There is little new in this latest cycle of economic boom, panic, and bust. All of these cycles are linked to the life and death of the unstable post–World War II Bretton Woods monetary system. First came the crisis-ridden gold-dollar system from 1944 to 1971. Then came the rise of floating exchange rates and [...]
What Matthew Arnold called “an epoch of concentration” impends over the English-speaking nations. The revolutionary impulses and the social enthusiasms that dominated our century since their great explosion in Russia are now confronted by a countervailing physical and intellectual force. Fanatic ideology has been, in essence, rebellion against the old moral order of our civilization. [...]
(apologies to Henry Hazlitt) The following economic data, provided by Société Générale, lists the “official” government debt versus what is “off the books” but…still…there. Analysis by Mr. Wilkins Micawber, care of Mr. Charles Dickens: […]
Who invented money and free trade, then screwed it up with Quantitative Easing and inflation? Yep. Guys in togas again. Professor Eamonn Butler, of London’s Adam Smith Institute, identifies a most promising grass-roots outfit called Friends of Classics, and their new magazine soon to be available online, “Ad Familiares.” In the ASI weblog, he summarises [...]
The following essay is adapted from the book Back on the Road to Serfdom: The Resurgence of Statism, edited by Thomas E. Woods Jr. (ISI Books, 2011). We are perhaps apt to forget that during the Cold War, it was generally conceded that the Soviet Union had a higher rate of economic growth than the [...]
The following essay appears in the final chapter of Russell Kirk’s textbook Economics: Work and Prosperity (Pensacola, Fla.: A Beka Book Publications, 1989), pp. 365–368. Some people would like to separate economists from politics, but they are unable to do so. Another name for economics is political economy. As we mentioned in earlier chapters, a [...]
For Heaven’s sake, calm down and pour yourself a stiff drink. I know…I know…that John Maynard Keynes is the father of Quantitative Easing, or government effectively printing money to supposedly stimulate economic growth. I know that as he debates the immortal FA Hayek in the two brilliant, modern rap-videos, Lord Keynes enters the room to diabolical [...]
One of the more amusing parts of my job is thinking of all the different ways I can explain to people what I do. “I work for a public policy think tank” usually causes eyes to glaze over and elicits a response of “what does that mean?” My grandfather finds it particularly difficult to understand [...]
As I’m thinking about the various influences on Kirk (and, hence, the post-WWII American Right), I started thinking about the Southern Agrarians as well as the English Distributists. There are many who write for this blog who know far more about these groups than I do. But, from what I can tell, this American version [...]
Britain’s 2011 aircraft-carrier debacle may seem to have little in common with a 1940s Philadelphia ghetto and a modern French electricity company, but looks can be deceiving. Two new carriers, contracted at $6.5 billion in 2008, may cost $16.5 billion when completed by the end of this decade and cash-strapped Britons are furious. Beneath all [...]
The title of this essay takes its name, in part, from a speech that William McGurn delivered recently at Hillsdale College. Mr. McGurn served as the chief speechwriter for President George W. Bush from 2006-2008 and is currently the vice president of News Corporation. In his speech, Mr. McGurn sought to look at the claim [...]
The enormous span of Wilhelm Roepke’s interests and writings complicates the task of doing justice to his thought within the confines of an essay. Hence, I have elected to focus on just one aspect of his approach and of his philosophy, but one that has proved to be decisive in the practical implementation in [...]
The following essay appears in the final chapter of Russell Kirk’s textbook Economics: Work and Prosperity (Pensacola, Fla.: A Beka Book Publications, 1989), pp. 365–368. Some people would like to separate economists from politics, but they are unable to do so. Another name for economics is political economy. As we mentioned in earlier chapters, a [...]
Reporting a drinks-party at which learned Athenians discussed Love, Plato’s famous philosophical text was given to him by his older brother, Glaucon, having obtained accounts from secondary sources who were told about it by Socrates and another guest. The symposium was hosted in 416 BC by the tragedian Agathon to commemorate his victory in a [...]