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Credit crunch, character crisis
With so many people’s economic well-being now partly determined by decisions of those working in financial industries, sound moral character in their employees and directors should be a premium asset sought by any bank or financial company. No amount of regulation — heavy or light — can substitute for the type of character formation that is supposed to occur in families, schools, churches, and synagogues.What's wacko about 'Sicko'
Michael Moore wants socialized medicine in the United States, as his film Sicko proves. But Moore's plan would result in worse, not better, health outcomes for Americans – including the poor and underserved.A liberal education and "free" federal financing
Despite – or precisely because of – soaring tuition costs and record-high post-graduation debt levels, 2008 presidential campaign rhetoric is rife with promises of more federal aid for college students.Saving Europe's money
Amidst the anti-inflationary policies presently pursued by most of the world's important central banks, the global economy continues to grow impressively. Even a number of Europe's lackluster economies are beginning to register respectable growth-rates.Minimum wage, maximum suffering
Whenever a price floor is raised, the tendency is to create a surplus of goods beyond which there might not otherwise have been. Whenever a wage floor is raised, it creates a surplus of workers who otherwise might have had jobs. At the microeconomic level, the effects are real and tragic.Darfur: Taking student advocacy beyond the wristband
The people of Sudan deserve more than haphazard activism.Schumpeter's paradox: Wages, wealth, incentives
Legally enforcing a wage-price above the natural market wage is likely to cause unemployment among low-income and entry-level workers: that is, those who most need steady employment and those trying to break into the labor market to begin their working life.‘War on poverty’ remix won’t work, either
Government wealth redistribution schemes, larger labor unions, and expanded government social programming have never helped the poor in the past and will continue to fail the truly disadvantaged in the future.The problem of equality
Of all things, an indiscreet tampering with the trade of provisions is the most dangerous, and it is always worst in the time when men are most disposed to it; that is, in the time of scarcity. Because there is nothing on which the passions of men are so violent, and their judgment so weak, and on which there exists such a multitude of ill-founded popular prejudices. (Edmund Burke, “Thoughts and Details on Scarcity,” 1795)Illegal immigration and the Church: Philanthropic lawlessness
A lawbreaking solution is neither a prudent civic response nor a necessary act of compassion.Follow the money: Stem cells and subsidies
The use of umbilical cord blood is doubly more humane than the use of human embryos for obtaining stem cells.'Big Corn' and unintended consequences
Because of the widespread use of corn products in U.S. food, less land for other crops due to an increased need for corn fields, and the higher cost of corn feed for livestock. In the first quarter of this year, food prices rose at an annualized rate of 7.1 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Think of it as a regressive tax on the consumer.