Trump Flirts with Price Controls
President Trump’s recent embrace of economic proposals runs sharply against free-market orthodoxy, exploring three headline-grabbing ideas: capping credit-card interest rates, banning institutional investors from buying single-family homes, and restricting dividends and stock buybacks by defense contractors. Why is a Republican president advancing policies more commonly associated with progressive populism? Drawing on economic history, constitutional law, and real-world market behavior, Epstein argues that price controls, capital restrictions, and politicized contracting consistently backfire, harming consumers, workers, and innovation alike. The conversation situates Trump’s proposals within a broader populist strategy, assesses the political incentives behind them, and warns that ignoring basic economic lessons risks repeating some of the most durable policy failures of the past.
Politics
National Civitas Institute Poll: Americans are Anxious and Frustrated, Creating a Challenging Environment for Leaders
The poll reveals a deeply pessimistic American electorate, with a majority convinced the nation is on the wrong track.
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Liberal Democracy Reexamined: Leo Strauss on Alexis de Tocqueville
This article explores Leo Strauss’s thoughts on Alexis de Tocqueville in his 1954 “Natural Right” course transcript.
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Long Distance Migration as a Two-Step Sorting Process: The Resettlement of Californians in Texas
Here we press the question of whether the well-documented stream of migrants relocating from California to Texas has been sufficient to alter the political complexion of the destination state.
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Who's That Knocking? A Study of the Strategic Choices Facing Large-Scale Grassroots Canvassing Efforts
Although there is a consensus that personalized forms of campaign outreach are more likely to be effective at either mobilizing or even persuading voters, there remains uncertainty about how campaigns should implement get-out-the-vote (GOTV) programs, especially at a truly expansive scale.
California’s Green Policies Destroy Blue-Collar Jobs
The problem here lies not with racism, or lack of reparations, as Newsom and “progressives” insist, but with their own policies, which devastate minority communities.
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Oil, War, and Peace
The deeper question about these matters is why the energy crunch had to occur at all.
Iran and the Laws of War
The Iran war gives the United States the opportunity to re-formulate the rules of war, not to fight the old conflicts of the twentieth century.
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