Today is my final for macroeconomics and hopefully my students will demonstrate some level of economic understanding.  However, I fear that perhaps the culture of economic ignorance which pervades our public understanding might make all my efforts for naught.  Unfortunately as they leave my class they will be surrounded for the rest of their lives […]

“Politicians should read science fiction, not westerns and detective stories.” –Arthur C. Clarke Science fiction is, almost without fail, either set in the future or an unknown universe. This allows the author, or filmmaker, to turn blank pages and screens into whatever he or she wishes. Without the baggage of now, science fiction often comments […]

Recent headlines have caused a storm of social conflict over the last month, and competing truth claims are raised to support various positions.  We have Michael Brown’s shooting in Ferguson, TV star Lena Dunham’s story of sexual assault during her college years in her book, the UVa rape story of a Greek frat house sexually […]

My esteemed Berean colleague, Marc Clauson, and astute reader Jonathan are carrying on a discussion for which Walmart’s business practices are a touch point. I posted a response to one of Jonathan’s comments several days ago. Jonathan asked my thoughts on the accusation that Walmart is the nation’s biggest “welfare queen”. I am working through a response […]

Stand with Hillary, a PAC that is not affiliated with Mrs. Clinton, recently produced and publicized “Stand with Hillary.” I wish I had been part of the brain-storming session that produced this video. I imagine the white board must have included phrases and bullet points that said something like: Problem:six-figure speaker’s fees, extreme wealth. OMG, […]

I was happy to see some response to my earlier blog on the “Social Justice Crowd.”  Here I would like to offer some clarifications and responses to the responses.   Let me say first that Bert Wheeler gave an excellent rejoinder regarding one of the major benefits of enterprises such as Walmart:  It substantially increases the […]

Kevin Williamson, writing for the National Review, has perfectly captured the sentiments I have expressed on the Bereans blog on several occasions, when he wrote that the “anti-Walmart” protesters  are in reality just calling for the poorer among us to be stiffed.  Williamson contrasted the elite culture, whim he labeled the “Rolex crowd,” with the […]

Politico has a reasonable article this morning on the emerging Republican presidential field, focusing on the issues that divide and distinguish the candidates. James Hohmann highlights immigration, NSA eavesdropping, Medicaid expansion, Common Core, and gay marriage as the key fault lines. He takes those issues and splices them through a potential field of: Jeb Bush […]

Well, here is an interesting bit of supposedly bad news.  An economics professor at the University of California-Davis has said he has “crunched the numbers” and found that “America has no higher rate of social mobility than medieval England, Or pre-industrial Sweden.” He added, “That’s the most difficult part of talking about social mobility is because […]

Happy Thanksgiving to all our readers.  I have “dutifully” participated in the culinary festivities and have also indulged in one of my favorite traditional pastimes—a nap after dinner—but I haven’t forgotten to do what the goal of this national holiday intended, to give thanks.  But what does that mean?  It might seem obvious.  But in […]