Economics

Center on Wealth & Poverty

The Gore Tax Burden

Vice President Gore keeps telling us how proud he is that he voted against the Reagan tax rate reductions in 1981. This is a curious boast for a politician to make since, a year after the tax cuts went into effect, inflation and unemployment fell sharply and the economy began to grow very rapidly. Most observers credit the Reagan tax Read More ›

Let’s Rate Their Economic Skill

C-SPAN has just released its rankings of American presidents. Several dozen notable historians and professional observers of the presidency were surveyed and asked to rank the presidents in 10 different categories. Most of the categories are somewhat subjective, such as “moral authority” and “pursued equal justice for all.” One category, however, “economic management,” can be analyzed empirically. Numbers are available Read More ›

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The Theology of Welfare

This book explores the theological basis for competing visions of welfare in the religious community by bringing together nationally recognized thinkers representing politically diverse strands of thought in Judaism, Catholicism, mainline Protestantism and evangelical Protestantism. Read More ›
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White and black pieces on chess board
Image Credit: bizoo_n - Adobe Stock

Zero-Sum Folly, From Kyoto to Kosovo

What do the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, the global warming treaty in Kyoto, and the Social Security “crisis” of demand-side Keynesian economics have in common, apart from a convergence of K’s? You can even add Theodore Kaczynski, the Unabomber. Answer: They all reflect a belief in a zero-sum world. The concept of a zero-sum system originated in a branch of Read More ›

A Species’ Fate, By the Numbers

Population viability analysis (PVA), a favorite approach of conservation biologists for predicting a population's survival, is coming under scrutiny now that its use in critical decisions on endangered species is on the rise. Increasingly, PVAs are being attacked as too simplistic, overly demanding of data, error-prone, and hard to verify. Last month, at the first-ever major conference on the technique, scientists discussed hurdles facing attempts to extend PVA to cover a wider range of species, and how to factor in the behavior of our own species. And one scientist described how he crash-tested PVA models in the lab, a practice that could help ecologists refine the technique. Read More ›
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Speaking of George Gilder

Speaking of George Gilder

Finally, a Gilder book for those of us who want to get right to the point! From tapes, transcripts, and corporate conclaves, you get the spoken wit and wisdom of George Gilder — on money and morals, technology and telecom. It’s all here, and it’s easy to use. A little over a third of Speaking of George Gilder consists of speeches and Read More ›

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Woman paying with credit card
Image Credit: Yakobchuk Olena - Adobe Stock

The Soul of Silicon

Published on May 1, 1991, Centesimus Annus returns to the themes of a lapidary encyclical of 100 years before, Rerum Novarum, which refuted Marxism long before it had refracted into a global plague of tyranny and murder. The critique of socialism, however, did not signify an affirmation of capitalism. The `new things’ to which the Pope devoted his attention more Read More ›

A Happy Thought: Electronic Cash could Kill the Income Tax

Death and taxes are known as life’s certainties. Far less common, but much more enjoyable to contemplate, is the death of a tax.  In fact, a little-known technology may be about to accomplish what generations of Americans have joked and dreamed about — and both the new Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Archer and his predecessor, Chairman Sam Gibbons, Read More ›

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Microcosm

George Gilder’s Microcosm is the crystal ball of the next technological era. Leading scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs provide vivid accounts of the latest inventions, revealing how the new international balance of power really lies in information technology. Ranging from computer chips to the greatest minds of Silicon Valley, George Gilder explores every aspect of today’s unprecedented technological and entrepreneurial revolution. Microcosm contains Read More ›

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Men and Marriage (1st Edition)

Men and Marriage is a critical commentary that asks the burning question, How can society survive the pervasive disintegration of the family? A profound crisis faces modern social order as traditional family relationships become almost unrecognizable. George Gilder's Men and Marriage is a revised and expanded edition of his 1973 landmark work, Sexual Suicide. He examines the deterioration of the family, the well-defined sex roles it offered, and how this change has shifted the focus of our society. Read More ›