Filter By:
Date
Topic
- Education (21) Apply Education filter
- Energy, Science & Technology (28) Apply Energy, Science & Technology filter
- Foreign Affairs & National Security (56) Apply Foreign Affairs & National Security filter
- Health Care (48) Apply Health Care filter
- History (92) Apply History filter
- Law (57) Apply Law filter
- Values & Social Policy (109) Apply Values & Social Policy filter
Type
Search
Peter Berkowitz is the Tad and Dianne Taube Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. Since 2019, he has been serving on the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff in the office of the secretary. He is a 2017 winner of the ...
Peter Berkowitz Wins The 2017 Bradley Prize
At a ceremony this past Thursday in Washington, D.C., my friend Peter Berkowitz was awarded a 2017 Bradley Prize. Berkowitz’s body of work is important, in part, because it constitutes a powerful reply to so many of our reigning intellectual orthodoxies.
Berkowitz: shutting down the government is a “high-stakes gamble”
Hoover senior fellow Peter Berkowitz discusses, with Ron Owens of KGO Live, the government shutdown, including such topics as repealing the Affordable Care Act, the state of compromise and negotiation in Washington, the creation of the Affordable Care Act, and the budget.
Walzer's Paradox
Michael Walzer’s name is associated with the summons to undertake social criticism that is engaged: that is, rooted in actual circumstances; cognizant of real people’s wants, needs, and desires; and respectful of the diversity of beliefs, practices, and forms of association by which groups of men and women organize their moral, political, and spiritual lives.
What Unites Conservatives
Donald Trump’s flamboyant incursion into the Republican primary has not prevented the return of the quadrennial spectacle featuring conservatives arguing among themselves, often vociferously, about the principles that define their movement.
Can You Spend $1 Trillion On Defense And Still Be A Conservative?
Pledging to spend more money on the military was once an easy way for Republican presidential candidates to showcase their conservative bona fides.
How Elites Got Us Into Trouble-- And Can Help Get Us Out
In the Trump era, the conviction has spread among elites—especially, but not only, among progressive elites—that the people have failed them. This very conviction, though, is an indication of how American elites have failed the people.
The New Progressivism: Same as the Old Progressivism?
To understand the sometimes glaring gaps between candidate Obama’s promises and President Obama’s policies, it is useful to appreciate an old tension in American progressivism. . . .
As Economic Freedom Goes Global, Conservatives Go Wobbly
In his 1955 mission statement that launched National Review, William F. Buckley made plain that while it’s the job of centralized government to “protect its citizens’ lives, liberty and property,” all “other activities of government tend to diminish freedom and hamper progress.” Buckley added that the “profound crisis of our era is, in essence, the conflict between the Social Engineers, who seek to adjust mankind to conform with scientific utopias, and the disciples of Truth, who defend the moral organic order.”
HIGH WIRE ACT: Reforming the Electricity Industry
Building America's electricity system was one of the great achievements of the twentieth century, providing inexpensive energy to homes and businesses throughout the country. But in the twenty-first century, two crises occurred. In 2001, California experienced massive electricity shortages, leading to rolling blackouts and skyrocketing electrical bills. And in 2003, a blackout swept across eight states in the Midwest and Northeast, leaving tens of millions in the dark. Why did these problems arise now, after a century of progress? Were they the result of ill-advised attempts to deregulate the utility industry? Or is more deregulation actually the solution?
A SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM: Social Security Reform
In 2001 President Bush established a bipartisan commission to study and report recommendations for restoring fiscal soundness to the current Social Security program. All three of the commission's models for reforming the system included the creation of individually controlled retirement accounts—a process commonly referred to as "privatizing Social Security." Some critics of the proposals argue that Social Security is not in as much trouble as the president's commission would have us believe and that major reform is unnecessary. Other critics say that creating private accounts will compound Social Security's problems rather than solve them. Who's right, the president's commission or its critics?
The Great Society: A New History with Amity Shlaes
TRANSCRIPT ONLY
This week on Uncommon Knowledge, a conversation with author and historian Amity Shlaes on her new book, Great Society: A New History.
Our Brave New World
Be careful when one uses the superlative case—best, most, -est, etc.—or evokes end-of-the-world imagery...
He's No Ronald Reagan
On July 29, 1981, barely six months into his presidency and in the face of an economic crisis of historic proportions, Ronald Reagan succeeded in persuading both houses of Congress to pass dramatic tax cuts that set the stage for nearly three decades of vigorous economic growth...
TORT AND RETORT: Tort Reform
During the 2004 presidential campaign, one principal plank of George W. Bush's domestic platform was reforming tort law, which includes class action lawsuits, asbestos liability, and medical malpractice liability. President Bush believes that tort law as it now stands permits trial lawyers to take advantage of good companies, driving up the costs of doing business for everyone. Others believe that existing tort law allows consumers to protect themselves against bad companies. Which is it? And should President Bush be given the tort reforms he wants? Peter Robinson speaks with David Davenport and Alan Morrison.
A CRASH COURSE IN DUBYANOMICS: President Bush's Economic Policy
The decades of the 1980s and 1990s seem to offer two different fiscal models for promoting economic growth. The 1980s under President Reagan suggest that cutting taxes is more important than balancing the budget. The 1990s under President Clinton suggest the importance of balancing the budget with moderate tax increases. Yet the results in each decade were similar: sustained economic growth. President George W. Bush has clearly been following the Reagan model in his first term: enacting large tax cuts even as the federal budget approaches record deficits. But has the Bush team taken the correct lessons from our recent economic past? Do the Bush policies promote long-term growth or jeopardize it?
ATTENTION: DEFICIT DISORDER: The Budget Deficit
Just two years ago, in the 2000 fiscal year, the annual federal budget had a surplus of $236 billion. Now the federal government is facing a budget deficit of more than $150 billion, possibly much more. And whereas during the presidential campaign of 2000, the candidates were debating how to spend trillions in expected future surpluses, the Congressional Budget Office is now projecting a cumulative $1 trillion deficit by 2011. What happened to the surplus, and what is to blame for the return of the deficit? Is it President Bush's tax cut? Or was it the recession of 2001 and the war on terrorism? In light of the deficit, what should we make of the president's budget plans?
A SPACE CASE: The Future of NASA
In January 2004, President George W. Bush announced a plan for a manned mission to Mars in the first half of the twenty-first century. Is NASA up to the task? Given the recent failures of NASA's manned space program, from Space Shuttle disasters to the overbudget and barely functional International Space Station, should NASA even be running a manned space program? If so, what can be done to revitalize NASA and restore both its sense of purpose and the public's excitement for space exploration that has been missing for twenty years? Peter Robinson speaks with Sean O'Keefe.
The Golden State's Me Generation
In the midst of the Great Recession California students protest in favor of themselves. . . .
The Trade-Offs on Tariffs and International Trade, with Professor Douglas Irwin
TRANSCRIPT ONLY
The impact of a health crisis that has businesses across the country re-examining their investments abroad.
Capitalism, Socialism, And Freedom
Despite the fundamental distinction between the two, misunderstandings of capitalism and socialism — and their implications for freedom — abound, and usually in favor socialism. In these circumstances, a return to the basics is warranted. The 17th-century writings of John Locke in defense of political and economic freedom and the 19th- century critique by Karl Marx of political and economic freedom represent classics of the genre.