Virginia Postrel, in sharing on Facebook Anne Applebaum’s Washington Post article “War in Europe is not a hysterical idea,” comments: “I think we like to talk about ISIS b/c it’s less scary than Russia.”...
Articles on income and wealth inequality may be growing less and less equal. Some are fair and scholarly reviews of income and wealth data; others repeat the same flawed and misleading claims over and...
This movement should create a situation in which authorities will control empty stores, but not the market; the employment of workers, but not their livelihood; the official media, but not the circulation of information; printing plants, but...
From the Introduction to the Economic Freedom of the Arab World 2014 Annual Report (pdf): A new economic vision is needed to help the Arab world move forward. The Arab Economic Freedom project aims to help furnish...
No easy answers to Middle East conflict, poverty and Islamic extremism, but Sarah Chayes argues in Thieves of State: Why Corruption Threatens Global Security pervasive corruption is at the root of all three. A powerful NYT...
We look for fairness and justice in a free society. Legal institutions shape economic behavior and guide development. What legal rules are appropriate? In a fair and equitable society “everyone deserves a chance to...
Students researching U.S./Middle East policy should be aware of the influence of special interest groups. The Founders cautioned about “factions,” explaining that when federal policies helped or hurt particular groups, they would lobby for...
U.S. policy toward the Middle East is strongly nationalistic. U.S. policy, both domestic and foreign, favors centralized political and economic power, rather than federalism. And this is unfortunate. For Iraq, federalism is key to...
In communities with more legislation and regulations, more people are tripped up by the law more often. Local corruption follows the wisdom of Roman historian Tacitus: The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the...
U.S./Middle East policy has been distracted and distorted by lobbyists and special interests. Critics of U.S. policy have focused on a variety of special interests including oil companies and military contractors. Was U.S./Middle East...
