You Know As Much About Zelensky As You Do Foghorn Leghorn
That Porky Pig is a real stand-up guy. How can you not like him? Yosemite Sam is a different animal. A real meanie? Oh wait, I forgot, they are just cartoon characters. My bad. To all those…
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Essays
Writing by John Tamny and Parkview contributors, from the latest commentary to the collected archive.
1298 essays · Newest first
If Inflation Is Truly Higher Prices, Then the Fed Cannot Fight It
The economic consensus of the moment is that higher prices are the same as inflation, and the Fed is the only governmental entity situated to bring down higher prices. It’s a dangerous consensus.…
New Yorkers Are Too Talented To Be Restrained by Bad Policy
“He was just the waiter.” That’s what one of the owners of legendary New York steakhouse Peter Luger said about Wolfgang Zwiener. “All” he’d done over the decades was wait tables at Luger’s, and this…
Zelensky Got What He Deserved After His Obnoxious UN Stunt
The thing about the Left and their feminine minded screamers is they are not very smart. They hear a few harsh words, despite being 100% true, and then run outside with their pinkies in the…
Alarmists On the Left and Right Can Relax, Debt and Default Are Priced
Whatever worries you about what’s going on in the world, stop. The advice is wise not because your fears aren’t potentially valid, but precisely because they’re potentially valid. If they are, rest…
Book Review: Philip Gefter’s Spectacular ‘Cocktails with George and Martha’
It always interested Cato Institute co-founder Ed Crane that while left-handed writers represent roughly 11 percent of the population, something like 40 percent of Cato’s staff wrote left-handed.…
‘Carried Interest’ Is the Opposite of Income, and Shouldn’t Be Taxed Like It
“Carried interest” is extraordinarily misleading. It implies a fixed and very certain income stream in the way that interest bearing accounts at banks do. Which is the problem. Carried interest is…
Why Is Musk Being So Stingy? Return 100% of DOGE Savings
100% percent of any Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) savings should be returned to taxpayers. This shouldn’t even be a debate, but sadly it will be since neither side of the ideological…
So-Called ‘Bidenflation’ Is What Happened After ‘Bidenflation’
There was no “Bidenflation” from 2021 to 2022. History books will make clear that there were rising prices, not inflation. There’s a difference. Just the same, the dollar has declined fairly…
Michael Dirda Is Incredibly Fortunate To Be Working All the Time
“I keep a button on my desk that says ‘Life?’ Of course I have a life. It’s a life filled with books.” Those are the words of Michael Dirda, Pulitzer Price-winning book critic for the Washington…
From Steel N. Robb To Niece Molly On Getting Ahead In Washington
This letter recently came into my possession. It’s from Steel N. Robb, managing partner of the powerhouse Washington consulting firm of Cheatem and Fleecem. The author is giving his…
It Matters Not One Bit Which Country ‘Wins’ Artificial Intelligence
Roughly a fifth of Apple’s iPhones are sold in China. Repeat the previous anecdote over and over again, and ideally convey it to Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and Matt Pottinger, chairman of the China…
Book Review: Samuel Graydon’s ‘Einstein In Time and Space’
Laments about the state of education are arguably as old as education is, or close to it. And they’ve always been a waste of time. That’s because knowledge isn’t bestowed on us as much as it’s…
Livvy Dunne’s Influence Refutes “Kids Off of Social Media Act
Much to my surprise, several weeks ago I attended a hockey game where I was seated only a few rows behind distinguished collegiate gymnast and social media influencer Livvy Dunne. While not a…
Jamie Dimon Is Absolutely Right About Coming To Work Each Day
When Donald Keough took over as President and COO of Coca-Cola in 1981, one of the first things he did was walk the halls of the company’s headquarters to get to know the employees. He asked each…
With U.S. Budgeting There’s No Such Thing As ‘Fake Math’
The U.S. has a massive budget and eye-popping debt precisely because Congress annually fleeces the rich. To believe otherwise is to believe in Santa Claus, ferociously dumb markets, or both. What’s…
Can Donald Trump Become the Next Jimmy Carter?
The Trump Administration is off to a fast start. While closing the border, DEI reversal, needed tax legislation and the work of DOGE are getting the headlines, the area that I am most excited about…
Price Of Gold From 2021-22 Has Long Rejected ‘Bidenflation’
Without defending Joe Biden’s unfortunate presidency, future economics books will correct the “Bidenflation” narrative that Republicans and Democrats continue to embrace. Inflation is a decline in…
Chris Jones Is a Rejection of the NFL’s Diversity Policies
“He’s not going to play Division I football.” That’s what a Division I coach told Chris Cox, the defensive coordinator at Chris Jones’s high school (Houston High) in Mississippi. The skeptic couldn’t…
If Countries Want to Hurt the U.S., They Should Choose Collectivism
If leaders of other countries ever really want to weaken the United States, they should embrace collectivism. It’s that simple. Which is but a small reminder that imports never hurt the United…
Trade Disputes Are An Unfortunate Effect of Floating Money
“They have treated us very unfairly on trade.” That’s one of President Trump’s most frequent economic themes, and he has a point. So do “they.” To see why, it’s easy to forget that no one buys or…
California Is a Reminder That Corrupted Prices Never Sound Good ‘In Theory’
As the Wall Street Journal’s Greg Ip reported last month, the Los Angeles fires had caused an estimated $50 billion worth of losses, but that only $20 billion worth of those losses were insured.…
Amazon and Google Are Operating Like Startups
Amazon and Google are fighting gallantly to remain relevant. Whether or not they will remain relevant is a question that hundreds of billions worth of investment will answer. To which more than a few…
The Soft Hands, No One's Looking, Hide the Ball, Lying Snake Rule
My friend Janie is a babe and a Washington mover and shaker. Over the years when she needed a tall, handsome and charming escort for a particular Washington event or gala, naturally…