In The End of History and the Last Man, written immediately after the Soviet Union’s collapse, Francis Fukuyama argues the world was experiencing the end of “mankind’s ideological evolution and the universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government.” Indeed, in the last two decades, many countries in Southern and Eastern … Read more
Twelve percent. That’s the portion of the country that approve of the job Congress is doing, according to a recent New York Times/CBS News poll. Lack of faith in its competence has led politicians, pundits, and ordinary citizens alike to claim that Congress is “broken.” Incumbents in Congress face increasingly difficult re-election bids and the … Read more
Europe has been shaken by a social and political crisis. A collection of nations striving to create a community has been forced to reevaluate their relationships with each other. Today, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain all faced economic insolvency. Despite the establishment of a large bailout fund to heal the Euro crisis, the economic … Read more
Last Wednesday, at 12:15, as Gregory Mankiw lectured on income inequality in the United States, approximately 40 people walked out of Economics 10. Six people walked in, followed by two stragglers. Yet despite the disparity of numbers, the walk-in got a large round of applause and calls of “we love Gregory Mankiw.” Although the natural … Read more
We have all witnessed the rapid societal changes throughout the Middle East over the past year. The revolution in Egypt, the flotilla incident between Turkey and Israel, the uprisings in Syria, and many others. These and the recent death of Gaddafi have raised the question: now what? On October 26, Mario Zucconi, Lecturer in Public … Read more
Political characterizations are always relative. It is often said that if David Cameron, or another conservative European leader, were plucked off Downing Street and dropped on Pennsylvania Avenue, he would undoubtedly find his Conservative Party positions on healthcare, postsecondary education, and fiscal stimulus somewhere in line with the leftmost wing of the American Democrats. But … Read more
The Texas Governor Won’t Be the GOP Nominee The day he announced his candidacy, Rick Perry was the darling of the Republican Party. The Texas governor quickly galloped to the top of national polls, seemingly emerging as the ideal conservative challenger to President Obama. After months of lamenting the GOP field as insufficiently conservative or … Read more
The top one percent of Americans now control 24 percent of national income, yet recent statistics from the Census Bureau suggest that more American are living in poverty than ever before. The economic disparity in the United States is the greatest it has been since 1928, and, if current trends continue, the gap between rich … Read more
As government spending across western democracies has increased to combat a three-year-old financial crisis, government debt has become the target of new fiscal scrutiny. Developed nations had enjoyed access to fairly inexpensive credit and were able to cover expenses that exceeded revenues. The European Union debt crisis, austerity measures, and the debt debate in the … Read more
In the conversations I’ve had about this Wednesday’s Ec 10 walkout, I’ve noticed how few come in support for the movement, writing it off as an unfortunate case of misplaced ideals. And to a large extent, that’s true; earlier this week Jeremy wrote a consummate defense of Ec 10, whose points I find myself in … Read more