Fundamental problems require fundamental solutions-which can only be derived by thinking in fundamental principles. And that’s precisely what’s absent from discussions on education.
CULTURE
Teachers Who Hate Tests: Part 3
While we ought to learn from our own experiences, it is even better to learn from other people’s experiences, saving ourselves the painful costs of the lessons. In the case of the dominant educational fads of our times, many have been tried out before in other...
Teachers Who Hate Tests: Part 2
One of the objections by the educational establishment to state-mandated tests for students is that this forces the teachers to teach directly the material that is going to be tested, instead of letting the students “discover” what they need to know...
Teachers Who Hate Tests
Florida’s school year has already started early, so that its students will have more preparation before the state-mandated tests that will be administered to them later in the school year. Meanwhile, there is much wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth because...
High Schools Flunk Science
Physics is the fundamental natural science. Its birth in the 17th century heralded man’s coming of age as a rational being. The discovery of the basic laws of nature led to the industrial revolution and modern technology, demonstrating the enormous practical...
It Could Be Worse
Q: Dr. Hurd, I sometimes fight feeling low by telling myself, “It could be worse.” Then I proceed to name examples of how it could be worse. Is this healthy — or am I putting neurotic guilt on myself? A: It all depends on the context in which you say...
“Francisco’s Money Speech”
“So you think that money is the root of all evil?” said Francisco d’Anconia. “Have you ever asked what is the root of money?”
The Problem of Public Schools: In Search of the “Certified” Teacher
Most discussions of the problems of American education have an air of utter unreality because they avoid addressing the most fundamental and intractable problem of our public schools — the low quality of our teachers. There is no point expecting teachers to...
The Virtue of “Playing God”
Thanks to infighting in the Senate, it appears that voting on legislation that would destroy the lives of life-saving heroes will be delayed until next year. Americans cannot afford to leave the fate of these individuals to legislative chance, however; in the name of...
“Affirmative Action” and College Graduation Rates
Some thought that racial preferences and quotas — “affirmative action” — in university admissions decisions were on their way out after they were banned by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in Texas and by Proposition 209 in California. However,...
What Adults Cannot Learn from Children
Accused pipe bomber Lucas John Helder had barely been taken into custody before people began saying that he was crazy. Apparently no one is responsible for doing wrong things any more. Some of young Mr. Helder’s comments may sound illogical to many of us. But...
Books: The Biological Basis of Teleological By Harry Binswanger
This is an original, comprehensive treatise in the field of philosophy of science.
Books: The Theory of Money and Credit by Ludwig von Mises
In The Theory of Money and Credit, Mises shows that money was originally developed by men in a market setting.
Suffer the Palestinian Children
I spent my 21st birthday, in 1973, in Jerusalem, months before the Yom Kippur War. As part of the college junior semester abroad, I lived and traveled in Israel for nearly five weeks. In preparing a thesis called “U.N. Resolution 242 and the Viability of an...
“Good” Teachers
The next time someone receives an award as an outstanding teacher, take a close look at the reasons given for selecting that particular person. Seldom is it because his or her students did higher quality work in math or spoke better English or in fact had any tangible...
American Steel: Hot Metal Men and the Resurrection of the Rust Belt by Richard Preston
This is the riveting story of a company that dared to develop a revolutionary method of steel-production, which the rest of the industry had dismissed as too risky.
The War Against The Intellect by Peter Shaw
It is the radical thesis of this extraordinary book that rationality is under assault by the academic community.
Breaking The Banks Central Banking Problems and Free Banking Solutions by Richard Salsman
This book is an uncompromising argument for freedom in the realm of banking.
C. Bradley Thompson on John Adams and The Spirit of Liberty
C. Bradley Thompson is the Chairman of the Department of History and Political Science at Ashland University in Ohio. He received his Ph.D at Brown University. He has also been a visiting fellow at Harvard University, a John Adams Fellow at the University of London,...
The Wealth Creators by Gerald Gunderson
The radical nature of this book is fully captured by its title. For it is Gunderson’s theme that wealth is created—not stolen, exploited or simply stumbled upon. He argues that creative thinking is what underlies the act of creating wealth. To defend this...
Three Books on The State of Education
Why our disintegrating culture is turning out so many people who are so much less than men can be.
Books: Economic Policy Thoughts for Today and Tomorrow by Ludwig von Mises
Economic Policy is a marvelous introduction to economics—and to one of the greatest economists of all time.
Books: Envy: A Theory of Social Behavior By Helmut Schoeck
The theme of Schoeck’s book is that envy is man’s most destructive emotion, and that societies which enshrine envy remain backward and undeveloped.
A Law Onto Itself: The IRS and the Abuse of Power by David Burnham
The author, a former investigative reporter, shows that the agency has virtually unlimited authority to invade your privacy, seize your wealth, ruin your reputation and generally make your life miserable.
The Myth of The Robber Barons by Burton W. Folsom, Jr.
This illuminating new study of the history of American industry from 1840 to 1920 identifies two opposite types of businessmen.
The Content of Our Character by Shelby Steele
Blacks are too often unwilling to accept individual responsibility for their lives and to exert individual initiative to create opportunities for success.
For-Profit Schools: Profit’s not a Four-Letter Word
“It’s not ethically sound to make a profit off educating students in a school that serves the public, which a charter school is, using funds from public coffers.” That’s not a sentence from Mao’s Little Red Book. It’s from Philip...
Books: The Failure of The “New Economics” An Analysis of the Keynesian Fallacies by Henry Hazlitt
Hazlitt’s book remains the supreme debunker of the Keynesian system.
George Washington’s Birthday
For many of the politically correct today, it is enough to dismiss George Washington because he was a dead white male.
Celebrate Valentine’s Day By Understanding the True Meaning of Love
To love a person is selfish because it means that you value that particular person, that he or she makes your life better, that he or she is an intense source of joy–to you.
Economic Liberties And The Constitution By Bernard H. Siegan
Although the Founding Fathers were committed to protecting the individual’s property rights as well as his political/ intellectual rights, the Supreme Court since the 1930s has consistently failed to protect the former.
Economic Freedom And Interventionism By Ludwig von Mises
These essays comprise a Mises “candy sampler,” to complement the more enduring intellectual banquet he offers in his treatises.
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