Supply is elastic, installment #1637
The Trump administration has conducted military operations against small boats in South America to combat drug trafficking. Despite these efforts, experts indicate that cocaine remains readily available in the United States. This raises concerns about the effectiveness of the military deployment aimed at curbing drug smuggling.
- ▪The military campaign has resulted in nearly 200 deaths.
- ▪Cocaine, the primary drug smuggled from South America, is still easily accessible in the U.S.
- ▪Evaluations of drug prices, overdoses, and seizures suggest little change in cocaine availability.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Supply is elastic, installment #1637 by Tyler Cowen May 30, 2026 at 1:18 am in Current Affairs Economics With deadly precision, the Trump administration has launched dozens of attacks on small boats in the waters off South America, killing nearly 200 people in a campaign U.S. officials say is meant to curb the flow of illicit drugs to the United States. But almost nine months into the operation, epidemiologists, addiction scientists and public health experts say cocaine, by far the top drug smuggled out of South America, is as easy to get in much of the United States as it was before the strikes began. The findings — based on evaluations of street prices, lethal overdoses, purity of samples and drug seizures at U.S. borders — raise questions about the effectiveness of the largest U.S.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Marginal Revolution.
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