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March 20, 2020|climate change, climate policy, Indur M. Goklany, New York Times

The Environmental Uncertainty Principle

by Paul Schwennesen|

Disobeyart/Shutterstock.com
By engaging in such flagrant projection, the Times has highlighted once again the problem with groupthink in the climate discussion.

January 23, 2020|Economic growth, Facebook, Identity Politics, New York Times

The Times Reveals Its Priorities

by John O. McGinnis|

New York Times Headquarters building in 2016 (Osugi/Shutterstock.com).
The Times is doubling down on the policies and cultural attitudes that led to the improbable victory of Donald Trump.

November 14, 2019|1619 Project, Journalism, New York Times

The Ongoing Decline of The New York Times

by John O. McGinnis|

Executive Editor of The New York Times, Dean Baquet, speaking during a panel after the screening of The Fourth Estate at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival. The film is about how the newspaper covered the first 100 days of the Trump presidency. Photo by Terese Loeb Kreuzer/Alamy Live News.
Today the Wall Street Journal has the better claim to be the paper of record.

October 2, 2019|1619 Project, Abraham Lincoln, American Founding, Declaration of Independence, New York Times, Slavery

The New York Times Resurrects the Positive Good Slavery Argument

by W. B. Allen|

Advertisement for "American slavery distinguished from the slavery of English theorists, and justified by the law of Nature" by Rev. Samuel Seabury, D.D.
The “1619 Project” can deliver on its promissory only by enslaving free labor.

October 2, 2019|1619 Project, New York Times

Slavery Gave Us Double-Entry Bookkeeping?

by Hans Eicholz|

Photo of a page from The cotton plantation record and account book, no. 1. Suitable for a force of 40 hands, or under by Thomas Affleck, 5th ed. 1854.
Redefining historical facts and concepts for political ends, as Matthew Desmond does, is to incite group resentments.

June 25, 2019|Abortion, Dwight Garner, Linda Greenhouse, New York Times, Wendell Berry

Abortion and the Establishment Clause in the New York Times

by Jeffrey Polet|

Headquarters of The New York Times (Osugi/Shutterstock.com).
Greenhouse’s essay serves as a reminder that the law cannot function when individuals or groups see reality in such radically divergent ways.

August 29, 2018|Bhaskar Sunkara, Democracy, Jacobin, Madison, Meagan Day, New York Times

Leave the Constitution Alone

by Carson Holloway|

Preamble to the U.S. Constitution (Billion Photos/Shutterstock.com).
Judged by rational and practical standards, America’s Constitution has been a remarkable success: aiming at "more democracy" is not necessary.

August 15, 2018|Bhaskar Sunkara, Democracy, Federalist 10, James Madison, Meagan Day, New York Times, republic

Jacobin Writers Actually Agree with Madison on Democracy

by James R. Rogers|

Federalist 9 and 10 (Everett Historical/Shutterstock.com).
Americans should argue with Madison, but we should also take his words seriously when we do so.

August 3, 2018|alt right, left wing racism, New York Times, Racism

The Racism of New York Times Reporter Sarah Jeong

by Mike Rappaport|

Headquarters of The New York Times (Osugi/Shutterstock.com).
Why is Sarah Jeong's racism acceptable to the Times?

May 1, 2017|Bill De Blasio, compensating differentials, consumption, flexible hours, Geoffrey Manne, Google, inequality, New York Times, Uber

Uber Is a Force for Equality

by John O. McGinnis|

Uber is a company under attack by politicians and the media.  Many politicians, like Bill De Blasio, want to restrain its growth to protect incumbent cab companies. Others want to undermine its business model by requiring that its drivers using its devices be employees rather than independent contractors. The New York Times recently ran a story clearly suggesting that the company is using unfair psychological tricks to keep drivers picking up customers.

These complaints lack merit. Protecting incumbents against new forms of competition is a classic harm to consumers. Uber drivers do not meet the traditional criteria for employees because, among other factors, the company does not control their hours or place of doing business.  And as Geoffrey Manne shows, the management innovations Uber introduces through the understanding the psychology of workers have benefits to consumers and drivers alike.

But the assault on Uber also ignores a hugely important effect of company and similar services: they reduce  inequality— which these same politicians and mainstream media argue is the most important issue of our time.  Uber improves both the material condition of the middle-class consumer and the lower-middle-class driver.  First, the consumer gets a service that starts looking more like having a chauffeur than a taxicab driver. For instance, he can summon a driver without previous notice and within minutes by pushing a button on his phone in the comfort of home rather than hail a taxi in a storm.

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Book Reviews

A Mirror of the 20th-Century Congress

by Joseph Postell

Wright undermined the very basis of his local popularity—the decentralized nature of the House—by supporting reforms that gave power to the party leaders.

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The Graces of Flannery O'Connor

by Henry T. Edmondson III

O'Connor's correspondence is a goldmine of piercing insight and startling reflections on everything from literature to philosophy to raising peacocks.

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Liberty Classics

Rereading Politica in the Post-Liberal Moment

by Glenn A. Moots

Althusius offers a rich constitutionalism that empowers persons to thrive alongside one another in deliberate communities.

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James Fenimore Cooper and the American Experiment

by Melissa Matthes

In The American Democrat, James Fenimore Cooper defended democracy against both mob rule and majority tyranny.

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Podcasts

Stuck With Decadence

A discussion with Ross Douthat

Ross Douthat discusses with Richard Reinsch his new book The Decadent Society.

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Can the Postmodern Natural Law Remedy Our Failing Humanism?

A discussion with Graham McAleer

Graham McAleer discusses how postmodern natural law can help us think more coherently about human beings and our actions.

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Did the Civil Rights Constitution Distort American Politics?

A discussion with Christopher Caldwell

Christopher Caldwell discusses his new book, The Age of Entitlement.

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America, Land of Deformed Institutions

A discussion with Yuval Levin

Yuval Levin pinpoints that American alienation and anger emerges from our weak political, social, and religious institutions.

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About

Law & Liberty’s focus is on the classical liberal tradition of law and political thought and how it shapes a society of free and responsible persons. This site brings together serious debate, commentary, essays, book reviews, interviews, and educational material in a commitment to the first principles of law in a free society. Law & Liberty considers a range of foundational and contemporary legal issues, legal philosophy, and pedagogy.

The opinions expressed on Law & Liberty are solely those of the contributors to the site and do not reflect the opinions of Liberty Fund.
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