It was late August of 1998 when I arrived in my first class of graduate microeconomics at George Mason University. I arrived early, and waited with eager expectation for the professor, who was one of the two professors that had drawn me to GMU–Walter Williams. When he walked in, it was clear who the dominant […]
Archives
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Ginsburg’s Death Eclipses a Remarkable Life
19 Sep 2020
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on Friday of complications from pancreatic cancer. She was 87. As a law student, Ginsburg graduated first in her class at Columbia Law, but found it difficult to land a position. Her mentor told a judge friend he would no longer send students to him as clerks if he did […]
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The Work of Two Intellectual Giants
26 Feb 2017
I come to praise the dead, or perhaps, to recognize their importance at the least. Actually a little of both. Last week the intellectual world lost two more giants. Perhaps I am getting old, but this seems to be happening with greater frequency. Michael Novak and Kenneth Arrow both died. Novak (1933-2017) and Arrow (1921-2017) […]
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On February 17, 2017 Michael Novak, champion of capitalism, died at the age of 83. Arguably Novak had a more significant impact than any other scholar of his generation who wrote on political economy from a distinctive Christian perspective. I picked up my copy of his 1982 classic: The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism (still a best seller at Amazon). […]
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Phyllis Schlafly (1924-2016)
06 Sep 2016
Phyllis Schlafly, a social conservative icon, died yesterday at the age of 92. For decades she had been the head of the Eagle Forum, after an early career in helping move the voters of California in the direction of conservatism and preparing the state for Ronald Reagan. Though not a native or resident, Schlafly was […]
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Forrest McDonald (1927-2016)
04 Mar 2016
Just as I was thinking about one of my favorite author-scholars today, I discovered he had very recently died. Forrest McDonald, one of the truly great scholars of early American political thought, and long-time professor of history at the University of Alabama, passed away at the age of 89. The first lesson I should learn […]
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Dean Smith, R.I.P.
09 Feb 2015
Dean Smith, the legendary University of North Carolina basketball coach, died Saturday at 83 years of age. Smith was a coaching oddity, much more than a sweat-suit clad whistle-blower. A fierce intellect, Smith was well-read and poised. He possessed balance, a trait that seemed to flow into his players and teams. I promise I am […]
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