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August 12, 2026

Dear Readers,

This week, we explore the wisdom of constraints on leaders, the roots of Britain’s break with the EU, and the historical echoes shaping Zelenskyy’s diplomacy.

Following acclaimed director Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey, Daniel Sánchez-Piñol recounts Odysseus’s famous decision to tie himself to the mast and how it symbolizes the wisdom of leader guardrails.

A decade after Britain voted to leave the European Union, Carl Schramm examines some root causes of Britain’s status.

David Armitage discusses Ukrainian President Zelenskyy’s diplomatic efforts as mirroring the urgent foreign missions of the American Continental Congress.

Following news that Caltrans is considering “high-speed buses,” Craig Eyermann draws on California’s bullet-train fiasco to explain why central planning favors ambition over practicality—and why state planners keep recycling old mistakes.

Happy reading.

Jonathan Hofer
Managing Editor

Top picks this week
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** What The Odyssey Teaches About Restraining Power ([link removed])
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** Free societies need their institutions ([link removed])
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** by Daniel Sánchez-Piñol
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In a film that runs nearly three hours, perhaps its most important political lesson is delivered in just a few minutes.
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** Brexit and Its Discontents ([link removed])
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** A decade after the vote, Britain still struggles with the economic and political consequences of leaving the EU. ([link removed])
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** by Carl Schramm
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Embedded in this drama is a much larger question.
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** Ukraine’s War Revives an Old Lesson About Independence ([link removed])
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** As in 1776, Ukraine shows why independence depends on interdependence, and why that lesson remains relevant in 2026. ([link removed])
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** by David Armitrage
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Even the most determined fighters need diplomatic allies and military support.
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** High-Speed Buses: California’s Next Transportation Farce? ([link removed])
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** by Craig Eyermann
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What could possibly go wrong?
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** FEATURED BOOK — COMING SOON!
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** The Indispensable Robert Higgs
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** A Reader
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** by Robert Higgs (Author), Christopher J. Coyne (Editor), Rachel L. Coyne (Editor)
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Timely, provocative, and deeply insightful, this collection showcases a scholar whose work continues to shape debates about power, policy, and liberty today.
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