History

Surveys the essential history of the British Industrial Revolution, showing that what made this period so remarkably productive was its substantial economic freedom, which unleashed countless industrious minds to solve problems of human survival and prosperity.

Daniel Wahl reviews Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism, by Susan Jacoby.

Gideon Reich reviews Why Are Jews Liberals? by Norman Podhoretz.

Tells the story of a little-known scientist whose independence, innovations, and passion for his work spawned an agricultural revolution that saved hundreds of millions of people from starvation.

In my post about the contradiction between the technological sophistication of the Burj Dubai and the primitive superstition on display in the mosque at its pinnacle, I argued that this disparity is another example of the general disparity in progress between science and morality. But what accounts for this gap?…

According to the New York Times, Somali pirates hijacked a British-flagged vehicle carrier off the Somali coast late on Friday. For a principled and historically grounded analysis of what the civilized world should do about such atrocities, read Doug Altner's excellent essay “The Barbary Wars and Their Lesson for Combating…

Daniel Wahl reviews The Israel Test, by George Gilder.

Here’s a superb 2-part discussion by Yaron Brook and Onkar Ghate about the history of the Berlin Wall and the significance of its fall. http://www.youtube.com/v/Q1bQg3kk0Yg http://www.youtube.com/v/DofVfn7Dg7U

Here’s a great discussion with Yaron Brook and Terry Jones on PJTV about the fall of the Berlin Wall. (Free registration may be required.) http://www.pjtv.com/?cmd=video&video-id=2681

Here’s a nicely done video by the folks at CEI commemorating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall (HT Michelle Minton): https://www.youtube.com/v/6bw5pFiTeb0