Tribalism and the dangers of identity economics

Occasioned by some local controversy over a political endorsement by the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce, in the Detroit News today I have a piece worrying about the implications of what might be called ‘identity economics,’ or “where we only agree to economic transactions with those who agree with us on an ever-growing list of moral or even political shibboleths.” Continue Reading...

Lord Acton vs. the ‘New Socialists’ on Freedom

Corey Robin, professor of political science at Brooklyn College and the City University of New York Graduate Center, wrote an interesting and troubling piece last week in the New York Times titled, “The New Socialists: Why the pitch from Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders resonates in 2018.” Continue Reading...

10 things political scientists know that we don’t

“If economics is the dismal science,” says Hans Noel, an associate professor at Georgetown University, “then political science is the dismissed science.” Most Americans—from pundits to voters—don’t think that political science has much to say about political life. Continue Reading...

People v. money: The flaws of Democratic Socialism

“This race is about people versus money,” said 28-year-old Democratic Socialist, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who last Tuesday usurped the nomination from high-ranking House Democrat, John Crowley. Her viral campaign video also accused the reigning King of Queens of not breathing the same air or drinking the same water as his constituents. Continue Reading...

Mexico begins its own road to hell

All Latin-Americans at some point ask themselves: Why is no Latin American country as well-developed as the United States? The answer is probably not related to our weather or a lesser disposition to work, as many have tried to claim. Continue Reading...