Inside Out is an anomaly. Think of all the qualities that comprise your typical animated film and here, and not for the first time, Pixar ignores most of them. Not only does it strain convention by taking place inside the main character’s head, but Inside Out also has a dearth of singing, slapstick, and cultural references. […]

The Greek drama may finally be ending as soon as Monday, as end it must at some point.  Greece will exit the Euro, and the question is what will happen?  I don’t claim any special insight into what that will be, but there are a few points about this we should consider. First, Greece’s problem […]

I am going to make an argument here that we have now as a society encountered—for perhaps the first time in history—an “ontological crisis.”  What do I mean?  I mean a crisis about reality.  Now I don’t believe this crisis is particularly influential for most ordinary people, nor for most subjects of investigation.  A philosopher […]

Pope Francis issued his long-awaited encyclical today, entitled, Ladato Si or “Praise to You [O Lord].”  The 183 page document is concerned with the environment and more specifically with global climate change.  I am in the process of making my way through it, but have a few initial comments get things going.  First, the Pope […]

Over 55 historians recently signed a letter expressing their dissent to the new Framework established by the College Board for AP US History courses all across the country.  Over 460,000 students took the AP US History exam in 2014.  Each summer, hundreds of AP US History teachers and college professors meet together to grade these […]

Andrew MCarthy has an interesting post in the National Review Online, in which he says opponents of the TPA (Trade Promotion Authority), which gives the president the authority to ask for an “up-or-down” vote on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the real legislation, are off base for their opposition.  His argument is technically true.  What is […]

One of the joys of teaching economics is pointing out the foolishness of poor economic choices.  It is precisely by showing the linkage between cause and effect  and demonstrating unintended consequences that helps students understand “the economic way of thinking.”  As a monetary economist, there is perhaps no better visual aid than passing around an […]

Several years ago, before he fled the great North for the sunny climes of South Beach, Nike ran an advertising campaign that featured simple, black and white clips of LeBron James doing LeBron James sorts of things. The tagline was inspired heresy, “We are All Witnesses.” Hewn by God to play the best game ever […]

Over on Cafe Hayek, Don Boudreaux has yet another gem on the minimum wage.  I love his economic work so much that I am almost despondent that I’ll never be as logically articulate as he is.  But I’ll keep trying.  In that article I offer an extended quote for the day: One of the greatest […]

One of the benefits of being …ahem..over 50 years old is perspective.  Not necessarily wisdom, but one would like to think that perspective leads to additional wisdom as well.  As Hayek noted decades ago in The Sensory Order, much of what our brain processes works to align what we see in light of previous activities–mental […]