“We’re ing like Europe” captures many Americans’ sense that something has changed in American economic life since the Great Recession’s onset in 2008. An economy once characterized mitments to economic liberty, rule of law, limited government, and personal responsibility appears to be drifting in a distinctly “European” direction. Across the Atlantic, Americans see European economies faltering under enormous debt; overburdened welfare states; high taxation; heavily regulated labor markets; aging populations; large numbers of public-sector workers; and governments controlling close to...

MarvinOlasky,editor in chief ofWORLD Magazine, just listed Samuel Gregg’s ing Europe: Economic Decline, Culture, and How America Can Avoid a European Future in his mid-Winter roundup of books to read. He says: Samuel Gregg’s ing Europe: Economic Decline, Culture, and How America Can Avoid a European Future (Encounter, 2013) is a lucid account of the Europeanization of America’s political culture not only through quasi-socialistic programs but through personnel. Gregg shows how European leaders typically attend indoctrinating universities and then spend...

Michelle Rhee isn’t afraid of controversy. In 2007 she took the job of chancellor of Washington, D.C. public schools, one of the worst districts in the country. Given a free hand by the city’s mayor, she instituted a number of reforms that, while modest and sensible (accountability, standardized testing), were considered “radical” by many residents of D.C. Rhee even fired 266 teachers and defended her actions by saying, “I got rid of teachers who had hit children, who had had...

The Rev. Robert Sirico offers his thoughts on the announcement this morning from Pope Benedict XVI that he is resigning from the papal office as of February 28. It is a sobering thought to think that the last time a Pope resigned (Pope Gregory XII in 1415), America had not yet been discovered. Yes, the possibility of a Pope’s resignation is anticipated in Canon Law (Canon 332), as long as it is disclosed “properly” and of his own free will....

In this abridged version of the video series Economics for Everybody, R.C Sproul Jr. explains why it’s important for Christians to understand economics. Economics Has Consequences pulls together some of the key aspects of the original series into one film, including introductions to such basic principles of economics as stewardship, civil government, work, wealth, and entrepreneurism. The second section explores the impact of government intervention on education, the money supply, welfare, depressions, markets, and more. The video shows why economic...

As occurrences of preventable diseases increase and the debt deepens, some look to “sin taxes” as an easy to solution to both problems. Thirty-three states have even gone as far as to implement a soda tax in an attempt to curb obesity. At first glance sin taxes seem to be a good idea, but they can actually cause more harm than good. The Mercatus Center at George Mason University has just published a working paper on sin taxes and their...

Regarding the USPS decision Wednesday to stop Saturday mail delivery, Ron Nixon at the New York Times writes, The post office said a five-day mail delivery schedule would begin in August and shave about $2 billion a year from its losses, which were $15.9 billion last year. The Postal Service would continue to deliver packages six days a week, and post offices would still be open on Saturdays. Reducing Saturday delivery is in line with mail services in several other...

Shock waves went through Rome at about noon today and the rest of the Catholic, make that the entire, world, as news came that Pope Benedict XVI will resign as Pope on February 28. We’ll have much more from Rome about this tremendous, unprecedented event (Pope Gregory XII resigned in 1415 in very different circumstances). Here’s what Pope Benedict had to say about a Pope resigning in the 2010 interview Light of the World: Q:The great majority of [the sexual...

Rev. Sirico will be on Real News tonight between 6-7pm EST. You can find the program on Dish Network (ch. 212) and online at Glenn Beck’s internet channel, The Blaze. ...

After decades of bloody turmoil between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland, on March 26, 2007, Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams, sitting side-by-side at Stormont confirmed that power-sharing will return to Northern Ireland on May 8th of that same year. It was supposed to be a “new era.” Unfortunately, in order for Ireland to recover from decades of a plicated history it needs a growing economy. Northern Ireland’s economy is in steep decline because it remains such a high-taxed welfare...