In case anyone was unconvinced about Iran’s hostility toward everything associated with Western values, recent provocations leave no doubt. After blocking the Olympics website, refusing to admit a Davis Cup tennis player, and slandering the Olympic logo for being “racist,” Iran’s latest flaunt is its threat to sue Google. Why? Because Google maps has no label for the Persian Gulf. According to Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast: Toying with modern technologies in political issues is among the new measures by the enemies against Iran, (and) in this regard, Google has …
In a special Heritage podcast, political commentator and author Jonah Goldberg discusses his new book, The Tyranny of Cliches, How Liberals Cheat in the War of Ideas. Click here to listen. How does one respond to the cliche that it’s better that 10 guilty men go free than one innocent man be put in jail? Do both the left and right employ cliches equally? Why did Gandhi advocate non-violence against Hitler? Click the link above to hear Jonah Goldberg answer to those questions and more!
Popular opinion demonizes the U.S. for importing more goods than it exports, or running a “trade deficit.” This view maintains that the trade deficit is costing jobs and slowing economic growth. “The $600 billion annual deficit is the most significant barrier to achieving a robust economic recovery and creating jobs,” charges a recent column. Yet this popular understanding, which is based on an incomplete assessment of the trade equation, is wrong. The prevailing view assumes that exchangingU.S.currency for foreign goods leaks money out of circulation. The reason for this confusion …
Since the beginning of the recession, academics, authoritative international institutions, and most government officials pushed for massive stimulus spending. Sweden bucked the trend, focusing instead on slashing marginal tax rates and peeling government back. How did it fare? The Spectator reports: While most countries in Europeborrowed massively, Borg did not. Since becoming Sweden’s finance minister, his mission has been to pare back government. His ‘stimulus’ was a permanent tax cut. To critics, this was fiscal lunacy — the so-called ‘punk tax cutting’ agenda. Borg, on the other hand, thought lunacy …
In a special Heritage podcast, Peter Vessenes, president of American Citizens for Economic Freedom, discusses how we can put the country on a better path toward economic freedom. Click here to listen. What is capitalism? What’s the most important thing our elected leaders can do to fix our economic mess? Click on the link above to here Mr. Vessenes answer those questions and more.
In a special podcast, national radio host and author Dennis Prager discusses his new book, Still the Best Hope, Why the World Needs American Values to Triumph. Click here to listen. What are American values? What is Leftism? Why does Leftism succeed? Click the link to listen to Mr. Prager answer those questions and more.
Noted essayist and scholar Kevin J. “Seamus” Hasson, a prominent advocate for religious freedom, today was awarded The Heritage Foundation’s 2012 Salvatori Prize for American Citizenship. In 1994, Hasson established the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a non-profit, public-interest legal and educational institute that protects the free expression of all faiths. He currently serves as president emeritus of the Washington-based organization. “An exemplar of principle and character, Seamus Hasson has devoted his life to advancing religious liberty, a cause at the heart of the American project,” said Matthew Spalding, vice …
Is it slavery for union workers to work alongside nonunion workers? The International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) filed a lawsuit claiming that Indiana’s right-to-work law violates the 13th Amendment, which states that “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude…shall exist within the United States.” The union claims that: The Defendants have exacted compulsory service and/or involuntary servitude from the Union through the combination of the passage of the Right to Work law and the existing federal requirement of the duty of fair representation. Through these laws the Union is compelled to …
Should we raise the minimum wage? The editors at Bloomberg think so. They maintain that low-wage jobs are expanding and that a minimum wage hike would boost the economy. Despite these notions, hiking the minimum wage remains a bad idea. Bloomberg first laments that low-wage jobs are becoming the norm: “It’s also becoming clear that many Americans are being forced to take lower-paying jobs and that a low-wage bias is creeping into the economy.” However, the percentage of minimum wage jobs has declined. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, …
In this week’s Heritage in Focus, Heritage expert Bryan Riley discusses U.S. sugar quotas. Click here to listen. What effect do they have on Americans? Do they cost money? What should be done about them? Click above to listen to Bryan answer those questions and more. To get regular updates on Heritage in Focus podcasts, visit our RSS feed or subscribe on iTunes. To listen to more Heritage Foundation podcasts, visit our podcast page.
