In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 22 million Americans lost their jobs, effectively reversing several years of economic growth. This would mark the beginning of a “two-track recovery” that is increasingly divided between those whose livelihoods remained safe and secure and those whose industries or enterprises have been thoroughly upended. As governments moved to shut down key sectors of the economy last spring – promoting a series of strange dichotomies about “essential” vs. “non-essential” work –...

As states like California continue imposing harsh COVID-19 lockdowns on their citizens, government officials gain even more power to decide which businesses get to survive. Unsurprisingly, politicians have given powerful interests preferential treatment. One of the most blatant cases occurred in Los Angeles, where a restaurant owner’s tearful condemnation of the city’s uneven policies reveals what happens when government starts deciding whose livelihood takes priority. As Angela Marsden describes in her now-viral video, a newly imposed ban on outdoor dining...

For many, Brussels sprouts are symbolic of not-so-popular childhood cuisine, remembered mostly for their bitter taste and ominous odor. More recently, however, they’ve had a revival of sorts, ing a treasured item in the kitchens of professional restaurateurs and home chefs alike. While the renaissance may at first seem like a passing fad driven by the whims of modern palettes, it began in the 1990s with the innovative efforts of a Dutch scientist. Marked by decades of incremental improvements and...

President-elect Joe Biden is expected to support federal paid leave benefits for employees. Whether such an agenda can go through with a Republican Senate is questionable. That is unless, Democrats get the help from some misguided conservatives, who have been pushing their own version of paid leave under the illusion that the government could somehow get involved in this area of our lives without growing the size and scope of government. Let’s review what’s at stake here, since the arguments...

On Sunday, December 25, 2011, at 10:55 a.m., I received an email from Walter Williams. I couldn’t believe it. The email simply read, “Does this work for you? Good luck.” It was an endorsement of my book on Thomas Sowell. It was one of the best Christmas gifts I have ever received. I was deeply honored to receive an endorsement from “the” Walter Williams, and to be exchanging emails with one of my intellectual heroes was the icing on the...

Chinese Communist authorities have levied new charges against Jimmy Lai, which could result the outspoken Catholic dissident spending the rest of his life in prison. On Friday, authorities formally charged the Hong Kong media tycoon with violating its restrictive“national security law.” “After in-depth investigation by National Security Department of Hong Kong Police, a 73-year-old man was charged with an additional offense of ‘collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security,’” Hong Kong police announced via...

As church attendance and religious affiliation continue to decline across the West, many have lamented the spiritual and social side effects, including a weakening of civil society and the fragmentation munity life. What is less discussed, however, is the economic impact of such a shift. In a new report, The Hidden Economy: How Faith Helps Fuel Canada’s GDP, researchers Brian and Melissa Grimm explore this very thing, offering an estimate of the socioeconomic value of faith and religion to broader...

First, a truism: Checks and balances are at the foundation of our national government. Second, a cliché: The U.S. is increasingly polarized. Combining these two, mentators have been eager to forecast the end of checks and balances in a time of political jockeying. But they misunderstand the very aim of checks and balances. For instance, according to one op-ed in the New York Times, “Democratic institutions function only when power is exercised with restraint. When parties abandon the spirit of...

China’s Communist government has given the world another example of how socialism is patible with Christianity, literally chapter and verse. A Chinese textbook teaches students that Jesus Christ stoned a woman to death while admitting that He is a sinner. China’s besieged Christian population says the government has twisted the Gospel in an effort to convince young people to obey edicts handed down by the Chinese Communist Party. The offending passage appears in a textbook intended to teach law and...

The Electoral College met on Monday to cast the decisive votes in the 2020 presidential election. This year’s vote was not without controversy, a reality that has engulfed the constitutionally mandated election system since its founding. To further undermine the institution, this year Colorado voted to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, an end-run around the Electoral College that includes a total of 15 states and the District of Columbia. Should the quadrennial rite of electors selecting our president...