Monthly Archives: September 2016

Archive of posts published in the specified Month

Subverting the Power of the Purse

Yuval Levin recently wrote TheFractured Republic, an intelligent look at the state of political discontent, and a recommended read.  He recently wrote Hillary Is an Embodiment of the Left’s Disdain for Democracy with coauthor Ramesh Ponnuru in National Review. He examines three

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Betrayed by Elites

from The Betrayal of the Intellectuals by Victor Davis Hanson So Beinart misses entirely what has angered the proverbial people about the so-called Washington–New York corridor’s political-media-academia elites. The people are not angry nativists opposing legal immigration, but they object to massive,

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The Invisible Bubble

from Peggy Noonan at The Wall Street Journal, A Dramatic Lesson About Political Actors “Borgen” captures this: History is human. Political leaders are driven by personal imperatives every bit as much as—often more than—public ones. It demonstrates, knowingly or not,

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Restraint and Accountability

From The Atlantic, How American Politics Went Insane by Jonathan Rauch The Founders knew all too well about chaos. It was the condition that brought them together in 1787 under the Articles of Confederation. The central government had too few powers and

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Democracy and Liberty

From National Affairs George Will writes The Limits of Majority Rule.  It is an excellent summary of the history of the court as it has moved from judicial review to activism.  The success of Progressivism has hinged on the court shifting from

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Executive Unilaterialism

Yuval Levin wrote The Fractured Republic, a very intelligent look at our political condition and highly recommended. Below is as excerpt from his recent article in National Review, Hillary Is an Embodiment of the Left’s Disdain for Democracy: First, contemporary liberalism

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The High Cost of Slow Growth

Scott Grannis at Calafia Beach Pundit is one of my favorite economics bloggers. He does not post often, but when he does he produces some real gems.  His work includes illuminating graphs that supports his clear analysis. An excerpt from This

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The Upside of Pork

From The Atlantic, How American Politics Went Insane by Jonathan Rauch Congress has not passed all its annual appropriations bills in 20 years, and more than $300 billion a year in federal spending goes out the door without proper authorization. Routine business

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How to Reduce Inflation to Zero

Kevin Williamson’s Welcome to the Paradise of the Real was written over two years ago and I still refer it to readers.Sneaky Inflation is equal to that piece in bringing sound economic thought to bear on current issues with an engaging style.  Both

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Economics, Science and History

Economics is a bit different from history by the use and study of certain underlying principles. It is  not a physical science but a  social science using scientific methods to analyze and understand. There are certain principles that are quite

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Transcending Ideology

From The Weekly Standard, The Roots of Campus Leftism by Warren Treadgold The absence of reasoned argument is in fact one of campus leftism’s sources of strength. Refusing to supply ideological definitions leaves the impression of a viewpoint that depends not on

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“Talents for Low Intrigue”

from Mona Charen at National Review, What Are the Checks and Balances: The Founders included the Electoral College in the Constitution to guard against demagogues, or in Alexander Hamilton’s words, men with “talents for low intrigue, and the little arts

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Regulatory Rent Seeking

from David Goldman at The Asian TImes, Deplorably, Trump is going to win That’s not why Trump crushed the Republican primaries. He won because Americans are tired of an economic elite that ignores them. Americans know the game is rigged against

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Ignore My Transgressions

From Kevin Williamson at National Review,  Move On “Move on!” is a strange demand to make on behalf of a woman such as Mrs. Clinton. “Move on!” means drawing a line at the current moment in the timeline, leaving the

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The True Cost of Low Rates

From Barron’s Stephanie Pomboy: A Grim Outlook for the Economy, Stocks by Leslie Norton In the past rates that were too high were the trigger (for a financial crisis). Not this time. No. 1, we have basically bankrupted corporate and state and

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Stifling Inflation and Productivity

From The Reasons Behind the Obama Non-Recovery by Robert Barro in The Wall Street Journal The main U.S. policy used to counter the Great Recession was increased government transfer payments. Federal social benefits to persons as a ratio to GDP

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A Foundation of Power

From Jonah Goldberg at National Review, House Clinton and the Wages of Corruption Hillary Clinton recognized that her ambitions could only be realized by hitching herself to her sociopath husband. No doubt that decision had its downsides, but look where she

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Dictating Progress

From William Voegeli in The National Review, Hillary’s Empty Moralism Is a Reflection of the Greater Progressive Movement It has now been more than a century since progressivism reconfigured American liberalism by discarding the Founding’s commitment to constitutional structures and limits,

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Common Economic Fallacies

Don Boudreaux at his excellent Cafe Hayek in his Quotation of the Day, finds an excerpt from Armen Alchian from a textbook, University Economics in 1972. This excerpt points out several economic fallacies, many of which are still common today,

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The New Fear of Executive Power

from The Betrayal of the Intellectuals by Victor Davis Hanson Long before the arrival of Donald Trump on the current election scene, many noted with alarm efforts to circumvent the Congress with Obama’s “pen and phone” executive orders and nullification of

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