The poor economic performance of the Philippines over the long term is a puzzle and an apparent anomaly for the region. The decline in the Philippines' global position from the first part of the 20th century is particularly striking when viewed against the backdrop of rapid income gains in...

Two very different approaches to understanding the world are the “scholastic†and “pietistic†approaches. The two approaches differ both in structure and in the topics addressed. The scholastic approach involves a priestly hierarchy that authenticates knowledge, an emphasis...

The poor economic performance of the Philippines over the long term is a puzzle and an apparent anomaly for the region. The decline in the Philippines' global position from the first part of the 20th century is particularly striking when viewed against the backrdrop of rapid income gains in...

The poor economic performance of the Philippines over the long term is a puzzle and an apparent anomaly for the region. The decline in the Philippines' global position from the first part of the 20th century is particularly striking when viewed against the backdrop of rapid income gains in...

The large economic divisions among nations in Europe that have emerged in the wake of the 2008 and 2009 economic downturn have been commonly described as exhibiting a “north/south” character, the countries in the north being more successful in dealing with the recent adverse events. It is...

Most economists are absorbed with writing papers for journals and other audiences and with other routine tasks of their professional lives. They have little time for introspective reflection on the moral philosophical - indeed, often secular religious - foundations of economics; indeed, they may...

Environmentalism offers a broad critique of the moral standing of contemporary American society. It sees wide abuses of the natural world, many justified in the name of a competing religion of economic progress. Environmentalism substitutes a new moral criterion of “natural” versus...

Max Weber famously observed in 1905 that in his own time, and in many earlier times and places, followers in Protestant religions, and especially Calvinism, occupied a disproportionate number of the leading economic positions. Weber attributed this greater Protestant economic success in...

From 1975 to 1993, the author worked as a federal career economist in the Office of Policy Analysis in the Office of the Secretary of the Interior. In this capacity, he was involved in many Interior Department policy discussions, and was often asked by top Interior officials to contribute both...

Public land management is often criticized today on many grounds. Economically, it lacks clear objectives and is highly inefficient. The workings of public land management are bureaucratic and cumbersome, weighed down by land use planning and other procedural rules that make a flexible and...