This Is Getting Misérable.

What to know: Food prices continue to skyrocket; bread, vegetable oils and meat are at their highest prices (relative to household incomes) since the 1970s.

The TPPF take: Inflation is a hidden tax on all of us.

“Inflation is much worse than Washington seems willing to admit,” says TPPF’s E.J. Antoni. “For inflation to end and for prices to stabilize, the Fed needs to drastically scale back (and perhaps even cease) its purchases of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities.”

For more on inflation, click here.


Messing With Success

What to know: The board of directors of the Woodlands will hold an informational meeting on the question of incorporating into a city on Thursday evening.

The TPPF take: Why mess with success?

“The Woodlands model, like the Texas Model of low taxes and reasonable regulation, is a rousing success,” says TPPF’s James Quintero. “Why abandon that now? The Woodlands should be left in its pristine state—with its small but efficient township structure, its unique identity as a haven in the midst of the chaotic Houston metropolitan area, and its strong non-governmental institutions.”

For more on the Woodlands, click here.


China’s Ambitions

What to know: China’s leader contends that if the nation wants to retake Taiwan, the U.S. would lack the power—or the will—to stop it.

The TPPF take: Taiwan must exercise its soft powers to remind its allies that it’s worth defending.

“The public needs to understand Taiwan is a democracy,” says TPPF’s Chuck DeVore. “More importantly, the world needs to recognize Taiwan may be all that’s standing between the free world and the Chinese Communist Party’s quest for world domination. Taiwan needs to up its game on the soft power contest with the People’s Republic of China.”

For more on Taiwan, click here.