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CATEGORY: ECONOMY (8 MIN)
Experts’ analysis of the complicated U.S. economic environment for the past 75 years usually leads to widely varying results—the differences often stemming from economists’ priors. And although the current American economy certainly doesn’t look as bad as it has in some past situations, many of these thinkers have offered their thoughts on potential solutions.
For his column in The New York Times, Ross Douthat reviews one such suggestion from his colleague David Leonhardt. Leonhardt wrote the recently released Ours Was the Shining Future: The Story of the American Dream, laying out the history of the postwar American economy and his suggested response to our nation’s financial ills. Douthat characterizes Leonhardt’s plan as one which encourages the government to promote democratic values against corporate power.
Douthat notes that Leonhardt, a center-left thinker, includes ideas that find acceptance with parts of both sides of the aisle today. Douthat offers a couple responses. His first focuses on the dangers of social democracy as modeled in European countries, and his second points out that the left’s own cultural wins have contributed to the very problem Leonhardt identifies.
Douthat doesn’t believe conservatives have offered an answer to these issues yet either, though. Read his entire column with our NYT guest link here.
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Weekly Poll
RESULTS: 10/26/23
Last week, we asked: Should European nations play a greater role in sending aid to Ukraine? Here are the results:
[A] Yes - 80.4%
[B] No - 11.8%
[C] Unsure - 7.8%
Do you think mass immigration is the leading cause of post-1970s wage stagnation?
[A] Yes
[B] No
[C] Unsure
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CATEGORY: CULTURE (3 MIN)
Fighting a battle on multiple fronts usually presents a significant problem. You have to decide which arena takes a higher priority and commit more resources to it. And in the meantime, the front you left deprived could face a redoubled assault from your opponent. It’s not the best place to be.
Unfortunately, conservatives feel they face a similar issue in America today. Both the legal and cultural spheres have become battlegrounds, and conservatives’ victories on one side are often met with setbacks on the other. In his Substack, Chris Rufo takes on this dilemma with a clear statement: law is dependent on culture, and without cultural change, conservatives cannot stop progressivism.
He makes this claim in response to an essay comparing his work with Richard Hanania’s. The essay characterized Hanania’s position as connecting “passing the right laws” with eliminating wokeness. In contrast, it found Rufo’s view to require a “painstakingly long process of intellectual and political activism.”
Rufo acknowledges that both legal and cultural efforts are necessary to defeat wokeness. But he argues that if one were to be prioritized over the other, it must be culture. After all, he says, the law is applied by those with cultural power.
Read this debate for yourself right here.
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CATEGORY: PODCAST EPISODE
In this episode, Frank H. Buckley, the Foundation Professor of Law at the Antonin Scalia Law School, discusses:
- his book, Progressive Conservatism: How Republicans Will Become America’s Natural Governing Party
- how left-wing progressive policies on immigration, education, and burdensome regulations make America more immobile and aristocratic, and how progressive conservatives can solve this problem
- how progressive conservatism repudiates recent conservative history and hearkens back to older parts of the American conservative tradition, such as Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and Dwight Eisenhower
Texts Mentioned:
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Debate: Is it in America's interest to defend Taiwan?
November 6th, 2023
With rising tensions between the US and China in the South China Sea for regional supremacy, Taiwan, a small country with a complicated and important history in American-Chinese relations, is once again at the center of US attention. Led by a bold leader, President Xi Jinping, China seems poised to regain control over Taiwan. Taiwan has remained fierce in its commitment to freedom and opposition to Chinese communism, dating back to the Chinese Civil War.
All of this raises the question: if China seeks to invade Taiwan, what will America do? Better yet, what should America do?
Join ISI at Colorado Christian University on November 6 at 7 PM MST as we hear from Will Ruger and Josh Rogin about how to handle this difficult question. America’s safety and prosperity hang on how we respond to the biggest geopolitical challenge of our time, so you don’t want to miss it!
Join us in Lakewood, CO >>>
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Debate: What is left to conserve in America today?
November 15th, 2023
For the last 60 years, the Left has been busy at work undermining American institutions, hijacking our government, and transforming the American way of life along progressive lines. The question conservatives now face is whether there is anything left to save. Is conservative victory in the political and culture wars on the horizon? Or do conservatives need to embrace a more “counterrevolutionary” mindset and political program in the fight to save America?
