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CATEGORY: ECONOMY (13 MIN)
The economic situation in America has made life difficult for millions of people. Home ownership has become an unattainable goal rather than a nationwide norm, and single-income households find it much more difficult to maintain a middle-class standard of living. Has our capitalist system failed?
In the foreword for American Compass’s new handbook, Rebuilding American Capitalism, Oren Cass lays out the troubles with our economic model and proposes ideas for conservative reform. Cass notes that although the capitalist model worked for many years in America, several recent changes hurt the system.
He argues that large companies no longer see the creation of familial wealth as the best route to profit. Instead, they simply trade assets with one another and do not invest in the general economy. He also blames the conservative movement for simply chasing a free market at all costs—particularly the intangible qualities that allow for strong family units.
“Families do not exist to support capitalism; capitalism exists to support families,” Cass writes.
Cass calls for the renewal of a productive, bounded market system, a reinvigorated drive for supportive communities, and a robust national policy to achieve these ends.
Read his introduction and the full handbook right here.
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Weekly Poll
RESULTS: 6/22/23
Last week, we asked: In your opinion, should the US seek to restore a pure meritocracy to efficiently distribute talent across institutions or should some consideration be taken to prevent brain drain from rural communities? 64.1% of respondents believe a pure meritocracy is preferable and 23.1% of respondents think that we should try to prevent brain drain.
In your opinion, has the cost of thriving gone up or down in America?
[A] Up
[B] Down
[C] Unsure
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CATEGORY: ECONOMY (10 MIN)
Cass has worked on the project of rebuilding conservatives’ perception of the economy for many years. One of his developed metrics to re-conceptualize American’s economic situation is the Cost of Thriving Index (COTI). The COTI determines approximately how many weeks of average wages are required to afford “middle-class essentials.”
For LessWrong, Zvi Mowshowitz analyzes the COTI and its effectiveness as a barometer. He begins by reviewing a Twitter thread by Scott Winship, who suggested edits to Cass’s COTI calculations. Mowshowitz goes through five different pieces of the COTI calculus: food, transportation, housing, healthcare, and education.
Mowshowitz rejects Winship’s challenges to Cass’s calculations for food and transportation, and he says that any proposed changes in housing would likely have a negligible effect. In regards to healthcare, though, he accepts Winship’s changes, which remove the double counting of employer contribution to health insurance. He also agrees with Winship that Cass should use the average tuition paid, not the sticker price.
Finally, Mowshowitz argues the most important change should be to include the burden of taxation in the analysis, as it affects every American strongly. But at the end of the day, we still end up worse off than we were four decades ago.
Read Mowshowitz’s full analysis right here.
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ISI’s 70th Anniversary Gala &
Linda L. Bean Center Dedication
September 28th, 2023
This fall, join us at our 70th Anniversary Gala featuring Tucker Carlson, Kevin Roberts, the president of the Heritage Foundation, and Linda Bean, entrepreneur and philanthropist. Together these are some of the most influential figures in America today.
We will also host a pre-event panel featuring longtime friends of ISI including Annette Kirk (Russell Kirk Center), Gene Meyer (The Federalist Society), Ed Feulner (The Heritage Foundation), and Dan McCarthy (ISI), discussing the 70th anniversary of three conservative classics: Russell Kirk’s The Conservative Mind, Leo Strauss’ Natural Right and History, and Robert Nisbet’s The Quest for Community.
We will have a lobster dinner in honor of Tucker and Linda’s mutual connection to the state of Maine and seating will be limited to 150 guests. Our VIP ticket holders will have the chance to meet ISI trustees and event speakers in a private reception beforehand.
Reserve your tickets here!
Join us in Wilmington, DE >>>
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Because our student editors and writers are bravely bringing conservative ideas to their campuses, we’re highlighting their efforts here.
REVIEW EXCLUSIVE—Catch Him if You Can: Meet Will Curry via The Stanford Review
“Standing in front of me just minutes from campus was the same Will Curry who pretended to be a Stanford student for almost a year: he lived in the campus dorms, befriended students, and, after being discovered, captured the attention of the nation....While he is no DiCaprio, Will’s story may be equally fascinating: a classical pianist, poker extraordinaire, crypto-investor, and now infamous imposter.”
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CATEGORY: ECONOMY (25 MIN)
If undertaken, the project of reforming the American economy demands careful thought and reasoning. Such a job cannot be taken lightly. For this week’s Intercollegiate Review archive, four thinkers give their opinions for our 2021 Humane Economy Symposium on creating an economic theory that honors our humanity.
Oren Cass discusses many of the phenomena we have already mentioned—that Americans may have more wealth as a whole, but they have significantly less freedom than before.
Anne Rathbone Bradley does not believe state intervention will save the family. “The best way we can support the family is to reduce the size and scope of government in every direction,” she writes. She argues that innovation will come from a freer market and that excessive control will lead to eventual abuse.
Richard Reinsch uses the example of postwar Germany as an instance of a good economic model. He highlights the combination of a strong state focused on protecting freedom and allowing the markets to thrive. He reminds us that we must act while we still can to reverse our economy’s damage.
And Rachel Bovard targets one of the most pervasive aspects of our modern state: the “woke corporation.” With massive companies exercising outsized control over our culture, Bovard warns that conservatism must avoid supporting their continued power. “A function of the limited state is to clear and protect the space in which our markets, associations, and value systems can freely interact,” she says.
Discover this entire symposium right here.
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Thought of the Day:
“Upper classes are a nation's past; the middle class is its future.”
- Ayn Rand
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Who We Are, What We Do
Too many college students feel isolated or attacked for questioning the ever-narrowing range of debate on campus.
We introduce you to the American tradition of liberty and to a vibrant community of students and scholars so that you get the collegiate experience you hunger for.
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