When my ancestors settled in what is now Beaver County 170 years ago, they carved out a living with few economic options beyond lumber, mining or hard labor. They had even fewer choices for energy — their best options were burning things like wood or coal. They’d barely believe their eyes ...
I’ve been thinking a lot about resistant, disease-causing bacteria — not just because of my job as a research scientist, but also because of my grandmothers. Both my grandmother in Wisconsin and grandmother-in-law in Florida have been in and out of the hospital with multidrug-resistant ...
A lot of the most important lessons in my life came from immigrants to the United States. People from Kenya, India, Honduras, Russia, Mexico, Spain, Algeria and France. This isn’t a surprise to an economist. The theory of comparative advantage — the idea that we’re better off when we ...
Reality limits propaganda. One of the most famous and influential propagandists of all times, Dr. Joseph Goebbels, learned this important fact in the winter of 1944-45 when he tried to explain to the German people how the invincible Nazi armies could be winning victory after victory while they ...
On our long walk through the Escalante region of southern Utah, my friend Brian asked what made this a “desert.” He pointed to lush green cottonwood trees taking root in the cool floodplain. It wasn’t what he was expecting. This was Brian’s first exploit into the area, but it doesn’t ...
The face of the man whose truck I had just driven my car into appeared at my driver’s side door while dust from the collision still swirled through the air along with the echoes of that dreadful thud. I can still remember his frightening, wild-eyed expression. If, at this moment, you think ...
