Latest Posts

September 15, 2022

The Manchurian Candidate Is a Neglected Masterpiece

In 1959, when Richard Condon published his political thriller The Manchurian Candidate, he took a topical idea and ran amok with it. The idea was that during the Korean War a platoon of GIs had been captured by the Chinese, brainwashed (“not just washed, but dry-cleaned”), and released back home to do the enemy’s bidding. Continue Reading...
September 14, 2022

North Korea Crushes Its People as Nuclear Capacity Expands

North Korea’s chief notoriety is its nuclear program. Another nuclear test is expected soon. The Rand Corporation and Asan Institute predict that by 2027, the North “could have 200 nuclear weapons and several dozen intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and hundreds of theater missiles for delivering the nuclear weapons.” Continue Reading...
September 08, 2022

Remember the Cold War’s Witness

It was 70 years ago, 1952, that Whittaker Chambers published his memoir, Witness. It was a bestseller with a major impact, including on a future president who, more than any other figure, defeated the country that Chambers once served, winning the Cold War. Continue Reading...
September 07, 2022

Edmund Burke Can Still Inspire the American Right

It’s no secret that the modern American conservative movement is divided today. Issues like the role of government, the place of the nation-state, and the extent to which free markets should prevail in economic life have become major points of fracture across the right that seem unlikely to be resolved soon. Continue Reading...
September 02, 2022

Is It Time for a Minimum Corporate Tax?

Big reforms should be based on wide consensus. At the height of an economic crisis caused by the combined effects of the pandemic lockdowns and sanctions for Russia’s war in Ukraine, further economic experiments such as a global minimum corporate tax could easily become another example of the law of unintended consequences in action. Continue Reading...