If women, on average, are as intelligent or perhaps more so than men (which they are), why did women most often obtain the right to vote decades after men? The only country that had granted women the right to vote before 1900 was New Zealand. The U.S. granted the...

How tall are you? How much do you weigh? What is the net value of your assets? The answers to all of these questions change over time — they are variables. Your height changes over the years — as you grow from an infant and then into middle age, you begin to shrink —...

Take a look at the nearest food package. Notice there is a list of ingredients that tells you how many calories and other useful information. Most of us assume that the information is largely accurate because we know the manufacturer can be sued for misleading us. Do...

If you are reading a news article about someone being charged with armed robbery, a visual image of a fellow with a gun holding up a store or bank probably comes to mind. But if the article says someone has been arrested on a money laundering charge, no particular...

TEASPOONS OR POWER SHOVELS? Why are we substituting labor for capital? The Department of Labor reported last week that “labor productivity decreased 0.9 percent” in the first quarter of 2023. “The 0.9 percent productivity decline is the first time the four-quarter...

Assume that the U.S. government announces it is going to issue enough money in the next three days to pay off the federal debt of $31 trillion. Yes, the debt would disappear, but the dollar would lose almost its entire value. What do you think most people would do if...

Assume you have been a high-ranking government official and are called to testify before Congress. You have knowledge of unethical or worse behavior by some of your former colleagues, most of whom are still friends. If you reveal what you know, this could result in...

What do you think the worst tax is? The capital gains tax is a good candidate. Capital gains are considered income by the IRS, even though they merely reflect a change in the price level — and most capital gains taxes are a tax on inflation. Inflation is caused by...

Aircraft technicians and mechanics must fill out detailed paperwork for any work performed on a plane or engine, including repair, replacement of parts, or changing fluids — and then sign the work-performed document, noting they were responsible. The reason for the...

Countries hostile to the U.S. and others, including China, Russia, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Argentina and South Africa, have been meeting with another to devise ways to dethrone the U.S. dollar as the world’s primary reserve currency. These and other countries are in...

Even in bad times, good things still happen. Question: If you were born 200 years before you were, what is the likelihood that you would have reached your present age — given the state of medical knowledge at the time — and would have survived all the illnesses and...

Some were shocked when Silicon Valley Bank and several other banks failed. Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren and other know-nothings immediately called for more regulation without apparently realizing that much of the problem was caused by the existing...

It is often difficult to figure out if those who are responsible for the country’s tax and spending policies are ignorant or worse, or if they think the voters are ignorant, or if it is a combination of the two. This past week, President Biden presented his proposed...

END OF THE U.S. DOLLAR MONOPOLY? China and Russia have announced they, along with Brazil, India and South Africa, are “working to develop a new global reserve currency” to compete with the U.S. dollar. The U.S. dollar has been the world’s currency since the end of...

WHEN GOVERNMENT FAILS, PRIVATE ENTREPRENEURS WILL EMERGE TO FILL VOID “Deficits don’t matter,” except when they do. Congress and the Biden administration are in one of their periodic fights about lifting the debt limit, with threats about “defaulting” on the debt. The...

Will institutions of higher education end up being instruments of oppression or places where free inquiry can liberate the mind of man? Oddly, this struggle is indirectly reflected in a couple of very different great movies. The first film is “Animal House,” released...

Does the expression “land of the free, home of the brave” still describe America? With the rise of the bureaucratic state and woke culture, we are becoming less free year by year. Rather than being brave in their willingness to defend the Constitution and fundamental...

IT CAN BE USED FOR SOCIETAL CONTROL, MISINFORMATION, DISCRIMINATION Remember travel agencies? Yes, a few still exist, but what was common is now rare — death by internet. Good travel agencies were helpful and provided important services, but what they did so well was...