Tag: History

Abraham Lincoln is Killing His Own People

The way the administration has been swinging coverage of the recent chemical attack in Syria and surrounding fallout has gradually sickened me severely. In the interests of levity and biting satire, I thought of an interesting notion–what if, in European countries, politicians and journalists had discussed the American Civil War within the same ideological framework that is presently used when discussing the Syrian case? Elites in the British Empire actually did seriously consider intervening in that war on behalf of the confederacy in order to secure their cotton supply, which was endangered by the union blockade. Thankfully, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the 1860’s did not share John Kerry’s temperament. But what if he did?

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Mitch Daniels and Howard Zinn

Mitch Daniels, the former governor of Indiana, one-time speculative presidential candidate, and current president of Purdue University  has been accused of attempting to use his office to influence the ideological content of Indiana’s classrooms so as to silence dissenting opinions. Specifically, he is accused of attempting to prevent schools from using A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn, a deceased academic. Daniels did indeed attempt to prevent the book from being taught in schools, as he freely admits–was this morally permissible of him?

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Tax Rates and Growth

Last week, I took a look at optimal tax rates, the top rates of income tax which economic research suggests would maximize revenue if implemented as policy. The research suggested that for every 1% higher the top rate of income tax rises, the rich report 0.25% less income. This suggested an optimal top rate of between 73 and 80%. Toward the end of that post, I suggested that it might be the case that even as the rich report lower earnings, the economy as a whole might operate more efficiently at those high rates, if the government is more effective at investment than the private sector. Today I’d like to look at some empirical data to see if there’s any historical basis for that claim. Continue reading “Tax Rates and Growth” →

Europeans and Americans

Now that my undergraduate degree in England is over, I’ve started to collate my thoughts regarding the essential distinctions between the European and American variants of civilization. Why do Europeans support universal health care while Americans do not? Why are Europeans more communal? Why are they more supportive of interventionist government policies? These are the sort of things I wish to ponder about today.

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