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September 26, 2017

Samuel Gregg on Germany’s populist surge

Following the election results in Germany this past Sunday, Chancellor Angela Merkel has been re-elected to serve for a fourth term. In his article “Germany Revolts“, Samuel Gregg describes Chancellor Merkel’s party as being “woefully out of touch” with the German people, and as a result many are abandoning the CDU/CSU coalition for the AFD. Continue Reading...
September 26, 2017

Introduction to price discrimination

Note: This is post #50 in a weekly video series on basic microeconomics. Price discrimination is common, says economist Tyler Cowen. Movie theaters charge seniors less money than they charge young adults and computer software companies sell to businesses and students at different rates, often offering discounts to students. Continue Reading...
September 25, 2017

Houston’s culture of rugged communitarianism

In the late 1920s, a primary theme of Herbert Hoover’s presidential campaign was the idea of “rugged individualism,” the practice or advocacy of individualism in social and economic relations emphasizing personal liberty and independence, self-reliance, resourcefulness, self-direction of the individual, and free competition in enterprise As Hoover said about the era in the U.S. Continue Reading...
September 22, 2017

On man vs. robots, don’t trust the economic models

Given the breakneck pace of improvements in automation and artificial intelligence, fears about job loss are taking more space in the cultural imagination. Symbolized by President Obama’s famous laments about ATM machines and the more recent concerns about Amazon’s “job-killing” grocery-store roboclerks, the anxiety is palpable and persistent. Continue Reading...
September 22, 2017

Hurricanes as schools of charity

The only force greater than the destruction wrought by this summer’s hellish hurricanes is the solidarity written indelibly upon the human heart. The acts of charity they galvanize show the power of voluntary efforts springing from voluntarism, virtue, and compassion. Continue Reading...