Volcker and the Great Inflation: Reflections for 2022

The celebrated Paul Volcker (1927-2019) became Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board 43 years ago on August 6, 1979. The 20th-century Great Inflation, stoked by the Federal Reserve and the other central banks of the day, was in full gallop in the U.S and around the world. In the month he started as Chairman, …

Balkan States Reconsider Their Alliances

A new theater in the global economic war has opened in the Balkans, the mountainous region in southeastern Europe stretching from the Adriatic to the Black Sea. Though the region is highly dependent on Russian energy, and thus vulnerable to Russian political influence, it relies on the European Union for the rest of its political …

No Deal with Iran Is Better than a Bad Deal

A new nuclear deal with Iran appears close to being reached in Vienna. For the past 18 months, talks have achieved barely anything. Iranian negotiators were leading on their American counterparts by pretending that an agreement was just around the corner—but it never really was. …

Can Central Banks Maintain Their Autonomy?

Over the last three decades, the Fed and its counterparts have enjoyed wide latitude in trying to control inflation. Recent failures could soon put that independence to the test. …

“Reclaim America from Constitutionalism”: Law Professors Now Call to “Pack the States” Rather than “Pack the Court”

Below is my column on the increasing condemnations of “constitutionalism” as the root of our problems as a nation. The latest such attack came from two professors in the New York Times in a column titled The Constitution Is Broken and Should Not Be Reclaimed. It is part of a crisis of faith sweeping the nation. There are good-faith objections to such institutions as the electoral college, but the growing attacks on the Constitution reflects a more significant break with our constitutional values and traditions….

The diplomatic ice is breaking in the Gulf. What does that mean for the region?

The announcements in mid-August that both the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait will be returning their ambassadors to Tehran after six years provided the latest indication that the diplomatic ice has started to break in the Gulf region. Reports that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has proposed for the Saudi and Iranian foreign ministers to meet in Baghdad offered further evidence of a shift in the regional political winds…..

Brave Citizens vs. SEC Overreach

Because our elected branches of government can’t always be trusted to zealously keep one another in check, litigation by individual private citizens has long been among the most effective ways to enforce separation of powers and other structural constitutional boundaries. At least four recent cases involving the Securities and Exchange Commission underscore the power these courageous citizens can unleash by standing up to administrative overreach. …