Economics & Political Systems

The Meaning of Progress

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Center for Vision & Values presented a seminar in April, 2010, on the development and influence of Progressivism, focusing especially on the Radical Progressivism of Obama and his friends. The root of the term progressive is, of … Continue reading

When Regimes Reach Insanity

On August 25, 1914, in a spate of disorder, shots rang out from the Belgian town of Louvain, instigating its German occupiers to launch a frenzy of looting and destruction. Crazed soldiers butchered civilians, ransacked buildings, and finally burned the … Continue reading

A Manifesto on the “Manifesto”

I knew the time would come. America’s public schools and ideologically monolithic universities have spawned a generation woefully uninformed in the most elementary facts about free markets, socialism, and communism. Personally, after teaching this material for years, I’m getting an … Continue reading

The Great American Debt “Roll”

Financial markets function to discount the future. Usually, by the time you read about something in the newspaper, financial market pricing has already “discounted” that event weeks, months, or perhaps even years before it hits the front page and becomes … Continue reading

The VAT-Man Cometh?

Recently, progressives have made noise about introducing a value-added tax (VAT) in the United States. The VAT is an indirect tax—that is, Americans wouldn’t pay the tax directly to government, but would pay it to businesses as part of the … Continue reading

Buchenwald and the Totalitarian Century

Editor’s note: A longer version of this article first appeared at The American Spectator at the original time of publication. This spring 2010 marks some sordid anniversaries: 65 years since the discovery of the Nazi concentration camps that facilitated the … Continue reading

God Gets His Healthcare Bill

The most frustrating thing I’ve dealt with in professional life was eight years of outrageous, baseless charges against President George W. Bush on matters of faith. Even when Bush was simply asked about his faith, and responded with utterly benign … Continue reading