Compare and Contrast

Here's the clip of Gerald Ford's famous gaffe from the 1976 presidential debate, in which he denies that the Soviets "dominate" Eastern Europe. It's pretty bad. But notice that Ford is struggling to make an intelligent and important point: what he wants to say is that the US does …

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Written by David Frum on Thursday November 10, 2011

Back in (What Was) the USSR

The last time I was in Russia was 1982, communism was a fading but malignant power ... Leonid Brezhnev was near death, and KGB boss Yuri Andropov was about to take over (and would die within a year). At the time there was widespread, orchestrated paranoia over President Ronald Reagan’s supposed …

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Written by Peter Worthington on Friday September 9, 2011

Red Gold

During Hurricane Irene, I took some time to read Barry Eichengreen's overview of international monetary history: em> Exorbitant Privilege

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Written by Noah Kristula-Green on Monday August 29, 2011

Are Obama's Billions Backfiring?

Sustained productivity growth comes only as a result of capital investment that meets market needs. Simply throwing money at building roads, bridges, manufacturing plants or whatever doesn’t do the trick. The question worth asking now is pretty simple: will America’s current capital investment …

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Written by Eli Lehrer on Monday June 13, 2011

The Man Who Beat America to Space

50 years ago today, Yuri Gagarin became the first man to journey to outer space. After his return to earth, the Soviets turned him into a potent propaganda symbol. 50 years ago today, Moscow state radio announced that Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin was the first man to journey into outer space. But his …

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Written by Robin Tim Weis on Tuesday April 12, 2011