Latest Posts

July 24, 2019

Explainer: What you should know about federal deficits

What just happened? The White House Office of Management and Budget recently released a forecast that the federal deficit would exceed $1 trillion this year. As Fox News points out, this would be the first time since the four years following the Great Recession that the deficit reached that level. Continue Reading...
July 24, 2019

Acton Line rebroadcast: Tackling populism with Ben Domenech

Populism is gaining traction, both abroad and in the United States. In 2017, the Swedish libertarian think tank Timbro and the European Policy Information Center released their “Authoritarian Populism Index,” showing that populist parties have gained the highest percentage of the vote in nine countries, including Hungary (65.2%), Poland (46.4%) and Greece (45.1%). Continue Reading...
July 23, 2019

How ideologues devalue and dismiss economics

Economics is often dismissed as ideological, reductionist, and mendacious. In the United States we see these criticisms increasingly from both the political left and right. This should come as no surprise as the lessons of economics have implications for the prudential decisions that make up much of our political life. Continue Reading...
July 23, 2019

Explainer: Who is Boris Johnson?

Boris Johnson, a champion of free trade and lower taxes, will serve as the next prime minister of the UK beginning on Wednesday, July 24. Officials announced on Tuesday that Johnson won 66.4 percent of the Conservative Party’s popular vote, besting rival Jeremy Hunt 92,153 votes to 46,656. Continue Reading...
July 23, 2019

A victory for socialism? The Israeli Kibbutz

While eating lunch at an Israeli Kibbutz last winter, I learned firsthand about what used to be a self-contained, socialist community. I was struck by the local guide’s positive view of socialism, believing it to produce strong communal life and economic prosperity. Continue Reading...
July 23, 2019

One nation under debt

The federal debt is a risk to our future. The nation’s growing debt will weaken our economy and threaten our safety and security. Unfortunately, politicians either avoid the issue or suggest reforms that sound good but can’t solve the problem. Continue Reading...