Caveat: These are among the books that most influenced me in one way or another, even if they are not necessarily the best books I have read. Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom I didn’t think the book had influenced me much when I read it, but I’ve been amazed how often Friedman’s insights have helped […]
Author Archive | David Bernstein
How to “Kill the Bill”
(1) Have Republican Senate and House candidates nationwide run on a platform along the lines of the “Contract with America” that they will not vote to approve any budget that includes appropriations to effectuate provision of Obamacare. (2) The GOP take over the House or Senate, or both. (3) The House or Senate or both […]
Just Wondering
Back during the Bush Administration, I created a couple of controversial posts pointing out that Bush had achieved several longstanding liberal goals, including a vast expansion of Medicare, and greater federal aid to, and control of, local education. However, he got very little credit from the liberal side for these achievements. On the Medicare front, […]
Ninth Circuit on Medical Evidence
In the recent case of Primiano v. Cook, Ninth Circuit reversed the district court’s exclusion of a physician’s expert testimony on the failure of an elbow prosthesis. The plaintiff’s expert, Dr. Weiss, testified that the polyethylene bushing had worn through in less than eight months, “not a usual or expected circumstance.” Though finite, the typical […]
Obama’s Speech at the Patriot Center
If the Washington Post’s report is correct, and 8,000 people turned out, the real news is that two days before the big health care vote, Obama couldn’t fill a 10,000 seat arena at a university with 30,000 students (albeit many part-time), in a state and county Obama won, with many of the seats undoubtedly taken […]
Lochner v. New York as a Test Case
Many of the most important cases in American constitutional law have not involved true cases or controversies. Instead, they involved individuals or organizations who intentionally set up a test case to challenge a law they disliked. Prominent examples include Plessy v. Ferguson and Griswold v. Connecticut. I think we can add Lochner v. New York […]
With Friends Like These…
“Castrate Knut [the polar bear], Say Animal Rights Activists.”
Ravitch on Education Policy
The Times has an interesting story on Diane Ravitch’s abandonment of many strategies for improving education associated with “conservatives.” I support some of these strategies, like trying to inject markets and competition into the educational system, and oppose others, like national standardized testing, which I suspect may raise the lowest common denominator, but be the […]
The Incorporation Doctrine
Since the incorporation doctrine is in the news today, I thought I’d share a relevant excerpt from Rehabilitating Lochner (forthcoming, U. Chicago Press, Spring 2011): The Supreme Court … gradually applied most, but not all, of the Bill of Rights to the states, on a case-by-case basis. To blunt criticism that they were emulating their […]
Kristof on Environmental Toxins and Autism
Over recent decades, other development disorders also appear to have proliferated, along with certain cancers in children and adults. Why? No one knows for certain. And despite their financial and human cost, they presumably won’t be discussed much at Thursday’s White House summit on health care. Yet they constitute a huge national health burden, and […]
Let’s Not Confuse Longevity with Greatness
Tom Goldstein: “For almost everyone, Justice Stevens’s retirement will be a deeply sad event. He is a great man – a historic figure.” I don’t think I’ve ever been sad when a Supreme Court Justice has retired. Surely hanging on like Stevens for thirty-five years until age ninety is long enough to suit anyone. There’s […]
Rushdie on Amnesty International
Salman Rushdie: Amnesty International has done its reputation incalculable damage by allying itself with Moazzam Begg and his group Cageprisoners, and holding them up as human rights advocates. It looks very much as if Amnesty’s leadership is suffering from a kind of moral bankruptcy, and has lost the ability to distinguish right from wrong. (H/T […]
What Else is New?
Eric Fingerhut examines a “bizarre, almost unhinged” rant by Joe Klein in response to rather bland criticism from Commentary’s Jonathan Tobin. This has become something of a Klein specialty, at least when it comes to discussion of Israel’s American supporters.
Why is it Cool to Claim You’ve Been Called an Anti-Semite?
Three years ago, I wrote: on the one hand, we have friends of Israel who are too quick to label others anti-Semitic, though I believe that this phenomenon is declining, as it has received increasing scrutiny and criticism. On the other hand, we have critics of Israel who try to portray anyone who defends Israel […]
Write to Explain, Not to Impress
Yesterday, I was editing the Introduction to my “Rehabilitating Lochner” book, and I needed a word to fill in the following sentence: “Lochner itself is now considered the ___ of the liberty of contract cases, though the opinion has not always attracted such disproportionate attention.” After some thought, I came up with the word “apotheosis.” […]