Culture

Next month, I will be giving my first in-person lecture since the pandemic. At Maastricht University’s Law School, I will be talking about the interrelation of economic development and political stability. 

Dear readers,

Controlling the price of over 1000 household consumer goods will inevitably result in shortages and black markets.

Dear readers,

A few days ago, the government of Argentina declared its plan to impose price controls on more than 1,000 household consumer goods, from dairy and frozen foods to school supplies and household items.

Lebanon is on the verge of total collapse. A modernization of its political institutions cannot be postponed.

Dear readers,

As many of you know, my paternal family is of Lebanese origin. My grandparents, Antoniette and Georges Jraissati, were born in a town outside Beirut called Zahlé, of no more than 150,000 people.

Despite America having the majority of its citizens vaccinated, President Joe Biden and his camp believe that government mandates are not just ideal but necessary. For many, the mandate represents the last effort the country has to do to end the pandemic once for all. For others, it represents a clear violation of their individual rights. 

Dear readers, 

While August's inflation was slightly lower than July's, yearly inflation is at 5.3 percent, and in key sectors like energy and vehicles, inflation is much higher. 

Note:

America is not “back,” as President Biden said during his inauguration. Especially with Europe, America has not acted as an unconditional ally, and according to many EU officials, Biden’s new Indo-Pacific security initiative exemplifies that.

The new round of negotiations was held over the weekend in Mexico.

Over the weekend, the Venezuelan government of Nicolas Maduro and the country's opposition, led by Juan Guaido, had its newest round of negotiations.

A few days ago, all of us were shocked about the news coming from Afghanistan. In a matter of days, the Taliban (a fundamentalist Islamic force that ruled Afghanistan from 1996 until 2001, the year when the U.S. invaded the country) took control of the entire country, storming into the presidential palace on August 15 after the country's president Ashraf Ghani fled the country.

“A trending video on social media illustrated that in some states of Venezuela, people are using gold for their everyday transactions. In fact, it shows that they are using the domestic currency to wrap the grams of Gold. It is that worthless.”

On September 17, 1787, delegates left the Constitutional Convention in the Independence Hall in Philadelphia.  As they exited, Benjamin Franklin was asked what kind of government do we have?  "A Republic," he replied, "if you can keep it."