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December 10, 2025
Welcome to The Lighthouse, the weekly email newsletter of the Independent Institute covering politics, economics, current events, and everything in between.
Dear Readers,
This week Francis Crescia writes that Mark Carney’s bid to pivot Canada’s trade away from the U.S. is faltering, leaving the economy strained and alliances unsettled.
Ivan Eland discusses the downside of the neo-Monroe Doctrine and how Trump’s new National Security Strategy brings defense closer to home but risks alienating neighbors with heavy-handed tactics.
Drawing on the implications of the recent Fed meeting, Allen Gindler argues that a bureaucracy of voting officials determining the ‘price of money’ is inherently at odds with economic reality.
Scott Beyer warns that NYC Mayor‑elect Zohran Mamdani’s plan to fine and seize “bad” landlords is framed as tenant protection but it is really a slippery slope to government control of housing.
In part II of our debate on the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH), Caleb Petitt argues in defense of EMH: while markets may wobble, evidence shows they still price information with remarkable efficiency.
Happy reading.
Jonathan Hofer
Managing Editor
Top picks this week
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** Why Mark Carney’s Trade Strategy Must Change Now
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** by Francis Crescia
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The Canada-US trade relationship is over 150 years old. Currently, that relationship is in shambles.
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** Trump’s Closer-to-Home National Security Strategy Is a Mixed Bag
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** by Ivan Eland
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Trump is commendably bringing national security closer to home, but he errs by using the military inside the house.
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** Twelve Votes vs. the Market
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** by Allen Gindler
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As history shows, central banking is often responsible for exacerbating economic situations.
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** Socialism Through Regulation
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** by Scott Beyer
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While Mamdani has expressed a commitment to upzoning, he and his ideological fellow travelers also plan to impose additional regulations on housing construction, making projects harder to finance.
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** Should Interest Rates Go Up or Down? ([link removed])
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** by Caleb Petitt
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EMH holds that private information can only allow for above-market returns for a very limited amount of time.
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** FEATURED BOOK
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** Crossroads for Liberty
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** Recovering the Anti-Federalist Values of America’s First Constitution
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** by William J. Watkins, Jr.
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“Given that the Anti-Federalists’ predictions about the growth of national power have come true, their views of the weaknesses of the Constitution deserve to be heard.”
—Randy E. Barnett, Patrick Hotung Professor of Constitutional Law at the Georgetown University Law Center
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