Join ISI at Hillsdale College on November 15 at 6 PM EST as we explore this question. Glenn Ellmers and Susan Hanssen will square off as we try to find the best answers for how to restore and preserve American greatness. You won’t want to miss it!
Join us in Hillsdale, MI >>>
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Because our student editors and writers are bravely bringing conservative ideas to their campuses, we’re highlighting their efforts here.
BREAKING: Cornell student arrested for anti-Jewish threats via the Cornell Review
“On Tuesday evening, authorities announced that a Cornell student was arrested in connection with the terroristic threats against Jewish Cornellians posted to Greek Rank on Saturday and Sunday....The threats have attracted national attention, focusing the media’s eyes on Cornell’s campus. Additionally, New York governor Kathy Hochul visited campus to reassure students of state support and security assistance.”
University Wide Walkout Leads to Yet Another Protest on Rotunda Steps via The Jefferson Independent
“As the leaves fell softly on the lawn yesterday, hundreds of students collected in front of the Rotunda bearing signs and flags. Word of a university walkout—orchestrated by fifteen different student organizations in protest of “the siege on Gaza”—had been swirling around Grounds the last couple of days via social media, word of mouth, and flyers tacked to the pillars of multiple buildings.”
CMC Refuses to Condemn Hamas Attacks; 65 Faculty Release Independent Statement via The Claremont Independent
“Last week, Claremont McKenna refused to condemn Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israeli civilians. Administrators cited the college’s stated policy against taking partisan institutional stances on political issues.... The faculty’s statement comes after the Dean of Students, Dianna Graves, did not take a stance on the attacks in an email to students that was then forwarded to faculty. The email said, ‘In response to escalating violence in Israel, Palestine, and the surrounding territories, I am writing to offer support to you all ... We mourn the lives lost and the ongoing terror many continue to feel on the ground.’“
Poison Ivies: America’s “Elite” Universities and their Struggle with Moral Clarity via The Princeton Tory
“This past Sunday marked the 277th anniversary of Princeton’s founding. It should have been a day full of excitement, a day of celebration and reaffirmation of the value of an American liberal arts education. Sadly, the past few weeks have offered no occasion for celebration. In the wake of Hamas’ evil attacks on Israeli civilians, Princeton and its fellow ‘elite’ institutions have floundered helplessly in moral uncertainty. Although the recent reactions are gravely troubling in their own right, they are indicative of problems that have plagued America’s
universities for decades.”
USA Today referenced the Cornell Review’s article on Cornell History Professor Russell Rickford’s leave of absence, which he took after creating controversy over his remarks on Hamas’s attacks in Israel in this piece. |
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CATEGORY: ECONOMY (13 MIN)
One facet of the debate over governmental intervention centers around antitrust violations. Since the passing of the Sherman Act in the late 1800s, businesses have sought to avoid the federal watchdogs seeking to prevent anti-competitive agreements and potential monopolies. Despite this oversight, America today is filled with massive corporations like Apple, Google, Amazon, and many more.
For this week’s Intercollegiate Review archive, Carlos Roa reviews a book on antitrust concerns: Goliath: The 100-Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy by Matt Stoller. Stoller delineates the ongoing battle between monopolists and the American common man for economic power. In doing so, he criticizes conservative theorists like Milton Friedman and Robert Bork for focusing the law on consumer welfare and away from stopping concentrated power.
Roa starts by objecting to Stoller’s depiction of Alexander Hamilton as a plutocrat who set the stage for future monopolists. Roa rather compares Hamilton to FDR, who encouraged stronger government intervention against big business. And Roa then goes on to argue Stoller failed to object to FDR’s over-aggressive antitrust policies that put U.S. companies at a disadvantage against foreign corporations.
But Roa ultimately agrees with Stoller that concentration of economic power hurts American democracy.
Read Roa’s full piece here to discover his analysis of this important issue.
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Thought of the Day:
“The American dream lives — not only in the hearts and minds of our own countrymen but in the hearts and minds of millions of the world's people in both free and oppressed societies who look to us for leadership. As long as that dream lives, as long as we continue to defend it, America has a future, and all mankind has reason to hope.”
- Ronald Reagan
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Join ISI’s new Alumni Giving Club
It’s never been easier for you to support our mission—and stay part of our community—with ISI’s new Alumni Giving Club!
For just $19.53 a month, you can join the fight and “pay it forward” by educating the next generation for ordered liberty.
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