you get the point: some words get so overused, that
their effectiveness as an insult becomes diminished.
Yahoo
News: “The Democratic Socialists of America show their muscle in New
York congressional upset,” by Hunter Walker and Christopher Wilson
This article is a lengthy narration about Ocasio-Cortez’s recent
upset. It describes how powerful Joe Crowley was, how the DSA decides
whom to endorse, and other Democratic Socialists who are running for
office.
Townhall: “Telling the Truth on Trade With China,” by Veronique de Rugy
China gets a lot of criticism for piracy of intellectual property and
for cornering the steel market. Even some conservatives promote
protectionism as a solution to this. Veronique de Rugy not only
disagrees with this approach, but she finds it ironic. Conservatives
are people who believe that state-run economies do not work, yet the
ones supporting protectionism are confident that China will triumph
economically. Case in point: Veronique states that, by producing a lot
of steel, China is producing fewer non-steel materials, allowing the
U.S. to take more of that market.
Townhall: “Yemen’s Seaport Battle for Food and the Future,” by Austin Bay
Saudi Arabia and Iran compete for influence in the strategic country of Yemen.