Day: May 30, 2025

International Students Contributed $43.8 Billion to U.S. Economy

Buck Banks

$43.8 billion

The United States says it will begin revoking visas for some Chinese students. China is the second-largest source of international students in the US, with about 277,000 students enrolled in 2023–24, or roughly one in four foreign students. International students contributed $43.8B to the US economy last year and supported over 378,000 jobs.

The 800-Pound TACO in the Room

Pensito Editors

Pensito Illustration

From The Bullwark, Jonathan Last offers an analysis. He believes the “TACO” label — coined by a columnist at the Financial Times — has the potential to actually hurt Donald Trump:

  • It’s simple. Trump Always Chickens Out. You can put that phrase anywhere, apply it to anything, and everyone knows what it means.
  • It’s meme-able. You have the slogan. You have the word mark. And you have an universally recognizable image. Hell, there’s even a pre-built emoji for it. ?
  • It’s universal. You can apply it to any situation. Trump pulls back on tariffs? TACO. Trump gives in to Putin? TACO. Trump increases the national debt? TACO.
  • It’s organic. No Democratic strategist came up with TACO. It’s an observation that emerged from the finance world—from the very same bros who voted for Trump in the first place. You can feel the disdain of his own supporters dripping off of it.
  • It hits at something deep inside Trump. It’s about his soul. It’s about his weakness.

    • “By hitting him with TACO over and over, you (a) reveal his pull-backs as weakness and (b) dare him to go through with the stuff that will screw up the real world — and, in theory, create pain for his movement.”