Under Discussion:A Failure of Capitalism: The Crisis of ‘08 and the Descent into Depression. Richard A. Posner. Harvard University Press (2009). 346 pages. Richard Posner tells us that capitalism has failed, but his own book leads to an entirely different conclusion. Posner, a noted federal appeals court judge, helped found the “law and economics” movement. This movement views law as a … [Read More]

Under Discussion: American Babylon: Notes of a Christian Exile, Richard John Neuhaus, Basic Books (2009), 270 pages. Richard Neuhaus, the recently deceased editor of First Things, acquired in his life a remarkable number of famous friends, as well as a few enemies. He knew Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, and Avery Cardinal Dulles was a close collaborator. His … [Read More]

The key thought that underlies Obama’s recovery plan is simple. The cure for severe recession lies in trying to “grow the economy.” Spending and investment have fallen off; the government, accordingly, must take up the slack. By doing so, we’ll “get the economy going again.” Defenders of this view assail those who contend that government spending simply crowds out private spending, … [Read More]

Ben Bernanke Wants To Throw Dollar Bills Out of Helicopters People who want to find out what Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke has in mind for the economy need to read some history. Bernanke declares himself a “Great Depression buff,” and as a professor at Princeton, he published an entire book devoted to the subject. The work in question, Essays … [Read More]

Under Consideration: The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World, by Niall Ferguson, Penguin Press (2008),  442 pages. In The Pity of War, Niall Ferguson asked a penetrating question: What would have happened had Britain remained neutral during World War I? Agree with his answer—history would probably have turned out better—or not, of one thing there can be little … [Read More]

When you read the Crunchy Cons, one name comes up again and again. As a political movement, the group has been spearheaded by Rod Dreher, and it to him that we owe the phrase “Crunchy Cons.” Yet although he has mounted a spirited defense of the group’s credo in his Crunchy Cons: The New Conservative Culture and Its Return to Roots … [Read More]