Why It’s Time to Make Corruption a Campaign Issue Adam Smith, in “The Wealth of Nations” (1776), described “economic rent” as income derived from the ownership or control of scarce resources (especially land) rather than from productive labor or innovation. David Ricardo refined this idea with his Law of Rent, showing how landowners profit simply […]
Abraham Lincoln, often regarded as America’s greatest president, and F. A. Hayek, the Nobel laureate economist, lived nearly a century apart but were united by their championing of liberty. Both recognized the progression of Western Civilization—from Ancient Greece and Rome, through Jerusalem, the Magna Carta, the Enlightenment, and the Declaration of Independence. Each deployed language […]
“The Great Reckoning” is a phrase that conjures a decisive moment—a juncture when accountability can no longer be deferred, and the record of promise and performance stands exposed. In literature and in life, this reckoning often signifies the moment when justice, clarity, and consequence converge, forcing institutions and individuals alike to confront the uncomfortable truth. […]
Popes, political pundits, politicians—and most importantly, WE THE PEOPLE—have railed against institutional corruption since the beginning of time. A brief survey of my Concordance will serve the purpose: The Bible addresses political and institutional corruption in many passages, warning of the dangers when leaders and systems become unjust, exploitative, or self-serving. While it does not use […]
What Unites Great American Presidents? Roosevelt, Trump, and the Triumph of Principle As I revisit Bret Baier’s To Rescue the American Spirit for a second time, the lessons of American leadership—and the parallels between Donald Trump and Theodore Roosevelt—resonate more strongly than ever. In our age of uncertainty and polarization, the nation’s course depends on leaders willing […]
Though I was never a professional fisherman, I have spent thousands of hours at sea. It began with a year on the USS Virginia, where I completed my qualifications as Officer of the Day Underway. Although I never formally received my S.W.O.S. badge after passing the written and oral exams, the skipper honored me with […]
On a recent panel on Fox Business News, Charles Payne and guests discussed how cultural decisions resulting in declining birth rates worldwide will shape future generations’ political and economic choices. For two generations, China enforced a one-child policy per couple, which led to population growth but recent stabilization at 1.4 billion people. Now that the […]
On September 28th, The Idaho Statesman ran an opinion piece by Chenele Dixon entitled “Christian Nationalism Is Not Christian.” Dixon, a former state legislator, raises concerns about the intersection of Christianity and politics. Another Idaho politician defended her article to me, prompting this response. I recommend reading her article before considering my reply. Two points […]
I’m privileged to share coffee on Thursday mornings with a group of men and women who teach me something every time we meet. Between us, there are well over several hundred years of public service represented—district judges, former legislators, educators, law enforcement officers, city planners, former mayors, and county commissioners. Our discussion this week centered […]
We are blessed in Idaho to have truly remarkable doctors, nurses, and technicians—the people who touch the hearts and souls of those entrusted to their care every day. They continue the long slog forward despite, all too often, being disrespected by those who sign their paychecks and by legislators who permit the continuing arbitrage in […]
F. A. Hayek once observed that while you can have capitalism without liberty, you cannot have liberty without capitalism. The moral foundations for both are remarkably similar: rule of law, enforceable contracts, the sanctity of private property, and the core virtues of justice, charity, prudence, and courage. For centuries, some have said that liberty and […]
I am not a psychiatrist, but I did spend last night in a Holiday Inn Express. More seriously, I spent three months in clinical psychiatry during medical school and attended a handful of lectures in “social psychology.” Whenever the word “social” is prefixed to another field—such as social economics, social justice, social planning, socialism, or […]