By Art Carden If I were to rank post-World War II public intellectuals and social theorists, the Hoover Institution’s Thomas Sowell would take the top spot. There could be a real debate about who is #2, but it would take place a long way from the top of the mountain, where Sowell would sit alone. Sowell is a brilliant economist and a beautiful writer who believes, above all, … [Read more...] about Looking For Common Sense In A Senseless World? The New Thomas Sowell Documentary Delivers
Art Carden
The Resilience and Brilliance of the World’s Poorest: The Case of Pagpag
By Art Carden Global poverty has been falling dramatically over the last few decades, but a lot of people in the world still live in conditions that are absolutely appalling by the standards of the developed world. We insult them, though, by seeing them as mere victims or by blaming them for their plight when, for most of the poor people throughout history, they have been … [Read more...] about The Resilience and Brilliance of the World’s Poorest: The Case of Pagpag
New Ideas are the Key to Economic Development
By Art Carden Arthur Diamond’s Openness to Creative Destruction: Sustaining Innovative Dynamism joins a growing pile of books that seek to explain what the economic historian Deirdre McCloskey calls the Great Fact: the mind-boggling increases in per capita income in the last two and a half centuries that started in Northwestern Europe and spread around the world. Diamond … [Read more...] about New Ideas are the Key to Economic Development
The Past Is a Nice Place to Visit. You Wouldn’t Want to Live There.
By Art Carden “Wouldn’t it have been nice to live in the past, when things were so much simpler? When we were rooted and connected? When we lived in harmony with one another, with nature, and with the generations that came before us?” You’ve probably heard someone say that or something like it. Nostalgia for “the good old days” puzzles me because quite frankly, they were … [Read more...] about The Past Is a Nice Place to Visit. You Wouldn’t Want to Live There.
The Hidden Costs of a $15 Per Hour Minimum Wage
By Art Carden It seems everyone wants to raise the minimum wage. On May 20, 2019, PBS reported that pretty much everyone seeking the Democratic presidential nomination wants to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour. President Trump advocated a higher minimum wage during his 2016 campaign. The private sector has gotten into it as well, with Walmart CEO Doug McMillon … [Read more...] about The Hidden Costs of a $15 Per Hour Minimum Wage