Category Archives: News/ Lessons

Re: Our “Pursuit of Happiness” Is Killing the Planet, by James Traub Dear Sirs: After World War Two blue-collar philosopher Eric Hoffer tried to make sense of the mass movements that had led to the deaths of hundreds of millions of … Continue reading →

Re: What Broke Deutsche Bank, by David Enrich, reviewed by Roger Lowenstein Dear Sirs: Roger Lowenstein’s review of David Enrich’s book about Deutsche Bank’s descent from a pillar of sound banking to one of the most reckless banks on the planet … Continue reading →

Why I Want China to Stop Manipulating Its Economy (Psst…It’s probably not what you might think) by Patrick Barron   In his State of the Union Address–February 4, 2020–President Trump outlined his reasons for punishing nations like China that manipulate … Continue reading →

Re: A World Without Work by Daniel Susskind, reviewed by Alana Semuels In the closing paragraph of her review of Daniel Susskind’s A World Without Work, Alana Semuels writes… “The dire predictions of workers losing their jobs to machines have not come true in … Continue reading →

  Central banks are enemies of a free and prosperous society. Let me count the ways.   Like the military, central banks are creatures of the state. Suggestions of them being independent are pure fantasy.   There is a symbiotic … Continue reading →

On December 20, 2019 President Trump authorized sanctions against companies and individuals who are participating in building Nord Stream Two, a pipeline under the Baltic Sea that will bring Russian natural gas to Western Europe, principally Germany. The pipeline is … Continue reading →

The Hidden Link Between Fiat Money and the Increasing Appeal of Socialism Among the Young by Patrick Barron For some time now I have been mulling over the possible causes of what seems to be an increase in the desire … Continue reading →

Re: The Secret to Success Academy’s Top-Notch Test Scores Dear Sirs: In his excellent review of Robert Pondiscio’s How the Other Half Learns: Equality, Excellence, and the Battle Over School Choice Dale Russakoff seems to assume that parents should be allowed to send … Continue reading →

A tariff is a tax on imports that is used to satisfy a policy goal. Before the federal income tax became law in 1913, the US federal government was funded almost entirely by tariffs and excise taxes. An excise tax … Continue reading →

From today’s Open Europe news summary: Chancellor: No Deal Brexit would eliminate Treasury’s fiscal reserves The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, warned yesterday, “The ‘fiscal firepower’ we have built up in case of a No Deal Brexit will only … Continue reading →