Economics

Progressivism and Democracy

Could democratic government solve, or even effectively address, the problems of a modern society? For decades, this question vexed Progressive reformers as they navigated the transformation of the United States from a country of small farms...

Tucker Carlson: A Buckley for Our Time?

  While Tucker Carlson’s rhetorical reach may not stretch as far and wide as William F. Buckley’s, Mr. Carlson evokes the same gaily combative spirit that young conservatives of the 1960s admired in the founder of National Review. The Bill...

Tucker Carlson: The New G.K. Chesterton?

Rather than being condemned as a manipulative populist feeding the people’s paranoia, Tucker Carlson should be commended for asking us to reconsider the first principles of conservatism, and for addressing the same ideas that G.K Chesterton also believed to be a threat to society: materialism, imperialism, feminism,...

An Introduction to Conservatism for “Well-Meaning Liberals”

Instead of considering contemporary political issues, or politicians, Roger Scruton attempts to rebuild conservatism by looking seriously at its past... Conservatism: An Invitation to the Great Tradition, by Roger Scruton (176 pages, All Points Books, 2018)

Discussing “Capitalism”

Speaking personally, I’d rather discuss many things during this joyful season of Advent than “capitalism.” And yet Matthew Summers’ recent essay “In Defense of Capitalism” for The Imaginative Conservative has prompted me to comment on the...

Edmund Burke on Revolutionary Armies and Taxes

Though a classic in its own right, and arguably the first book on conservatism in the modern world, Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France of 1790 is inconsistent as a coherent work. And, yet, even in its unevenness,...

The Best Possible World and Concrete Living

I found Matthew Summers' critique of my essay "Capitalism and the Gospel of Love" illuminating in the sense that two serious thinkers can look at the same phenomenon from completely different viewpoints. He seeks to show that...

A Theology of Gift: The Divine Benefactor and Universal Kinship

Today’s offering in our Timeless Essay series affords our readers the opportunity to join Stratford Caldecott as he considers the divine nature of giving as explained by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. —W. Winston Elliott III, Publisher My...

In Defense of Capitalism

The term capitalism has long been used by critics as a catch-all to denote a system replete with greed, indulgence, excess, and deprivation. It is easy to misinterpret self-interest as selfishness and write off capitalism and economics. But the truth of the matter is much more complicated...

All Work & No Play: How Schools Are Crushing Our Kids

We’re filling up so much of kids’ time with extracurriculars and studying that they don’t have time to play—and without play, it’s harder to develop the self-starter instincts and resilience of an entrepreneur... This election...

How the Myth of the ‘Robber Barons’ Began––and Why It Persists

Capitalism Worked, But We Were Told It Didn't We study history to learn from it. If we can discover what worked and what didn’t work, we can use this knowledge wisely to create...

Economists Must Answer for More than Just Economics

Romanticizing and moralistic contempt of the economy, including contempt of the impulses which move the market economy and the institutions which support it, must be as far from our minds as economism, materialism, and utilitarianism... Editor's Note: The following excerpt comes from Wilhelm Röpke's excellent book, 

Do Americans Really Value Hard Work?

The tiresome cant about the work ethic notwithstanding, Americans do not celebrate, or even recognize, the dignity of labor. Although they profess to disdain both the idle rich and the idle poor, they do not at the same time esteem those who must work for a living,...

Why We Need “Too Many” Firefighters

Firefighters’ role in the perpetuation of the common good in American communities is significant, even in surprising and unexpected ways. At a time when America is suffering a decline in community service and volunteerism, we should be grateful for firefighters serving our communities in other ways...