If incentives to ingenuity and skill in individual persons were to be abolished, the very fountains of wealth would necessarily dry up; and the equality conjured up by the Socialist imagination would, in reality, be nothing but uniform wretchedness and meanness for one and all, without distinction From Rerum Novarum, 1891.  This truth needs to […]

The Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has told his people that a major appliance retailer in his country is unfairly selling televisions at high prices. His response was to send in troops to take over stores and auction off items at much lower prices. In particular, he believes that his supporters should have plasma televisions. It […]

I feel the need to clarify my earlier post on “Fairness and Equality” due to the many and varied comments on it and some misunderstanding.  At the outset, I will say that in a blog post it is impossible to address every aspect of a subject or every objection.  So the reader must read the […]

At least indirectly, through this excellent short video by Arthur Brooks.  Arthur is one of our favorite social scientists here at Bereansatthegate.com; he is also President of the American Enterprise Institute.  Arthur summarizes social science research on what drives happiness; well worth your review. Earned success…that’s the key.  What enables this? A free enterprise economy:  […]

On the day after GM announced its first ever female CEO, we can consider the latest scientific evidence on male/female differences.  The latest science reported in the popular press is making much of brain imaging which identifies the way neurons fire in the brain.  You will be shocked–yes shocked–to know that women’s brains operate differently […]

Not fair!  How many times did we hear, or say, that when we were children and someone thought they were not being treated fairly, whatever that meant to them?  We are hearing it again, from grown-ups—well, I think they are grown-ups.  We hear it from the Occupy Wall Street crowd (what is left of them), […]

Pope Francis recently released his Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, which condemns “unfettered capitalism, “(as labeled by the press).  Pope Francis seemingly condemns something that never has been, nor does anyone seriously call for:  a laissez faire market devoid of morals or any constraining laws.  Indeed, the rule of law and morality are necessary for healthy […]

Mike Murphy has written a provocative editorial imploring the Republican Party to seize the moment.  He is to be applauded for encouraging the party to act, but his proposal represents well the current debate among Republicans regarding how to move forward. For Murphy it is about dispatching the old, uncomfortable positions on social issues like […]

U.S. Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR) is probably taking the first few steps of a political death march–and it shows. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mucYcm6moe0 With his election coming up in November 2014, why is Pryor doing this? Arkansas, like much of the South, has transitioned from a bastion of Democrat dominance into a reliably red-state of Republicanism. In 2012, […]

Our interns here in DC visited the Bureau of Printing and Engraving this week.  In case you didn’t know, this is where most of the paper money in the US is printed.  I have to say I haven’t been so near so much cash in my life (something like a few hundred million in the […]