Tribalism and the dangers of identity economics

Latest Posts

7 Figures: Income and poverty in the U.S. (2017)

The U.S. Census Bureau released its latest report on income and poverty in the United States today. Here are seven figures from the report you should know: 1. Real median household income of all male workers increased 3.0 percent from 2016, while real median earnings for their female counterparts saw no statistically significant change between 2016 and 2017. Continue Reading...

Can you (or anyone) beat the stock market?

Note: This is post #94 in a weekly video series on basic economics. When even professional stock pickers are not able to consistently beat the market, you probably shouldn’t invest your life savings on the the hot stock tip from your brother-in-law. Continue Reading...

The failure of ‘Homo Economist’

When Pope Francis denounced “libertarian individualism” last year, few people could find a flesh-and-blood example of the philosophy as articulated by the pontiff. However, the gimlet eye of Stream editor John Zmirak may have found a related species in a creature he identifies as Homo Economist – a theoretical person who contrasts almost completely with the human person as viewed by advocates of constitutional government, ordered liberty, faith, and adherence to the precepts of natural law. Continue Reading...

C.S. Lewis on ethics and conscience

The lighthouse of Christianity shines because it is based on the reality of an objective and universal Moral Code that we mysteriously know and have broken, said C.S. Lewis.  It is this truth which makes Christianity’s offer of forgiveness, and its gift of supernatural help towards keeping that Moral Code, so incredible. Continue Reading...

Philadelphia ends ‘policing for profit’ program

The News: The city of Philadelphia ended a four-year lawsuit involving what critics said was “policing for profit.” According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, “Philadelphia officials on Tuesday pledged to reform the city’s  civil forfeiture program, which had been used to seize thousands of homes and vehicles and millions of dollars in cash from criminal suspects — and in some cases from people never charged with a crime.” Continue Reading...