Is Obamacare Sustainable?

by Richard Epstein

Defining Ideas

But if the legal battle over Obamacare is over, the economic battle over Obamacare has just begun. The issue here is simple enough. Can the plan, which has weathered the legal challenges, survive in today’s highly dynamic economic market?

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Our Fickle Fed

by Richard Epstein

Defining Ideas

Two related topics have defined our news cycle of late. The first is the deep populist discontent in the face of prolonged tepid economic growth rates and anemic labor markets. The second is that the Federal Reserve is once again uncertain about whether to raise the interest rate above the near-zero level where its lingered since December 2008. As […]

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The Economic Fantasies Of Robert Reich

by Richard Epstein

Defining Ideas

The United States has seen better days. The political and economic fabric of the country is unraveling, yet there is little agreement about how best to move the country forward. My own position has long been that the culprits of slow growth and social discontent are the increased levels of taxation and regulation that suck […]

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Rethinking “Gender Discrimination” At Work

by Richard Epstein

Defining Ideas

The topic of gender discrimination in the workplace is making headlines again thanks to two recent events. The first is the release of the report “Women in the Workplace 2015” by Sheryl Sandberg’s LeanIn.Org and McKinsey & Co. Sandberg, writing in the Wall Street Journal, uses the report to conclude: “despite modest improvements since 2012, […]

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The Cardinal Sins Of Pope Francis

by Richard Epstein

Defining Ideas

During his whirlwind tour of the United States, Pope Francis used his speeches to the U.S. Congress and the United Nations to articulate his views on the family, human life, violence, the environment, social justice, and many other issues. No one doubts the sincerity of the Pope’s pursuit of goodness. And surely no one disagrees with his condemnation of […]

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The Donald’s Dangerous Populism

by Richard Epstein

Defining Ideas

Make no mistake about it: The dominant theme of the current presidential campaign—on both sides of the aisle—is economic populism. Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have both articulated misguided populist positions meant to appeal to the middle class—as has the bellicose Donald Trump, who is currently the GOP frontrunner. In recent weeks, Trump has turned […]

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Scott Walker Talks Turkey on Labor Market Reform

by Richard Epstein

Ricochet

One of the central questions of the current Republican presidential campaign is when potential candidates will talk about important issues of political economy. That talk has thus far been in short supply because of the intellectual oxygen that is sucked out of the room every time Donald Trump walks into it. The recent remarks by Wisconsin Governor […]

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The Consequences Of Obama’s Weakness

by Richard Epstein

Defining Ideas

It has now been just over one year since President Barack Obama delivered a confident White House address explaining how the United States and its partners would be able to counter the Islamic State—which, in 2014, he claimed was neither Islamic nor a state. A year later, as we mark the fourteenth anniversary of September 11, ISIS […]

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