Human Events

Back to the Future of Education

“It’s your kids, Marty, something has got to be done about your kids!” Doc Brown’s line at the conclusion of Back to the Future did…

Human Events

To Get Up and Go – and Go Again

We all love cheap gas, don’t we? Well, maybe not everyone. Money magazine recently published an article with the head-turning title, “Cheap oil is…

Op-Eds

A Professor Who Suffers No Fools

Deserts are peculiar barren land areas with little precipitation and hostile living conditions. They often serve as dramatic settings of Biblical proportions—quite literally. In the…

Human Events

In Memory of Gordon Tullock

This column was originally published at Human Events on November 10, 2014. As I watched last week’s election returns, my mind numbed to the…

Human Events

In Memoriam: Leonard Liggio

At the end of the film Amazing Grace, Lord Charles Fox honors William Wilberforce’s tireless crusade to abolish the transatlantic slave trade. “When people speak…

Human Events

Words Matter

We teach our children words matter—both in their intent and their actual use. Unfortunately, many grow up to become politicians or bureaucrats adept at manufacturing…

Transportation

Human Events

The Millennial Hope

Becoming a parent is life changing. And among the greatest changes are some surprising moments of great self-awareness. For example, the first time I sputtered…

Human Events

Time Has a Way of Blurring Memories

Time has a way of blurring memories’ edges. Or in some cases obliterating them. We accuse younger siblings of revisionism when they incorrectly recount family…

Human Events

Big Government Ripple Effect

I am fascinated by ripples  – whether from stones thrown into a pond or ocean waves crashing on a rocky seashore. If you’ve ever observed…

Human Events

No One Likes Stereotypes

No one likes stereotypes. But seriously, what’s up with the French? I regularly travel overseas and know what it’s like for things to not quite…

Human Events

CEI Sues the NSA

The Central Intelligence Agency recently entered the 21st century with uncharacteristic humor. Its first foray into social media began, “We can neither confirm nor deny…

Human Events

The Rising Class-War Chorus

Last week, three seemingly unrelated events illustrated an important truth about our nation’s political debate. In Detroit, a 125-year-old mansion went on the market for…

Human Events

Cronyism versus the Free market

As the economy has continued to falter under his watch, President Obama’s response has been to try to hang the albatross of the nation’s woes…

Human Events

Celebrate Human Achievement Hour!

After many years in Washington, D.C., it’s hard not to notice how little it has changed since President Kennedy called it “a city of Southern…

Human Events

Regulation: The Tax You Don’t See

Government spending—everybody’s talking about it. But unlike the weather, everyone wants to do something about it. Last week, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave…

Human Events

CPAC’s Big Tent For The 80%

I must confess that when asked to speak at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), I was reminded of Tom Lehrer’s classic satirical song,…

Human Events

What would Elvis Costello Think?

I pondered that recently, when I spoke at a symposium titled, “(What’s so funny ‘bout) Debt, Budgets and Sequestration?” But my thoughts turned to weightier…

Human Events

Farm Bill Lacks A Dry Match

The U.S. Capitol Police might investigate me for saying this, but Guy Fawkes was onto something that fateful evening beneath the House of Lords in…

Human Events

Remembering ‘Reagan Democrats’

Students of politics understand the historical importance of the “Reagan Democrats”—those predominantly working-class cultural conservatives who were integral to both of Ronald Reagan’s successful campaigns…

Human Events

Score One For Obamacare

Score one for Obamacare. Last week, a federal court struck down one of the major legal challenges to the Affordable Care Act. Washington, D.C. District…

Human Events

Groundhog Day?

Feels like Groundhog Day, again. Congress is debating another extension…

Human Events

Shutdown? What shutdown?

In case you hadn’t noticed, the federal government is not currently functioning at full capacity. As one who works in Washington, D.C., I can certainly…

Human Events

In Name Only

Traipsing through Dulles Airport the other day, my eyes were drawn to a series of wall poster advertisements. Each one featured a supposed “foreign aid…

Business and Government

Study

Passing the Torch at CEI

Those of us who direct “free-market” groups should remember that our leadership is not given by birthright, but is a transfer of a precious inheritance.