We usually think of John Kenneth Galbraith as the archetypal liberal—and not without reason. But Galbraith's late 1950s understanding of the interplay between the sources of poverty and public policy remediation was far more realistic, and in every way superior, to what came after him. A look back is both enlightening and, frankly, a bit depressing, given the profound confusion we have been mired in ever since.

A little economic history goes a long way to show how money and debt interact. The Tea Party movement may have strange ideas about public policy, but its instincts on basics are not that far off the mark.

Thomas Carlyle hated the cocksureness of ideology, worried that the best of human qualities were being mangled by unbridled technology and commercialization, and struggled to reconcile a loss of traditional religious belief with the need for faith. Can anyone think of a reason to read such a 19th-century relic today?

The galvanizing and controversial author of Coming Apart discusses reactions to his latest work and defends the libertarian perspective.

It’s not easy to find a silver lining in Detroit’s dramatic decline, but some intrepid optimists still battle the storm.

Debunking the transformational power of internet freedom.

A lot more than money is at stake in internet-driven marketing.

Two new books on millenarian thinking hit (too) close to home.

A capacious history of the Mediterranean.

How Tolstoy's obsession with mortality became a teachable moment.