Intrinsic Value by Roger Lowenstein

2 weeks ago | rogerlowenstein.substack.com | Roger Lowenstein

In Capitalism and Freedom, Milton Friedman argued that free markets were as essential to democracy as free elections. We are putting the great economist’s theory to the test. One after another of America’s checks and balances are performing poorly. The Congress is unwilling and seemingly afraid to vote against the President. The Cabinet is made up largely of sycophants who have no basis for office other than loyalty to the President, and therefore express no independent voice.

Nov 25, 2024 | rogerlowenstein.substack.com | Roger Lowenstein

Democrats have their work cut out for them. Donald Trump’s hunger to remake the federal government and his in-some-instances offensive cabinet selections will tend to push the party into its natural corner: reactive and oppositional. The party can assume its well-worn cloak as Trump’s magnetic opposite, the same suit it has worn for the past eight years. But merely being not Trump, or being against him, fails two necessary tests. It fails politically, as Kamala Harris can attest.

Oct 10, 2024 | rogerlowenstein.substack.com | Roger Lowenstein

Massachusetts prides itself on education, but about a decade ago, scores on standardized tests began to fall. Then the pandemic hit and scores plunged—and five years later, students still perform worse than they did in 2019. But never fear. The Massachusetts Teachers Association has proposed a solution—end the requirement that to graduate, students pass a statewide exam. If “Question 2” passes a referendum on the ballot in November, no student need fear failure as a reason for not graduating.

Jul 18, 2024 | rogerlowenstein.substack.com | Roger Lowenstein

These Two Gentleman Love TariffsThese Economists Were Free Traders David Ricardo (left), and Adam Smith, Donald Trump’s anointment of J.D. Vance, a fellow ideologue now his veep nominee and intellectual Sancho Panza, confirms that, if elected, Trump’s signature economic policy will continue through the next four years and conceivably beyond. This is the policy that most defines Trump and that represents his greatest potential for economic harm.

Apr 29, 2024 | rogerlowenstein.substack.com | Roger Lowenstein

I marched in my share of anti-war protests—Vietnam of course—but always with a nagging doubt. Not the cause; I was against American escalation in Indochina, and that view held up. It was the chants. Lyndon B. Johnson was President. “Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids you kill today?” Ok, I mostly persuaded myself, it was a fair (if unkind) barb. Followed by: “One, two, three, four; we don’t like your dirty war.” Totally apt.