Economics & Empire

The Day (Ok, Two Days) When American Federalism Died

You never thought it was all the fault of the railroads, did you? Neither did I.

Subsidizing Profligacy

Legendary investor Seth Klaman on how the government has taught everyone a bad lesson.

Can Local and Organic Feed the World?

Is organic food merely a luxury item for the self-satisfied and affluent west?

Thinking about Spills

Wendell Berry turns his attention toward an intentional spill in Kentucky.

“Never Let a Good Crisis Go To Waste”

Is there really any limit to political consolidation, when the very effects of that consolidation ensure the creation of even larger economic, military, and other crises that require more expansive consolidation?

Red Tories

In the American context, one could very easily call Red Tories Jeffersonians, and this is where we see the predicament for Red Toryism in the United States.

Crises

"Solving for Pattern" means making connections between seemingly separate crises - such as those taking place in Greece and the Gulf of Mexico, ones that are both born of our collective incapacity to live within our means.

Making Money

Chances are that unless you’re a total financial wonk, you’ve never heard the term “seigniorage.” But you should, because doing the right thing with it could help solve several major, interrelated problems.

Big Societies, Christian Communities, and Tories (Red or Otherwise)

Whatever the results of the British election, the Red Tory ideal remains promising...and yet, absent a robust civic religion, also probably wanting.

Germany: Socialist and Conservative

Social democratic states can demonstrate frugality and responsibility, too.