Article Archive
Nudging Conservatives to Harness Behavioral Science
While liberals are deploying behavioral science with stunning results, conservatives have failed to follow up on their success three decades ago with the psychology of ‘broken windows.’ Here are several policy initiatives with which to begin.
Earth Day and Four Decades of Fear
A vast array of blatherings have accumulated over the years, warning the end is nigh.
A Dream Delayed: Man’s Mission to Mars
NASA has decided that private enterprise will have to take on the job of reaching Mars. A new generation of space-minded tycoons is ready for the mission. We can do it.
A Better Way for Young Families to Build a Future: Social Security Taxes vs. Down Payments
Would you rather save for retirement by building equity in a house or by putting money in an underfunded government program?
Yes, Labels
No Labels’ goal of arguing less and getting more things done is not simply wrong but dangerous too. Instead, this country needs to vigorously debate how a free society is supposed to function, with the people ultimately deciding the victor.
Why Not Soak the Rich?
Republicans don’t want to ask multimillionaires to pay a penny more in taxes. Isn’t that proof that the Republican Party is the party of the rich, as liberals have always argued?
Enlightened Conservatism
A cause is to politics what fanaticism is to religion — a plague to be avoided at all costs.
Reform Government Pay with Step Decreases
Longevity is the wrong characteristic to reward in the case of government workers.
Confronting the U.S. Advanced Manufacturing Skills Gap
We have a skills gap and it’s going to get worse. Here’s what we can do about it.
Ignorance, the Ultimate Asset
To understand the success of modern knowledge economies and why government planning is folly, we must first understand that ignorance truly is bliss.
Competing for Elites
The Swedish political Right has increasingly managed to recapture the support of a large segment of the chattering classes. There may be lessons for the United States.
Voyager I at the Heliopause
An extension of human ingenuity will soon reach the farthest limit of the sun’s empire. Beyond is true interstellar space.
The Trouble with Conspiracy Theories
Perhaps the problem with conspiracy theorists is not that they have gone too far, but that they haven’t quite gone far enough yet. But, if James Tracy is any indication, they are getting very close.
The Constitution, in Text and Spirit
Akhil Reed Amar seeks to establish a new approach to jurisprudence.
The Politically Correct Calendar
Among the more irritating manifestations of political correctness, at least to this historian, is the attempt to replace the terms AD and BC with CE and BCE.
Is Christmas Possible?
This question has no easy answer. It is so difficult that more than reason is required in its service.
What Would Churchill Do?
November 6 was an electoral setback dealt to those of us who believe in capitalism and limited government. What can we learn from Churchill, who was no stranger to setbacks?
Teachers and the License Raj
Requiring prospective teachers to take a rigorous ‘bar exam,’ as union chief Randi Weingarten proposes, is the wrong way to recruit and assess teachers.
The Impossibility of Rapid Energy Transitions
Understanding energy system inertia and momentum is key to judging whether a rapid transition toward any type of energy is feasible.