GOAT: Who is the Greatest Economist of All Time and Why Does it Matter? Even if you have never thought about that question before, now you want to know the answer. Indeed, you may even be set to argue that the given answer is wrong. The GOAT question is the greatest bar argument of all time. Who is the GOAT shortstop? Rock vocalist? American novelist? Greek philosopher?…pick the category, and a lively debate ensues. But, the GOAT economist? You probably have not had that debate. Until now. … [Read more...] about Greatest Economist of All Time
Modern Society
The Coming Crack-Up of the Left
There is a specter haunting America, but it is no longer Marxism. Widely dubbed “Woke,” this ideology “is likely to make us stray from, not guide us toward, the kind of society to which we all have reason to aspire.” It is “likely to create a society composed of warring tribes rather than cooperating compatriots.” It is a “trap,” on both political and personal levels. The most striking thing about those quotations from The Identity Trap: A Story of Power and Ideas in Our Time is the author. … [Read more...] about The Coming Crack-Up of the Left
Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu
If you are looking for a gift for a baseball fan in your life, look no further.Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu, by John Updike. It was originally an essay in The New Yorker, but the Library of America has republished it in a beautiful little volume, complete with the footnotes Updike later added and an essay he later wrote. The topic? Updike went to the last game Ted Williams ever played. What emerged was this beautiful paean to everything that is beautiful about baseball. I cannot even hope to … [Read more...] about Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu
Should We Still Require Shakespeare?
“‘A department of English,’ he said, ‘cannot exist without requiring, for its majors, at least one semester-long course in the study of Shakespeare. To require any less would be irresponsible; it is a dumbing down.’”That quotation is from The Shakespeare Requirement, Julia Schumacher’s novel about the lives of college professors. This is Schumacher’s second novel in a trilogy; one of my former students gave me a copy of it. In one of life’s odd coincidences, another student once gave me the … [Read more...] about Should We Still Require Shakespeare?
Salome is Always With Us
“It is thy mouth that I desire, Iokanaan. Thy mouth is like a band of scarlet on a tower of ivory. It is like a pomegranate cut in twain with a knife of ivory. The pomegranate flowers that blossom in the gardens of Tyre, and are redder than roses, are not so red. The red blasts of trumpets that herald the approach of kings, and make afraid the enemy, are not so red. Thy mouth is redder than the feet of those who tread the wine in the wine-press. It is redder than the feet of the doves who … [Read more...] about Salome is Always With Us
Free to Explore Ideas
From an Interview published by the Academic Freedom Alliance.Q.: You frequently publish articles at a variety of outlets. Many of your writings deal with important economic matters, but you also explore other big questions through the topics of literature, art, and culture. Finding controversy seems to be getting easier these days, even with subjects that were completely uncontroversial only years ago. My question is this, how important is the protection of extramural speech, as part of a … [Read more...] about Free to Explore Ideas