Right Wing on the Rise in Dutch Elections
Local elections show the nationalist Freedom Party and the right-wing liberals on the rise.
The Summit of Fantasy
The president’s summit on health care revealed major schisms between public policy and reality. Those who feel that they must keep repeating to Americans that their health care is “broken” overlook a more fundamental problem. Most Americans, based on a lifetime of experience, don’t think the medicine practiced by their own physician is broken. So […]
Consumer Protection With Fed “Bad Joke”
Congressman Barney Frank of Massachusetts, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, is “very disappointed” with the suggestion that a new consumer protection agency might be placed under supervision of the Federal Reserve. The Senate Banking Committee has been working on a financial regulatory reform bill for several months now. A new agency is to […]
Conservatives for Freer Schools
A novel idea from British Conservatives: allow schools to set their own standards. Tory Politico reports that the party intends to put an end to government interference with so-called A Level certificates: the internationally-recognized standard for entry into British universities. The A Level’s reputation has been on the decline in recent years, leaving the prestige […]
You Must Sacrifice
In an article entitled “We The Problem,” Evan Thomas, editor at Newsweek, is trying to establish what’s wrong with his country. The problem isn’t the political system, he writes. “It’s us.” For decades now, Americans have lived “as if there is no tomorrow,” according to Thomas. “They have racked up personal debt, spending more than […]
Forgotten in the Health Care Debate
Proponents of health-care reform in the United States obviously have the patients’ interests at heart. For millions of Americans today, medical treatment is impossible to pay for while the system altogether is growing evermore expensive. The needs of those who can’t afford care are at the forefront, but the wishes of doctors and nurses are […]
The Current Problem in the Falklands
An examination of the standoff between Argentina and the United Kingdom.
Life, Liberty and the Right to Property
Since the 2010 Index of Economic Freedom published by the Washington-based Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal warned that, “Government interventions in financial markets and the automotive sector have raised concerns about expropriation and violation of the contractual rights of shareholders and bondholders” in the United States, it is prudent to explore the necessity […]
The Government in Your Medicine Cabinet
“Why,” John Stossel wonders, “do Americans stand aside and let the state limit our choices, even when we are dying?”
Bernanke Favors Stronger Fed
Appearing before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday, Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, offered an aggressive defense of the central bank’s role in the future supervision of the financial sector. “Stripping the Federal Reserve of supervisory authorities in the light of the recent crisis would be a grave mistake,” he said. The Fed […]
Why We Still Need Nuclear Weapons
There’s not much point in replacing nuclear weapons with conventional weapons that are just as powerful.
Subsidizing Jobs
States are subsidizing jobs, using taxpayers’ dollars to help companies meet payrolls. That’s not something government should be engaged in.
Freeing Children From Government Schools
In spite of ever rising costs and increasingly disappointing results, the government monopoly on education is hardly ever called into question. Education, defenders of the system argue, is too important to leave to the free market. The arguments put forward by those in favor of a state-run system typically boil down to two misleading claims. […]
Rethinking NATO’s Future
It wasn’t too long ago that NATO’s post-Cold War purpose seemed perfectly clear. During the Clinton Administration, the United Stated led allies in humanitarian efforts around the world but in Europe’s backyard especially. Up to this very day, Western forces are actively engaged in peacekeeping in former Yugoslavia and, of course, in Afghanistan. The Afghanistan […]
The PLAN and the Rise of China
Just a couple of decades ago the naval forces of China (People’s Liberation Army Navy or PLAN) was a weakling, barely capable of defending the Chinese Coast. Hong-Kong, a British station until 1997, was almost considered secure by naval if not military means even with just a few British warships at the station. Since then […]