“You can have a very quiet Christmas evening,” wished Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev to American President George H. W. Bush. “I am saying good-bye and shaking your hand.”
It was a long-distance handshake, done via telephone. Continue Reading...
Latest Posts
December 07, 2021
The problem of the atheist economist
There is much in the classical liberal economist that I find attractive. By classical liberal, I do not mean the sort of political liberalism that defaults to certain presumptions of big government. Continue Reading...
December 07, 2021
Imprisoned human rights activist Jimmy Lai receives Golden Pen of Freedom award
Hong Kong media mogul and fierce human rights advocate Jimmy Lai and the staff of the now-liquidated pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily were awarded the Golden Pen of Freedom, the World Association of News Publishers’ annual press freedom award. Continue Reading...
December 06, 2021
Religion in the public square strengthens public discourse
Religious expression in the public square is currently challenged by two competing concerns. On the left, some worry that religion is an anti-rational monolith, quietly subverting legitimate expressions of democracy. Others, on the right, worry that religious diversity destroys cultural cohesion, which they see as necessary to democracy. Continue Reading...
December 06, 2021
Practicing prudence and gratitude in the age of COVID
When COVID hit Italy so badly back in the winter of 2020, I recall praying hard that a vaccine could be developed, as quickly as possible, so that the kind of devastation that a worldwide pandemic can induce would be avoided. Continue Reading...
December 03, 2021
Finding a community of faith in The Bishop’s Wife
I try to write every year on old Christmas movies, and this year I’m doing an entire series on ’40s movies remade in the ’90s, which suggests we can bring back some of those heartwarming stories. Continue Reading...
December 02, 2021
Give thanks for economic efficiency
I have never been to an event or cocktail party where raising the issue of economic efficiency engendered a particularly emotional discussion or any level of enthusiasm. I have never been to a Thanksgiving dinner table where someone gave thanks for GDP growth. Continue Reading...
December 01, 2021
Episode of ‘The Simpsons’ is erased from Disney+ lineup in Hong Kong
The streaming service Disney + made its long-awaited debut in Hong Kong this month, although with one episode from an extremely popular TV series missing.
An episode from The Simpsons, which ridicules Chinese government leadership and pokes fun at the nation’s censorship of any mention of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, was removed from the show’s lineup in Hong Kong, confirming citizens’ fear of increasing government control and elimination of free speech. Continue Reading...
November 30, 2021
Xi Jinping manipulates history on his way to a third term
China’s Xi Jinping has already served longer than any U.S. president other than Franklin Delano Roosevelt. And Xi is likely to pass FDR in just a couple years. The Chinese president and Chinese Communist Party general secretary has secured the support necessary for a third term—expected to be followed by a fourth and even fifth one, should Xi, currently 68, live long enough. Continue Reading...
November 29, 2021
Advent: Dig deep for freedom, liberty, and love
Christmas is a busy season for the entrepreneur, the business owner, and the worker. There are the demands of production, the management of the supply chain (a significant problem in the contemporary business world), and the need to sell products, especially so if they are seasonal. Continue Reading...
