I am in the middle of reading a couple of really interesting and controversial books on capitalism. One is Deidre McCloskey’s The Bourgeois Virtues: Ethics for An Age of Commerce. University of Chicago Press, 2006. This is a big book on big subject, a grand sweep type of book with high ambition. McCloskey is currently a […]
Archives
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Capitalist Virtues: An Oxymoron?
12 Sep 2013
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Kickstarting WW III
11 Sep 2013
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Visualizing The Left’s Struggle With Syria
09 Sep 2013
Courtesy of Todd Adams via Twitter, here is the inherent problem the progressive left has with President Obama’s Syria policy: h/t Jim Geraghty at NRO.
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Random Thoughts
07 Sep 2013
Actually I have two topics, one more important and the other just an illustration of how bureaucractic organizations can become pathological or dysfunctional. So let’s begin with Syria. My colleague Mark Smith enumerated well the various issues and positions on the question of whether we should use force against Assad’s ruling regime. It is indeed […]
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Syria: No Good Options
04 Sep 2013
Syria is a mess. I am not pretending to be expert on this, so let’s be clear about expectations. I am not speaking from authority, but just as an interested observer. The United States seems to have few options, and none are good. As of now, the debate surrounds our decision to use military force […]
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Impeachment Talk is Silly, Irresponsible
22 Aug 2013
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) stated publicly that President Obama is nearing the standard for impeachment, according to NBC News. Coburn made his comments at a town hall meeting, where he argued that Obama’s actions are “getting perilously close” to being impeachable offenses. Article 2, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution states: The President, Vice President […]
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The Gay Marriage Debate is Not Over
20 Aug 2013
Michael Emerson and Laura Essenberg (both at Rice University) recently publicized a white paper on American attitudes toward marriage. The paper is based on a two-wave panel study that examined respondents in both 2006 and in 2012. These sorts of panel data are a gold-standard approach to examining change over time. Most surveys are simple […]
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When Ideologues Rule
16 Aug 2013
It is all too easy in a blog-filled world for terms to used in ways that are meant to be used simply as an ad hominem attack–we too easily attack the person rather than the policy. And as Christians, we must always endeavor to speak the truth in love. Nevertheless, we cannot avoid the use […]
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When Race Collides with Political Satire
14 Aug 2013
You have probably seen and heard about the poor rodeo clown, now banned from the Missouri state fair. Our clown’s offense? Wearing a President Obama mask and asking the crowd if it wanted to see President Obama get run over by a bull. According to reports, the crowd cheered the question. I don’t have anything […]
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Voter ID Laws & The Limits of Democracy
13 Aug 2013
Well, that didn’t take long, did it? This evening, Gov. Pat McCrory (R-NC) signed one of the most extensive voter identification laws in the United States. North Carolinians must now show a government–issued photo i.d. to vote. The act also shortens the early voting period from 17 days to 10, and it eliminates voter registration on election […]
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