Author: EconLearner
Screenshot iOS 26.2 fixes 26 flaws in Apple’s iOS software, two of which are already being used in real attacks.Apple iPhoneApple has released iOS 26.2, along with a warning to update your iPhone now. That’s because iOS 26.2 fixes 26 flaws in Apple’s iOS software, two of which are already being used in real attacks.Apple isn’t giving many details about what’s being fixed in iOS 26.2, to give iPhone users as much time as possible to update before attackers can get the details. However, it does reveal that iOS 26.2 fixes two flaws in WebKit, the engine that powers the…
CHONGQING, CHINA – NOVEMBER 24: In this file photo, the Nvidia logo is displayed on a smartphone screen on November 24, 2025 in Chongqing, China. (Photo by Li Hongbo/VCG via Getty Images)VCG via Getty ImagesRubber was oil before oil. As Edmund Morris wrote in his biography of Thomas Edison, rubber was “a raw material necessary enough to provoke armed conflict.” How things change.Think of a recent one Wall Street Journal pension about Nvidia’s H200 chips and that asked why President Trump would “give away one of America’s major technological advantages to a rival and its main economic competitor?” The same…
Confirm iPhone attacks.NurPhoto via Getty ImagesApple just warned that two iPhone vulnerabilities “may have been exploited in a highly sophisticated attack against specific targeted individuals.” Next up is this month’s spyware warnings, issued to iPhone users worldwide. Both vulnerabilities have now been patched in iOS 26.2, released today. But while the update message now applies to users already running iOS 26, there is a more serious warning for those who have yet to upgrade. These attacks targeted people “on versions of iOS prior to iOS 26.” And even though iOS 18 is still being patched, it’s not worth the risk.…
Giving to charity will be very different in 2026.GettyCharitable giving will be different for many donors in 2026. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) signed into law in July significantly changed the tax rules for charitable gifts, making it possible for more taxpayers to benefit, but imposing new limits on others. Here’s what you need to know.Who benefited from the charity deduction rules before the change?Since the charitable deduction was created in 1917, taxpayers have had to itemize their deductions to claim it (and that’s still true for tax year 2025 — you’ll use Schedule A). That means taxpayers…
As geopolitical tensions rise, competition for the cutting-edge science and talent that underpins advanced technology has increased. The United States, China and other major powers now view leadership in areas such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum technologies and biotechnology as central to military capability, economic security and ideological influence.No wonder, then, that governments are pouring money into strategic technologies, tightening export controls and investment controls, and subjecting international scientific cooperation to new security requirements. Research institutions are increasingly viewed as frontline national security assets. The logic of great power competition reshapes, and often constrains, cross-border academic relations and the mobility…
President Donald Trump announced a $6.25 billion donation from Michael and Susan Dell to support the new Trump Accounts children’s investment program.AFP via Getty ImagesWhen Michael and Susan Dell announced a $6.25 billion pledge to create investment accounts for 25 million children in America—an initiative popularly known as “Trump Accounts”—the news generated a lot of excitement, and for good reason. Rarely do we witness an intervention that simultaneously touches family finances, economic development policy and the broader national savings rate. The Dells’ pledge is an act of philanthropy, but it’s also a macro-economic event.The gift expands President Trump’s Invest America…
The US Senate has two proposals to deal with the expiring ACA tax credits. The Senate is expected to begin voting on these proposals in mid-December. Both proposals have advantages and disadvantages that may lead to their passage or termination. This article examines the current state of the ACA’s health care subsidies and how these two proposals stack up.Existing ACA tax creditsThe current ACA health care subsidy tax credits are set to expire at the end of 2025. The amount of tax credit a taxpayer is eligible to receive depends on their income. According to the IRStaxpayers must make between…
HONG KONG, CHINA – 2021/12/11: A pro-democracy activist holds up a yellow banner with the message “Free all political prisoners” during a protest in Hong Kong. (Photo by Miguel Candela/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty ImagesXin Ruoyua young mother in her thirties, violently disappeared in a Chinese “black prisonAround July 2024. She is being held extrajudicially, with the charges and length of her sentence unknown. Her alleged crimes were the creation of an app that provided users with access to Christian hymns, worship music and devotional material. To exercise her religious freedom, she was separated from her child…