2026-01-15 13:52:04
Russia is preparing a new economics textbook for university students that aims to challenge what its authors call a “myth” that democracy drives economic growth and to revive the socialist economic theories of Soviet leader Josef Stalin, the head of a Kremlin-linked advisory body said.
Moscow has ramped up efforts to enforce its view of history and global politics in schools since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, introducing mandatory patriotic classes and rewriting history curricula to align with the Kremlin’s wartime narratives.
Valery Fadeyev, chairman of Russia’s presidential human rights council, told the RBC news website that he is leading work on the textbook, which could be introduced as early as the next academic year for students of sociology, political science and history.
The 350-400-page book, tentatively titled “Essays on Economics and Economic Science,” is intended to present a broader view of economic development than mainstream liberal theory, Fadeyev said.
Here is the full story, via Frank W. The Kyiv School of Economics it ain’t…
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2026-01-15 13:01:44
The protests began on December 28, initially led by traders and business owners who took to the streets against the rapidly weakening economy, soaring inflation, and the sharp fall in the rial’s value. The currency’s decline has been dramatic: against the Indian rupee, the rial is now valued at just 0.000091 paise, while against the US dollar it has fallen to around 0.0000010 cents.
Most strikingly, the rial’s value against the euro has dropped to zero, meaning it is no longer accepted or exchangeable in any of the 27 European Union countries.
Five Key Drivers Behind the Rial’s Freefall
- US and International Sanctions: Restricting access to dollars from exports, especially oil, has intensified pressure on the rial.
- Hyperinflation: Consumer prices rose by 42.5% in December 2025, forcing citizens to seek foreign currencies, gold, or essentials instead of holding cash.
- Weak Economic Growth: Iran’s GDP contracted by 1.7% in 2025, with further shrinkage projected in 2026, limiting government revenue and fiscal stability.
- Policy Changes: Recent reforms requiring importers to purchase foreign currency at open-market rates increased demand for dollars overnight.
- Political Unrest: Ongoing protests against clerical leadership and economic mismanagement have added a “risk premium,” accelerating currency depreciation.
Here is the full story. And that was before what appears to be, as I am writing this post earlier in the evening, the air attack on Iran.
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2026-01-15 04:34:24
BREAKING: Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, overseeing Greenland acquisition — $500-$700 billion offer being prepared.
Was just at 23% on Polymarket.
The post Markets in everything? appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
2026-01-15 01:12:30
1. Did Tudor mercantilism succeed?
2. Why are intelligent people more liberal?
3. Maybe U.S. law enforcement is taking too much testosterone, steroids, etc.?
4. The political culture that is Malawi (WSJ).
5. On Kant, Mercor, and poetry aesthetics.
6. Ai, RIP. Deserving.
7. Vanderbilt is expanding to San Francisco (WSJ).
The post Wednesday assorted links appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
2026-01-14 23:42:14
A company called GRU Space publicly announced its intent to construct a series of increasingly sophisticated habitats on the Moon, culminating in a hotel inspired by the Palace of the Fine Arts in San Francisco.
On Monday, the company invited those interested in a berth to plunk down a deposit between $250,000 and $1 million, qualifying them for a spot on one of its early lunar surface missions in as little as six years from now.
Here is the full story, via the excellent Samir Varma.
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2026-01-14 14:57:16
Following up on my recent post, which suggested less skilled immigration into the UK has not been a disaster, the question has been raised about long-term negative political externalities. Will not migrants enter the country and make electoral outcomes worse? I would offer a few points in response:
1. If this is the argument, one needs to admit that immigration has gone well enough in the UK to date. This argument is about the future, not the past.
2. The UK has indeed had a variety of poor leaders as of late. It is very difficult to hold immigrants responsible for them, mostly it is the native white Brits who have been at fault. You might not like how UK Muslims have shaped some of the Middle Eastern statements of Labour, but that is hardly a relevant factor behind the slowdown of the British economy, or of British gridlock.
3. There is a very real risk that Reform will win the next election and then implement bad economics policies, above and beyond whatever you think of their approach to immigration. But if that is the real fear, it would be good to limit their popularity by talking up the positive side of immigration. I am not suggesting that any of us should tell anything less than the full truth, but obviously there are many positive aspects of migration that even professional economists can get wrong. Does immigration mean “higher home prices” or “capital gains for domestic homeowners”? Well, both, but you hear much more about the former than the latter (even Gemini got that one wrong). Let’s redress the balance, and lower the risk of future bad economic policy while we are at it.
4. Sometimes immigration weakens the demand for welfare state transfers, since the immigrants are viewed as outsiders. In Britain, that would currently be a positive at current margins. I recognize that is by no means the only political effect, but in any case do not assume that all of the political externalities are negative.
Above all else, it is difficult to paint immigrants as major villains for Britain’s troubles so far. Just read through the original analysis again. It has not been seriously countermanded, and do most of their problems are indeed the fault of the white people.
That all said, I would readily admit, and indeed stress, that a better set of migration policies could have put Britain in a much better position than it is today.
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