Welcome to a new category of post, the Hall of Shame.  This category is for the most outrageous of political economy issues.  For our inaugural post, I offer this quote from former San Fransisco Mayor Willie Brown, a California political institution in his own right.  Writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, July 28 (As reported […]

Despite the temptation to address President Obama’s most recent foray into higher education–which, by the way, if implemented by Congress, would only drive up costs more and eviscerate much of what is left that works–I will examine a different issue, one that for Christians poses an even bigger problem in the long run.  It goes […]

This summer I asked my colleagues at Bereans at the Gate a question – How might we define “crony capitalism”? The consensus was that “rent seeking” – the explicit and direct use of time and money for economic gain without productive wealth creation – was at the root of crony capitalism. When we think of […]

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 […]

The Austrian theory of the business cycle is often misunderstood as an overinvestment theory–where too much investment causes a boom, which must be corrected by a bust.  Prominent economists such as Paul Krugman characterize it this way, Call it the overinvestment theory of recessions, or “liquidationism,” or just call it the “hangover theory.” It is […]

  Some of you who read this blog and some who have read the recent works by Robert Sirico and Arthur Brooks know that the need of the hour seems to be to make a moral case for markets.  Nearly everyone admits their efficiency and ability to create massive wealth.  But the criticism on ethical […]

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 […]

In my last post on ideologues, I chastised those representing the Obama administration for willful ignorance on the evidence of job loss associated with Obamacare (principally lost hours as workers hours are cut to below the 30 hr/week threshold).  While I linked to several anecdotal reports, I did not provide “systematic evidence” of job loss.  […]

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 […]

The Washington Post has revealed, via Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency has violated existing privacy restrictions thousands of times during the past five years. Barton Gellman’s work uncovers not only the number, but the types, of incursions. Unsurprisingly, a significant number have been accidental. Given the raw number of searches going on, it is […]