What Should We Be Teaching?  

The debate over what to teach—”the canon”, “Great Books,” core curriculum, Western civilization versus world civilization, the sins of Stanford, and so on—is one the least edifying debates of recent times. The problem is that it’s not a debate at …



The Ruling Class  

Many sociologists deny there is a ruling class. Paul Fussell says there is one—but it is “top out of sight.” Albert Gore, George Bush, Robert Dole, and Richard Gephardt accused each other of belonging to it but wouldn’t be caught …







Time for Some Answers  

It is clear by now that the Reagan administration is fulfilling the predictions of economic and social disaster that left-liberals made before Reagan’s election. Capitalism isn’t revitalized; instead, more than 25 percent of our productive capacity and almost 9 percent …



Can Britain’s Welfare State Be Saved?  

Since 1945 the British welfare state has had special meaning for Americans. Liberals have praised its accomplishments as typical of welfare states; conservatives have used Britain’s relatively slow growth and international decline as proof that welfare states cannot succeed. Both …



Managing Growth  

For some time, welfare-state capitalism has been on the defensive. Programs that were taken for granted now face destructive budget cuts, and crude individualistic theorists have won the initiative in public debate. Peter Albin argues that this second-class status of …





The Southern Elite  

Kirk Sale’s hypothesis is that rapid economic and population growth has buoyed up the “Southern Rim” of the United States to a point where it competes with the “Northeast.” Sale’s Northeast includes Wisconsin, Illinois, and all points east, the Southern …