Calvin Coolidge is not running. Nor is Lord Liverpool, though his ability to win four successive general elections in his own time suggests he could do so now, with only modest policy adjustments. When deciding whom to vote for, we must measure the available candidates, not against perfection, but against the opposition candidate and those […]

For the 244 years of the United States’ independent existence, few would have thought that the country had anything to learn from the ultimate Old World monarchical autocracy, Philip II’s Spain (he ruled 1556-98). Yet as politicians debate the merits of yet another public spending “stimulus” on top of a $3 trillion 2020 deficit, Philip […]

Twenty years ago, I was strongly in favor of globalization. I recognized the theoretical benefits it could bring and believed that poor countries could get richer while rich countries and their inhabitants did not get poorer. Alas, I favored a globalization that we did not get, and that maybe does not exist. Politics, as always, […]

Every economic textbook trumpets the need for the rule of law and will tell you that one major reason for many Third World countries’ poverty is their uncertain legal system and bribery-susceptible judges. Yet to have a rule of law, we need a court system to enforce the law and general agreement on what the […]