Editor’s note: The “V&V Q&A” is an e-publication from The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College. In this latest edition, Lee Wishing, the administrative director of The Center for Vision & Values, interviews Carrie Brown, a Grove City College graduate and … Continue reading
Economics & Political Systems
The politics of envy
I was excited when I learned that the parents of a student I knew produced a product my family used and enjoyed. His response to me was “Yea, they’re getting rich off you.” He was quite confused when I replied … Continue reading
Unequal distribution of economic freedom: Why so many poor can’t improve their lot
Editor’s note: A longer version of this article first appeared at Forbes.com. While the church and Christian moralists have always spoken about the rich and the poor, and condemned those who put wealth, or anything else, above eternal life, it … Continue reading
Government’s role in charity: A response and an invitation to further dialogue
Editor’s note: On Dec. 23, 2013, Dr. Mark Hendrickson wrote an op-ed titled, “One of the most powerful Christmas lessons.” A reader of the Stewartville STAR (Minn.) responded with a letter-to-the-editor making the following arguments: “Hendrickson argued that Jesus did … Continue reading
The Great Recession’s soup lines
You know your kids are growing up when they ask a question like the one my daughter asked a few days ago, “Hey, dad, do you think we’ll experience a depression in your lifetime or mine?” As much as I’d … Continue reading
AUDIO – What is a Reagan Conservative?
In case you missed it, Dr. Paul Kengor, executive director of the Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College, talks with WORLD News Group’s Warren Cole Smith. In this short radio interview, Kengor and Smith discuss what it … Continue reading
Wisdom for Governor Christie’s staff
Many years ago I worked with a talented political organizer who made a very strange prayer request. After one of our meetings he told me that he regularly prayed that God would give him the spirit of the aggressive and … Continue reading
100 years of the Federal Reserve
Editor’s note: A longer version of this article first appeared at Forbes.com. On Dec. 23, 1913, President Woodrow Wilson signed the Owen Glass Act, creating the Federal Reserve. Looking back, what has the Fed accomplished during the last 100 years? … Continue reading
Pope Francis and the economists
Editor’s Note: This article first appeared at Forbes.com. The recent economic statements by Pope Francis in his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (EG) read as a call for a “Third Way” economic system ruled by experts and people of good will. … Continue reading
Do we want more affordable health care? Then we need to leave health care to the free market
The problems with the healthcare.gov website offer a glimpse of the way the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is likely to fail at accomplishing its most important goals: providing affordable, high-quality health care to all Americans, without increasing the deficit. The … Continue reading
The Senate would be more efficient without the filibuster, and that’s the problem
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at Forbes.com. What would the Senate be like without the filibuster? It would be a more efficient body, but efficiency has never been a hallmark of democracy. Reflecting on Senate Rule 22, the so-called … Continue reading
President John F. Kennedy’s national security legacy
Between January 1961 and Nov. 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy fundamentally changed U.S. national security policy. These changes resulted in structures and doctrines that enabled American forces to fight in Vietnam in a new way that ultimately defined Kennedy’s … Continue reading
The unseen scars are often as painful as the ones seen
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at Forbes.com. In economics, the first lesson I teach my pupils is the lesson of things that are seen and things that are not seen. Actions produce some effects that are readily apparent and … Continue reading
Tear down this wall: Celebrating victories over communism on World Freedom Day
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at Forbes.com. Saturday, Nov. 9, marks the 24th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. It is an important date in the history of human civilization. President Ronald Reagan’s demand, “President Gorbachev, tear down this wall,” … Continue reading
Burglarizing JPMorgan Chase and slapping down Prudential: The new, tyrannical normal
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at Forbes.com. If there is one truth that became apparent during the financial panic five years ago, it is that Big Government and Big Finance are inseparable. Of course Uncle Sam was going to … Continue reading
Understanding the “Wall of Separation” between traditional Republicans and the new conservatives
It’s evident in recent elections and day-to-day political clashes in Washington that there is a substantial divide between traditional Republicans and what we may term “new conservatives.” Oh yes, it’s true that there are shades of differences on each side … Continue reading
Making sense of the defund/shutdown strategy
From the moment I clicked on C-SPAN to watch Senator Ted Cruz’s quasi-filibuster, I’ve been trying to make sense of the defund Obamacare/government shutdown effort. It didn’t take a rocket scientist, or a political scientist, to know it wouldn’t work. … Continue reading
Privatizing the National Park Service
Editor’s note: A version of this article first appeared at Forbes.com. The behavior of the National Park Service during the government shutdown has been truly shocking. As has been widely reported, Park Service employees have been told to make life … Continue reading
The progressive income tax turns 100
Editor’s note: A version of this article first appeared at Investor’s Business Daily. Maybe it’s a measure of progressives’ refusal to look back, to always move “forward.” Otherwise, they should be celebrating right now. In fact, President Obama and fellow modern progressives/liberals should … Continue reading
Think tanks measure global economic freedom … the U.S. declines
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at Forbes.com under the title, “Why does the U.S. economy sag? Look no further than the number 17.” The significant efforts in recent years to measure economic freedom did not come from universities. They … Continue reading