Markets, populism, and a fading American dream
The political divisions that started erupting across America in 2015 are about many things. These include the meaning of national sovereignty, the sense of a growing chasm between the political class...
View ArticleThe great price of America’s great lockdown
One reason why economists are viewed as modern-day Cassandras is that they tell us many things we don’t want to hear. Economics points relentlessly to the costs and benefits associated with particular...
View ArticleThe persecution of Jimmy Lai
It’s no secret that China isn’t exactly flavor of the month throughout the world right now. Before the court of global opinion, the reputation of the Chinese regime is about as low as it can go....
View ArticleThe making and unmaking of European democracy
If there is anything that we have learned over the past five years of political turmoil in Western countries, it is that large numbers of people across the political spectrum are increasingly...
View ArticleHow John Paul II reminded us that liberty and truth are inseparable
On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the late John Paul II’s birth, it’s worth underscoring that one theme which permeated his pontificate from its beginning to the end was that of truth....
View ArticleUnderstanding Pinochet
Writing a biography of someone like General Augusto Pinochet is fraught with potential pitfalls. Does it become an exercise in whitewashing someone whose regime oversaw a brutal repression which...
View ArticleAlexander Hamilton and American nationalism, in his time and ours
In one of the most significant American political developments in some time, over the past five years many conservatives have embraced nationalism. This shift has not only reset the contours of debate,...
View ArticleFratelli Tutti is a familiar mixture of dubious claims, strawmen, genuine...
One of the first things that will strike readers of Pope Francis’s new social encyclical Fratelli Tutti is its sheer length. At about 43,000 words in English (including footnotes), that’s more than the...
View ArticleLaw and morality: not a simple affair
The role of the state, in spheres ranging from public morality to the economy, is one of several axes around which debates about the conservative movement’s future are presently revolving. In a 2020...
View ArticleExamining the moral basis of Pope Francis’ pleas for financial regulation –...
In his Prayer Intentions for May 2021, Pope Francis is asking that Catholics pray for strict regulation of financial markets to protect the poor. But is strict government oversight what really protects...
View ArticleEconomic policy should focus on economic issues
With any new presidential administration comes new policies. That’s part of the electoral calculus made by the American people every four years. Different presidents have different priorities. No one...
View ArticleAmerica is crossing economic Rubicon of government management
If anyone had any lingering doubts about where American economic policy is heading over the next four years, those should have been removed by President Joe Biden’s proposed $6 trillion budget for...
View ArticleAmerica suffers from economic nationalism
One of the biggest political upheavals in America over recent years has been a resurgence in economic nationalism. Given the amount of regulation with which it is burdened, America’s economy can hardly...
View ArticleDespite displays of strength, China has key weaknesses
The recent announcement that China had tested something akin to a Fractional Orbital Bombardment System, which is launched into space and then orbits the globe before discharging a missile at its...
View ArticleRemembering Latin America’s knight of freedom
January 7, 2022, marks the fifth anniversary of the death of a man who played a major role in spreading throughout Latin America the key ideas that underpin the free society. Continue Reading...
View ArticleBob Dole left a legacy of civility and cooperation that is sorely needed today
One of the sadder deaths in 2021 was that of former Kansas senator Bob Dole. Wounded war-hero and long-serving politician, Dole was widely respected from people across the political spectrum not only...
View ArticleJustin Trudeau’s political overreach is a greater threat to liberty than the...
The mask has been torn off. If anyone had any doubts that some governments will do literally anything to suppress anyone who protests what they regard as unreasonable measures by the state to address...
View ArticleNatural law is human law
Perhaps the most confusing aspect of natural law is the phrase itself: “natural law.” For many people, the word “natural” implies human biology or the physical environment. For others, it means...
View ArticleHow do we determine the morality of economic sanctions?
Are economic sanctions morally permissible? That question has been asked by many people since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the imposition of a range of economic sanctions on Russian entities and...
View ArticleThe SEC’s proposed new rules for activist investors should be rejected
In July 2020, then–presidential candidate Joe Biden stated that “it’s way past time we put an end to the era of shareholder capitalism.” What precisely he meant by that was not entirely clear from the...
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