Tragedy of the Left

The phenomenon I call the tragedy of the Left combines a passionate commitment to liberating the oppressed with extremely poor analytical abilities. Originally noble intentions end exactly as one might…

The Power to Educate

The educational system of communist Czechoslovakia in the 1970s and 1980s is not coming back, so there is little point in debating whether its return would be desirable. No one…

The Missing Social Vision

In his account of the three waves of the Industrial Revolution, Professor Budil shows how the advent of new technologies transformed Western society. Steam engines created the nation (and the…

Nothing Left to Fear

The only justification for the rule of the liberal oligarchy rests on portraying utterly insane things that would supposedly happen if the liberal oligarchy were removed from power. But that…

The Logic of Empire

Older readers may remember the 1970s and 1980s, when Czechoslovak companies built breweries, sugar refineries, textile mills, tanneries, tire factories, and a great many arms plants in African countries. Every…

Beyond GNP

I have repeatedly argued here that GDP does not measure the true strength of an economy or genuine economic development, and that we need an entirely different metric. Creating such…