POLITICS: What will ‘run’ mean, US economic disaster that wasn’t and other commentary

Conservative: What Will ‘Run’ Mean?

“We’re going to run [Venezuela] until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition,” President Trump said Saturday, prompting the Washington Examiner’s Byron York to ponder: “What did Trump mean by ‘run’?” From what Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday, not “appointing its officials, rewriting its laws, and manning its offices,” but steering “Venezuelan officials away from corruption in the nation’s oil business, away from narcotics trafficking, away from mass migration, and toward better relations with the U.S.” That’s all still “hard to visualize,” but one key “is how much, and for how long, Venezuela will require intense U.S. effort and attention.” If the transition is fast enough, “the critics will in retrospect seem alarmist, Trump’s opponents will be wrong again, and Trump will have a success.”

From the right: Economic Disaster That Wasn’t

“When does the mea culpa” come from experts whose predictions of economic doom under President Trump have proved false? asks the TIPP Insights editorial board. “They were certain from the start” that “recession loomed, stagflation threatened, and America would soon pay” for Trump’s trade wars, “but the economy refused to follow the script.” “After a weak first quarter distorted by import front-loading, growth rebounded sharply.” “Tariffs raised prices in some sectors, but the feared spiral never materialized,” and “consumer sentiment is finally turning higher.” “Why were the experts so wrong?” They “underestimated behavior, resilience, and the ability of people and markets to bend around disruption. The classroom to op-ed pipeline proved no match for a living economy.”

Eye on Iran: The Ayatollah Has No Clothes

“The Foundation for Defense of Democracies has tallied 337 protests in Iran in the past week, with other human rights organizations assessing 25 of the country’s 31 provinces witnessing some level of unrest,” reports Behnam Ben Taleblu at The Free Press. “The regime has met that dissent by arresting 582 and killing at least 17, according to Iran Human Rights.” After decades of recurring major protests, these latest have been brewing since the June US-Israeli strikes on Iran’s nukes; once “Iranians realized that domestic policy was a greater threat to their livelihood than foreign bombs, they saw exactly what international observers saw — namely, that the ayatollah has no clothes.” It helps that President Trump has offered “tough talk in defense of their rights in a way that no other sitting democratic Western leader has ever offered.”

Urbanist: Demand Drives NYC’s High Costs

Mayor Mamdani’s faith that his own “self-confidence,” “charisma” and “cunning” can “bend markets to his will” and impose “affordability by decree” upon New York City is a form of “magical thinking,” showing “he doesn’t understand free markets,” avers City Journal’s Nicole Gelinas. New York City’s “unaffordability” is driven by “intense market demand”: Roughly 25% growth in its apartment stock these last 30 years didn’t “reduce overall housing prices” because lower prices and more supply inevitably “unleash new demand.” The only thing that can make NYC “radically cheaper” is “lower demand.” Free buses and child care will “keep attracting new people,” driving up demand for resources. Ultimately, “the city’s high costs” are driven by consumer “spending power” in “the marketplace.”

Africa desk: The Case for Somaliland Statehood

Israel is the first UN member to “recognize the Republic of Somaliland as a sovereign nation,” cheers Eliot Wilson at The Hill. That “caused a furor” at the United Nations but “the case for Somaliland statehood” is bolstered by its “astonishing economic and political progress over the past 30 years.” Notably, “157 UN members now recognize the “State of Palestine” which has “no universally accepted borders, no single government and virtually no state or economic apparatus.” In comparison, the grounds “against recognizing Somaliland” are clearly “stale and ritualistic.” Israel’s “motivation is irrelevant” but “it should prompt others to reexamine the issue.” It’s really a question of “what is holding us back?”

— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board