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May 7, 2025

Welcome to The Lighthouse, the weekly email newsletter of the Independent Institute covering politics, economics, current events, and everything in between.

Dear Readers,

Over the last several days, there have been two especially noteworthy international elections. Friedrich Merz, of Germany's conservative party, was voted Chancellor after a dramatic first-ballot miss, indicating a weak coalition. And Mark Carney, former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor, took up the leadership mantle as Canada's Prime Minister, succeeding Justin Trudeau as the Liberal Party leader.

The results in Canada and Germany appear to be somewhat of a reversal of the trends previously observed in those countries. Our highlighted articles this week cover the international order, foreign policy, and changing political tides.

Scott Andrew Burns and Caleb Fuller begin with their leadoff installment of a new series addressing common economic fallacies in the context of global trade wars.

Allen Gindler explains how America's political culture has been drifting away from classical enlightenment principles.

Scott Beyer takes a look at other countries’ use of tariffs.

Xiaoyang Zhang writes about what has been lost through the tragedy of American-Chinese relations throughout the decades.

We’re excited to share this issue of Independent Weekly with you—enjoy!

Jonathan Hofer
Managing Editor

Top picks this week
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** Broken Windows and the Broken Logic of Trade Wars ([link removed])
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** Mythbusters: Debunking the New Mercantilists, Part 1. ([link removed])
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** by Scott Andrew Burns and Caleb S. Fuller
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Contrary to what protectionists like Lutnick argue, there’s nothing “America First” about trade wars that destroy the international division of labor that has lifted millions of Americans out of poverty.
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** Vanishing Shadow of Classical Liberalism ([link removed])
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** The duopolistic retreat from liberty ([link removed])
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** by Allen Gindler
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America’s political climate is increasingly sold on an unshakable reliance on an omnipotent state to fix society’s woes, instead of individual initiative and market solutions.
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** Tariffs Are Already A Global Menace ([link removed])
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** by Scott Beyer
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What can America learn about tariffs from countries like Sri Lanka?
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** From Cold War Rivalry to Economic Interdependence ([link removed])
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** Rethinking American-Chinese relations ([link removed])
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** by Xiaoyang Zhang
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History shows that diplomacy driven by mutual interest can cool even the most intense ideological feuds.
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** FEATURED BOOK
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** Let Colleges Fail ([link removed])
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** The Power of Creative Destruction in Higher Education ([link removed])
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** by Richard K. Vedder
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Everyone knows American universities are more expensive and less impressive than ever. But no one has come up with a plan to fix them … until now. Let Colleges Fail: The Power of Creative Destruction in Higher Education is the hard-hitting instruction manual America needs in order to save its institutions of higher learning.
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