THE intellectual starting point for much of the conventional wisdom regarding the origins of the current financial crisis is that it was brought about by capitalism gone wrong and that it combined with the failure of the US government to prevent it through effective regulation of the financial system...

Economist Thomas Sowell on what the shrinking rate of U.S. homeowners means for the future...

Federal "user fees," a sort of tax imposed on those who benefit directly from governmental actions or programs, are familiar to many Americans: The charges range from admission to national parks to the processing of passports...

WHEN Barack Obama visited Elkhart, Indiana, in early February, a few weeks after his inauguration, it was a sombre affair...