24 | October | 2012

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

China manipulates its currency to our advantage, saving Americans billions of dollars. Why should we complain?

Mark J. Perry | October 24, 2012, 8:59 pm

Mitt Romney continues to accuse China of unfairly manipulating its currency, and if elected, pledges to “label them a currency manipulator on day one” so that he can then “apply tariffs where they’re taking our jobs.” Governor Romney’s position is … read more >

Image credit: Toby Alters (Flickr) (CC BY 2.0)

Politics and Public Opinion, Elections

Wooing women?

Karlyn Bowman and Jennifer Marsico | October 24, 2012, 3:12 pm

Is there a newspaper, television station, or social media site that isn’t running story after story about women in the 2012 election? If not, we haven’t seen it. The twitter universe exploded after the debate with tweets about the candidates’ … read more >

Economics, Monetary Policy, Pethokoukis

Blame Bush? The two charts that show how the Great Recession really happened

James Pethokoukis | October 24, 2012, 3:02 pm

Washington has produced lots of policy in response to the Great Recession. TARP, the $800 billion stimulus, Dodd Frank, HAMP and HARP, the QEs. But would policymakers have acted differently if they had thought differently about what caused the Great … read more >

Foreign and Defense Policy, AfPak

Mullah Omar’s Eid message: Congrats on military victories

Ahmad Majidyar | October 24, 2012, 2:18 pm

In his Eid message released today, Taliban’s reclusive leader Mullah Omar congratulated his followers on “this year’s unprecedented military victories” against the Coalition forces in the country: “[Translated from Dari] Mujahid brothers: You are witnessing that the ranks of jihad … read more >

Image credit: Hynek Moravec (Wikimedia Commons)

Foreign and Defense Policy, Europe and Russia

Taxing the rich: Not just an American controversy

Veronika Polakova | October 24, 2012, 2:00 pm

The Czech Republic is waiting for the resolution of a dispute about a “tax on millionaires” which threatens the approval of the 2013 budget and could bring down the Czech government. Sound familiar? It turns out that neither the desire … read more >

Image Credit: Maxintosh (Flickr) (CC BY 2.0)

Economics, Entitlements

Millennials ask: Nick Eberstadt on ‘A Nation of Takers’ part 2

Karin Agness | October 24, 2012, 1:21 pm

For Americans as a whole, the most pernicious myth is that entitlements are mainly a benefit arrangement for an underclass. read more >

Carpe Diem

Renaissance in US oil production may surpass Saudi Arabia by 2020 and is helping make N. America “the new Middle East”

Mark J. Perry | October 24, 2012, 11:37 am

1. From the Associated Press article U.S. Could Surpass Saudi Oil Output by 2020″” U.S. oil output is surging so fast that the United States could soon overtake Saudi Arabia as the world’s biggest producer. Driven by high prices and new … read more >

Image credit: Ctrouper (Flickr) (CC BY 2.0)

Society and Culture

The AAUW spin sisters strike again

Christina Hoff Sommers | October 24, 2012, 10:45 am

The AAUW was once a serious women’s organization. Since the early nineties, it has devolved into a hard-nosed, K Street-style special interest group that stops at nothing to defend its “women are victims” narrative. read more >

Carpe Diem

Architecture billings index increases in September to highest level since late 2010, suggests housing boom will continue

Mark J. Perry | October 24, 2012, 10:38 am

American Institute of Architects — “Billings at architecture firms in September increased at their fastest pace since late 2010 (see red line in chart). As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) reflects the approximate … read more >

Carpe Diem

Cheap, abundant shale gas fuels economic growth in America’s Rust Belt and sparks a manufacturing renaissance

Mark J. Perry | October 24, 2012, 9:31 am

From today’s WSJ article “Cheap Natural Gas Gives New Hope to the Rust Belt,” more coverage of the shale energy revolution in America, which represents a seismic shift in the energy landscape that is transforming the U.S. economy in powerful ways and … read more >

Hindsight Isn’t 20/20
Many lessons should be drawn from the U.S. experience in Iraq. Unfortunately, we’re not learning what we should. […]
The Uses of Scandal
One of the greatest uses of scandal is to vividly demonstrate what new laws are needed and to create the political conditions to get them enacted. […]
Lean In… to Government?
Sheryl Sandberg's runaway best-selling book Lean In has managed to offend both the Left and the Right. Sandberg touts female hard-headedness, yet also calls for an elaborate government- and employer-supplied support system for women. […]
Are American Voters Racist?
Racial prejudice plays a very small role in American politics, but a highly disciplined sense of self-interest on the part of one group may play a very large role in the way the federal government functions. […]