President Obama has shown his true colors again. In a speech to a group of ambassadors gathered at the White House (July 15) he said this: “I think we have to step back [from the Nice attack] and reflect on what we are doing to eliminate this kind of chronic violence. It’s been a difficult several weeks […]
Archives
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Globalism versus Globalization
22 Jul 2016
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Rule of Man: Addendum
15 Jul 2016
Earlier in the week I wrote a post about the decline of the rule of law and increase in the rule of man in the United States’ governing structure. I would like to continue that thought as it related to the individual human being. Question: Why is the rule of law so important? Answer: Because […]
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Charles Murray has shown a division in the United States between the ordinary citizen and the “rich and/or famous” people (Murray, Coming Apart). The latter increasingly isolate themselves, physically and in other ways, from the rest of us. They also tend to live more extravagant lives, to the point sometimes of trampling on the “little […]
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240 years ago, more or less on July 4 (the actual date of the signing of the Declaration is debated), the members of the Continental Congress signed a document that severed the bonds of the American colonies from their British rulers. For many Americans, this day is still cause for celebration for that reason, as […]
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The Progressive Dream: In Reality
30 Jun 2016
In the period from about 1890 to 1920, labeled the Progressive Era, political thinkers, economists (a new profession then) and public intellectuals told Americans and Europeans that the best way to get efficient government that actually worked was to create independent boards, commissions and other similar organizations. We were told they would be free from […]
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What Happened on the Way to Richard Posner?
29 Jun 2016
Way back in the late 1970s, when the Law and Economics movement was really getting underway, one of the “stars” of that intellectual movement was Richard Posner, a law professor at the time, and one interested in hos economics might be applicable to law. At the time, I was also developing an interest in economics, […]
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Innovation and Bureaucracy: A Match Made in….
27 Jun 2016
“Bureaucrats Stifle Innovation” Maybe that sounds like something I might say. And you would be right. But I didn’t say that. It was the title of an article in Reason on June 1, 2016 by John Stossel. Yes, Stossel is polemical. But I think he is also on to something. The subtitle is “Taught Not […]
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In a National Review article of June 21, 2016, Michael Barone explored the question of whether the United States economy has shown any growth, and if not, why not. The article, entitled “Why We have—and Probably Will Keep Having—Sluggish Job Growth,” relies on a recently published book by the economist Arnold Kling, Specialization and Trade: […]
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Goodbye EU
24 Jun 2016
Since the vote to leave the European Union is done, and Great Britain is out, I suppose I will give my opinion about it. This undoubtedly will not be shared by all. First, let me say—again—that I strongly favor free trade among nations. Having said that, the EU is very much more than an economic […]
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Climate Change Advocates Don’t Like Free Speech
21 Jun 2016
We have been hearing quite a bit lately about the state attorneys generals’ attempts to require information from corporations, non-profit think tanks, university research centers and even individuals regarding so-called “climate denial.” The AGs have alleged that these entities have withheld information that acknowledges the reality and danger of climate change and thus have committed […]