Economics & Empire

The Rhetoric of War Powers

I suppose we have the Constitution we deserve--but we could fight for the one we had.

Nourishing America

In a recently popular documentary, Rosie, a 5th-grader from a small town in Colorado, describes how she often goes to bed with an empty...

Holy Days, Holidays and the Weekend, or: Are we all Proletarians...

Archduchess Maria Theresa, wife of the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Franz Stephan of Habsburg-Lothringen, is on the way to her desk. She...

Economic Smackdown!: ‘Porchers’ vs. ‘Austrians’

Earlier this month, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute held a summer program for college students in Louisville, Kentucky. Titled "Arguing Conservatism," the event featured faculty...

What Health Insurance Does to Prices

Last summer, my youngest son was on a church trip on the other side of the country, when he hurt his hand. A deep...

Independence Day Discord

As some prepare to don the stars and stripes in all tasteless manners of irony, and speak sarcastically and casually about concepts such as...

Seemliness and Scale

The terms ‘seemly’ (conforming to accepted notions of propriety or good taste) and ‘unseemly’ (not proper or appropriate) describe behaviors which are not, strictly speaking,...

The Localist and the Big Box Store

Hidden Springs Lane. Should a localist shop at Home Depot? Or Walmart? The question, as I’ve stated it, should taste slightly off, like milk...

Food Stamps and Krazy Glue

On a recent Monday morning, an officemate and I were discussing the current financial state—always a cheery subject on a Monday.  Mark, a financial...

What Then Must We Do?: Worker Ownership Redux

The following is an excerpt from from Gar Alperovitz's What Then Must We Do? (Chelsea Green, 2013) and is reprinted with permission of the publisher. Learn more about...