Interesting article by Megan McArdle on Thatcher. This part stuck out: But while what Thatcher did may have been necessary, there is another necessary task that has been left undone: building sustainable opportunities for the displaced. The mistake that Thatcher and Reagan made was to assume that . . . . Continue Reading »
Reihan Salam today: One of my fixations is that while it is certainly possible for one society to learn from another, its really important for policymakers to think hard about the historical context and institutional environment of the particular societies in which they operate. In the . . . . Continue Reading »
Rand Paul has an impressive combination of ideology, determination and pragmatism. He has, as Allahpundit has written, the ability to “sell libertarian wine in conservative bottles.” He matters, and so it matters if aspects of Rand Paul’s particular style of libertarianism would . . . . Continue Reading »
Well I certainly would have had more time to watch pro wrestling. Did the sheer number of debates help the joke candidates who had no hope of winning the presidential election. I looked at the Real Clear Politics polling average for Iowa and looked at the debate schedule. . . . . Continue Reading »
Thanks to the generosity of the First Things editorial staff, today is the debut of my biweekly On The Square column. It is on the Republican party and the lower middle-class. . . . . Continue Reading »
So I was watching Fox News’s excellent Special Report with Bret Baier . Baier was reporting about how the special exchange for small businesses is going to have to be delayed for another year. This is on top of other reports that Obamacare will cost the government more than expected, will . . . . Continue Reading »
There was a period, shortly before the Bolshevik Revolution, when the history of the Russian temperance movement became thoroughly intertwined with the history of Russian social reform in general. “The history of the Russian temperance movement” may sound like a world’s-shortest-book joke, . . . . Continue Reading »
Just follow me here. On immigration, Rand Paul says: The main part of my plan is trust but verify that says we have to have border security. The Wall Street Journal reported about Rand Paul’s proposal for a huge new guest worker program: Kentucky Senator Rand Paul recently made a splash when . . . . Continue Reading »
Health insurance premiums are rising under Obamacare. This was totally predictable as a result of applying the Romneycare model of health care financing to states that lacked Massachusetts’s provisions of guaranteed issue, community rating, and Massachusetts’s preexisting high premiums. . . . . Continue Reading »
Yesterday, I read Juan Williams in the WSJ, Race and the Gun Debate. Williams is looking at where the gun problem is in the United States. He notes, “Gun-related violence and murders are concentrated among blacks and Latinos in big cities. Murders with guns are the No. 1 . . . . Continue Reading »