D.A. Carson has a gem over on the Gospel Coalition, which is well worth a read. RATHER NAIVELY, SOME OF US THINK that if Jesus were alive today, our tolerant culture would not give him a really rough time, much less crucify him. We would simply marginalize him, treat him as if he were a […]
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“The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil”
18 Dec 2014
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A few days ago I continued my regular pooh-poohing of the perils of deflation, which is coming up again because of the fall in the price of oil. As I said in that post, deflation that is associated with productivity is generally a good thing, but if its a result of a collapse in the […]
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Politico‘s James Hohman has a nice piece up this morning on Gov. John Kasich (R-OH) and his quest for a balanced budget amendment to the US Constitution. Kasich has formed a non-profit organization, Balanced Budget Forever, to promote the effort. Though the article is ostensibly about the legislative quest, the sub-theme is Kasich’s possible presidential bid […]
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Sometimes the media gets it right– why changing government incentives are contributing to lower employment.
13 Dec 2014
I don’t know how this slipped past the editors of the NYT. We have at least a recognition that changing incentives are contributing to more people staying out of the workforce. Of course, excellent economists such as U of Chicago’s Casey Mulligan have done outstanding empirical analysis to show that changing government policies are making […]
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Today is my final for macroeconomics and hopefully my students will demonstrate some level of economic understanding. However, I fear that perhaps the culture of economic ignorance which pervades our public understanding might make all my efforts for naught. Unfortunately as they leave my class they will be surrounded for the rest of their lives […]
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Snowpiercer: Dystopian Tale for the 99%
11 Dec 2014
“Politicians should read science fiction, not westerns and detective stories.” –Arthur C. Clarke Science fiction is, almost without fail, either set in the future or an unknown universe. This allows the author, or filmmaker, to turn blank pages and screens into whatever he or she wishes. Without the baggage of now, science fiction often comments […]
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Does truth matter? Ferguson, UVa and Ms. Dunham…
11 Dec 2014
Recent headlines have caused a storm of social conflict over the last month, and competing truth claims are raised to support various positions. We have Michael Brown’s shooting in Ferguson, TV star Lena Dunham’s story of sexual assault during her college years in her book, the UVa rape story of a Greek frat house sexually […]
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My esteemed Berean colleague, Marc Clauson, and astute reader Jonathan are carrying on a discussion for which Walmart’s business practices are a touch point. I posted a response to one of Jonathan’s comments several days ago. Jonathan asked my thoughts on the accusation that Walmart is the nation’s biggest “welfare queen”. I am working through a response […]
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Stand with Hillary, a PAC that is not affiliated with Mrs. Clinton, recently produced and publicized “Stand with Hillary.” I wish I had been part of the brain-storming session that produced this video. I imagine the white board must have included phrases and bullet points that said something like: Problem:six-figure speaker’s fees, extreme wealth. OMG, […]
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The Social Justice Crowd Part Two
04 Dec 2014
I was happy to see some response to my earlier blog on the “Social Justice Crowd.” Here I would like to offer some clarifications and responses to the responses. Let me say first that Bert Wheeler gave an excellent rejoinder regarding one of the major benefits of enterprises such as Walmart: It substantially increases the […]