online archive

Philosophy and politics, economics and academia

From TNR, Alan Wolfe on how the arguments of Russell Kirk's defenders are as shallow as his ideas. Transcending philosophy: An article on remembering Richard Rorty. Only Pinter remains: Terry Eagleton on how British literature's long and rich tradition of politically engaged writers has come to an end. A review of You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train by Howard Zinn. Katie Roiphe's morning after: With raves for Uncommon Arrangements: Seven Portraits of Married Life in London Literary Circles 1910-1939, her book dissecting modernist marriages and a hot new journalism job at NYU, has feminism's enfant terrible finally grown up?

A review of Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism, and the Economics of Growth and Prosperity by William J. Baumol, Robert E. Litan and Carl J. Schramm. A review of Prophet of Innovation: Joseph Schumpeter and Creative Destruction by Thomas McCraw. An interview with Brian Anderson, author of Democratic Capitalism and its Discontents. Dictatorships and Growth Standards: From an economic point of view, dictatorships have been outperforming democracies for many years. What should we make of that fact? A review of The Myth of the Rational Voter by Bryan Caplan. A review of Pop: Why Bubbles Are Great for the Economy by Daniel Gross and Surviving Large Losses: Financial Crises, the Middle Class, and the Development of Capital Markets by Philip Hoffman, Gilles Postel-Vinay and Jean-Laurent Rosenthal. A review of More Sex Is Safer Sex: The Unconventional Wisdom of Economics by Steven Landesburg. Tim Harford on how economic lessons can be learnt from illicit trades, but collecting the data is a tough call.

From Business Week, the Professor is a Headhunter: As companies compete fiercely for top talent on campus, they're forging closer relationships with influential faculty members—and they're not shy about spreading around the cash. A look at how employers are increasingly looking to psychometric testing to choose the best graduates to recruit. A Reunion at the "MIT of India": What's the most sought-after degree in Silicon Valley? Here's a hint: It isn't from Stanford. A look at how the elite military school Talpiot feeds Israel's tech firms.

A review of New England White (and more and more), and an interview with Stephen L Carter: The law professor, bestselling novelist, defender of faith and scout leader breaks liberal ranks when he explores race in America. The Boy on the Bus: Growing up in 1970s Florida, Joel Achenbach was a small cog in America's grand integration project. We thought it worked. Did it? Breaking Ranks: A college can't be reduced to a number in a magazine.