he year 2016 may likely be remembered by history as a year full of surprises, divisions, and changes. To help remember the year that was, we at The Center for Vision & Values asked some of our fellows and contributing … Continue reading
Economics & Political Systems
The Center for Vision & Values Presents: Top 10 of 2016
2016 has been a fantastic year for The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College. We celebrated an all-time high in website traffic, an exponential growth in social media (approaching 35,000 Facebook fans), and a record number of … Continue reading
Don’t Help the Despots … Thoughts from the Son of Cuban Emigrants
Editor’s note: When this article was originally published, Lorenzo Carrazana was a sophomore at Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania. He currently works for the Arizona State Attorney General’s Office. With the death of longtime dictator Fidel Castro, the … Continue reading
What Is Gold Saying About Trump?
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at Forbes.com. Amidst the larger drama of the election last Tuesday, the financial markets staged their own little drama. When the Dow futures plummeted by hundreds of points as it began to look as … Continue reading
Should the Electoral College be Abolished?
Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election by winning the Electoral College. His opponent, Hillary Clinton, lost the White House but won the popular vote. If the Constitution was being drafted today—and the question of how to select a president … Continue reading
American Farms and Hillary Clinton’s Tax Proposal
America’s agricultural resources are among the best in the world. American farmers, or perhaps we should call them America’s agribusiness professionals, produce essential financial crops including wheat, corn, beans, grapes, apples, etc. We are all dependent on their productivity. Indeed, … Continue reading
The Obamacare Tipping Point
It’s that time of year again. Time for vibrant fall colors, cool crisp morning air, and open enrollment in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) insurance exchanges—the government-regulated, state-based healthcare plans set up as part of the act. Since the ACA’s … Continue reading
Hillary Clinton’s Estate Tax Proposal
“Hillary Clinton Proposes 65% Top Rate for Estate Tax” blared a headline in The Wall Street Journal. Since the current top statutory tax rate on estates is 40 percent, Clinton’s proposal is nothing if not audacious. I can’t recall Barack … Continue reading
A Prescription for Disaster
For those who may be unfamiliar with the players in the pharmaceutical business, Mylan is a successful, mid-sized manufacturer of branded and generic drugs. One of their largest products is the EpiPen, which is an auto-injection device used to treat … Continue reading
Storm Clouds are on the Horizon
In predictable economic times, it makes sense—indeed it is essential—to put money aside and save for the coming rainy day. Trouble is brewing for each and every one of us. For some, it is just two appliances failing in the … Continue reading
The Fed Seeks to Postpone a Federal Government Default
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at Forbes.com. I have been writing for years that our government is essentially broke and the federal debt will never be repaid. Within this context, the Federal Reserve has been the great enabler of even more federal debt by … Continue reading
PA Pension Crisis: Now is the Time for Action
The state of Pennsylvania, as well as many other states, faces a pension crisis. The state has not set aside enough money each year to pay the pensions it is legally obligated to pay state workers and public school employees. … Continue reading
The Mess of the European Union Banking System — Are Italian Banks Doomed?
In January, European Union (EU) bureaucrats based in Brussels passed an EU banking reform referred to as the BRRD. The BRRD stands for Banking Recovery and Resolution Directive. The reform rules were aimed at shielding EU taxpayers from bailing out … Continue reading
Hillary Clinton, Saul Alinsky and … Lucifer? What was Ben Carson talking about?
Editor’s note: A longer version of this article first appeared at The American Spectator. In his speech at the Republican convention last week, Ben Carson made a statement that raised some eyebrows. “Now, one of the things that I have … Continue reading
End of an era? Global economy’s tectonic plates moving again
October 1987: The U.S. stock market collapsed 23 percent in one day, the largest one-day drop on record. For the rest of that year economists debated how deep the depression would be in 1988. There was no depression in 1988. … Continue reading
The Truth About Socialism: Venezuela Destroys Its Currency
Millennials are among the most avid supporters of the socialism promoted by Bernie Sanders. What is most remarkable is that there is ample evidence that socialist regimes bring untold economic harm to the very citizens who initially support them. My … Continue reading
Alexander Hamilton and American Independence
As we celebrate the 4th of July, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit musical “Hamilton” is lionizing the life and legacy of Alexander Hamilton. “Hamilton” won 11 Tony Awards, including best musical, a Grammy Award for best musical theater album, the Pulitzer Prize … Continue reading
Trump vs. Reagan: Unprincipled vs. Principled
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at ConservativeReview.com. In my previous piece in this series, I quoted a Ronald Reagan speech to CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference, from February 6, 1977, where Reagan defined conservatism. Among his crucial points … Continue reading
The Truth About Socialism: The Venezuelan Disaster
Many Millennials are finding socialism attractive—at least as presented by Bernie Sanders. This is perplexing because there is ample and dramatic evidence of how a full-fledged socialist state fails its own citizens so miserably. Witness Venezuela. Fifteen years under socialist … Continue reading
Trump’s Revised Tax Plan: Will it be Acceptable to Conservatives?
Now that Donald Trump has locked up the Republican nomination, we can look more closely at his policy proposals. In April, when the two candidates were still battling for the Republican nomination, I compared Donald Trump’s tax plan to Ted Cruz’s … Continue reading