You have to be crazy to get a PhD these days. So argues Dan Drezner at Foreign Policy. We’ve tangled amicably with Drezner in the past over the higher ed bubble, but in his latest piece he says something we wholeheartedly agree with. After pointing out the many disadvantages of getting a doctorate—the poor job market, the high attrition rate—he says: […]

On April 4, 2013 the New York Times carried a story about a group of Dominican friars in Ireland.  Contrary to the development in other Catholic monastic orders, these Dominicans had decided to continue wearing the traditional habit of white tunic and black cloaks (because of which Dominicans have been known as Black Friars). The […]

It makes former Bush aide Peter Wehner really unhappy that anyone would criticize President W. Bush. In our latest essay, we noted that the Bush presidency remains widely unpopular and that national Bush fatigue remains a serious political problem for the Republican Party. We said that “more went right under Bush than most of his critics understood,” but […]

Executives at the Calpers state pension system are proposing a new plan to plug its $87 billion dollar hole and bring it to fully funded status in 30 years. The road to solvency would be rough, requiring municipalities to pay as much as 50 percent more in pension contributions. Bloomberg has the details: In a […]

The sorry state of the labor market could be deflating the marriageability of men and tearing at the social fabric of the American family. So argues Robert J. Samuelson in the Washington Post, and he claims that, with 496,000 people exiting the labor force since 2007, this problem will likely only get worse: Even before […]

Argentines are desperate to gain access to the US dollar, the WSJ reports. Cuevas (caves) where residents can exchange pesos for dollars at black-market rates are flourishing, and people are trying all sorts of tricks to profit off of an economy in crisis.Why is this happening? Argentina is experiencing severe inflation: 10.8 percent if you believe the government, upwards […]

Charter schools and teacher unions have so far tried to have as little to do with one another as possible, but there are signs that this is beginning to change. Burdened with long hours and comparatively low pay, some charter teachers are open to hearing what the unions have to say, and some of their […]

China’s military considers the United States “enemy-in-chief” and, as it has done for decades, maintains a shroud of secrecy around the PLA’s size, capabilities, and intentions. That much is clear from a recent paper written by the PLA’s deputy chief of the general staff, the number two military man in China, for the Study Times, the official […]

The European Parliament just voted down a measure that would have attempted to revive its carbon market, likely dooming it to a slow and undignified death. This was a last-ditch effort to drive the EU’s carbon price back to a level that would incentivize green reforms. And it failed.The EU’s carbon market was the flagship program of […]

Watch out Gucci, you’ve got competition: designers in Asia are beginning to challenge European fashion powerhouses. Bloomberg reports that Asian brands like Courrone and Woo are growing even as traditional companies like Louis Vuitton are facing slowing growth. This is a dramatic shift for a region that has traditionally been known for low-quality manufacturing and illegal […]