Economics & Political Systems

The Student Loan Problem

You may have seen the recent story about the 41-year-old doctor who graduated from medical school in 2003 with student-loan indebtedness of $250,000 that has since swelled to more than $555,000. She is now scheduled to pay $990 per month … Continue reading

CPAC and Glenn Beck

This year’s Conservative Political Action Conference was unique. The Tea Party movement burst forth in August 2009 and the tension that this leaderless juggernaut generates among establishment conservatives was palpable at the nation’s largest annual gathering of grassroots conservatives and … Continue reading

V&V Q&A: Outrageous Public Debt

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 Q&A, Dr. Paul Kengor, executive director of the Center, interviews Dr. Guido Hülsmann, chairman of the economics department … Continue reading

“Econoclasts:” A Book Review

“Econoclasts: The Rebels Who Sparked the Supply-Side Revolution and Restored American Prosperity” By Brian Domitrovic | ISI Books (August 2009) | 368 pp. Brian Domitrovic, assistant professor of history at Sam Houston State University, has written an important book.Econoclasts is … Continue reading

The Relevance of Scott Brown

Republicans have greeted Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts with the sort of relief expressed by Winston Churchill when he learned that Pearl Harbor had prompted America to finally enter the war; for the first time in years, he “slept the … Continue reading

A Moment of Illumination

We’ve all had those sudden epiphanies where the proverbial light bulb clicks on and understanding comes into clear focus. I had one of those moments over the Christmas holiday season. In this case, the light bulb experience was literal as … Continue reading

Pennsylvania’s Green Eco-Slumber

As a poster child for liberal energy policies throughout the country, Pennsylvania’s Governor Ed Rendell has issued the edict to grow the state’s energy resources greener. Huge sums of taxpayer-supplied subsidy and stimulus have been funneled into the greening of … Continue reading

Obama’s Anti-jobs Policy

High and/or rising unemployment is always a political liability for a president, and so Barack Obama has taken the offensive in trying to persuade the American people that his team can get Americans back to work. In November, Obama took … Continue reading

Where is Your Treasure?

The sticker on the front page of Saturday’s Sarasota Herald-Tribune screamed “BERNIE MADOFF AUCTION, SUNDAY DECEMBER 27, THE RITZ-CARLTON, SARASOTA, FL.” The fine print clarified that it wasn’t the convicted Ponzi scheme operator’s property that was being sold off, but that of … Continue reading

Jawboning the Bankers

When presidents want to persuade an opponent they often resort to verbal intimidation or “jawboning.” President Obama recently jawboned American bankers hoping they would start lending money to small and medium-sized businesses. He may slay his own political reputation if … Continue reading

Our Moral Hazard

During confirmation hearings last Thursday, members of the U.S. Senate grilled Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke. Although senators criticized Bernanke for his policy decisions, they missed an opportunity to shine light on the ethics of the Federal Reserve’s core function—money … Continue reading