A feature of conservative thought that I’ve never entirely understood is its persistent anti-technology theme. If the roots of left-wing anti-technology views are probably with Rousseau, where can we find the roots of similar right-wing views? In this essay , Russell Hittinger locates a surprising source: the writings of Christopher Dawson . He
The fantastic news that all of Mozart’s music in edited scores has been put online hit the papers two days ago. It was made possible by a $400,000 grant paid to the publisher, presumably to cover lost royalties --as if anyone could possibly calculate such a thing. In any case, it was a matter of contract, so who can complain? It’s wonderful that
CNN gives advice on how to deal with the awful problem of big and fancy houses (McMansions) popping up in your neighborhood, increasing property values and drawing a more well-to-do set. Oh the silent sufferings wrought by economic
A rare thing: An entertaining article about the views of two economists (WPost): “Economists are as plentiful in Washington as gators in the Everglades. This is the great swamp of statistics, the place where raw data is assembled, processed and analyzed for the purpose of creating rational economic policies. Statistics become ammunition in
Pat Buchanan’s new book ( Where the Right Went Wrong , NY: St. Martin’s, 2004) landed on my desk, and flipping past the fine attacks on the Iraq War and the not-so-fine praise of Hamiltonian autarky, I bumped into this plan for dealing with China, which is presented as the most pressing threat to America. We must manage trade with Beijing and make
From CornerSolution (a blog that deserves a much higher profile) comes this fascinating link to a World Bank study on Somalia which says: Somalia has lacked a recognized government since 1991—an unusually long time. In extremely difficult conditions the private sector has demonstrated its much-vaunted capability to make do. To cope with the
Lard shortages have hit the EU as new members increase demand and seek to avoid the high levy on non-Eu lard. The BBC story seems accurate in most ways except for this absurdly limiting sentence: “Lard can be used to make mince pies, Christmas pudding and roast potatoes.” That hardly exhausts lard’s holiday uses, as we Southerners know.
From CSM , a fascinating story on how China’s thriving market, cheap credit, government complicity, and pent up demand conspire to create what are surely some of the most spectacular malls in the world. The one in this story is 6 million square feet, with 230 escalators and 1,000 shops. As many of these stories as I’ve read, I still find it
What is the Mises Institute?
The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard.
Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.
