The country awaits the 9 p.m. decision tonight by a Missouri grand jury on whether to indict a white police officer, Darren Wilson, for the killing of a black youth, Michael Brown.  Passions have been inflamed since Mr. Brown’s death, and a decision not to indict is widely feared to lead to further unrest. There have […]

Last Saturday evening Saturday Night Live’s opening skit parodied President Obama’s executive order on immigration. I’ll leave the detail to the script writers, but I do suggest the next Schoolhouse Rock parody to be based on:

This trend is execrable. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and 2. The Hobbit 1, 2, and 3. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn–Part 1 and 2.* Hollywood, like a dairy farmer with cold hands, has gripped tightly to whatever dangling teat it can find, wringing every drop of funds from the American cash […]

I am here at the Southern Economic Association in Atlanta, Ga, where it is very nice, pleasantly warm weather, and where numbers and statistics flow like water.  The first session I attended was on measures of economic freedom, and interesting topic on its face.  And the papers were interesting, but excruciatingly painful, looking at factor […]

In light of President Obama’s speech on immigration and his new regulations, I came across an excellent article by Charles C. W. Cooke in the National Review.  It can be found here: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/393248/congress-seems-happy-have-its-powers-usurped-charles-c-w-cooke (sorry I can’t do better with links).  The real crisis is Congress’s happy relinquishment of its prerogative over time, and the quite predictable results. […]

A few weeks before the election, I speculated that a potential election threat to the Democrats was a significant correction to the stock market.  The main reason for the speculation was the impending cessation of QE3, the Fed’s monetary stimulus program.  Pretty much all market observers believe the Fed’s stimulus has at least contributed to […]

President Obama’s Executive Order (which essentially places about five million illegal immigrants beyond the reach of federal law enforcement) is now, it seems, a matter of history. The media have, for a while, fixated on how the decision might influence current political dynamics, as opposed to examining the propriety of the act itself. Now that […]

President Obama has announced, via Facebook and other outlets, that he is going to issue an executive order that will, if sources are correct, shield at least five million illegal immigrants from law enforcement. The President, and others, are floating several justifications for the action. In his own video, Obama claims he is going to […]

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor […]

It looks like the media are again raising the specter of inequality.  The New York Times, whom no one would confuse with a conservative newspaper, in a November 15, 2014 article, now seems to be lamenting the fact that some “super rich” people are purchasing bigger private jets, “leaving behind” the mere wealthy.  I didn’t […]