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Deirdre McCloskey nicely summarizes her theory of what did, and what didn’t, cause modern prosperity.

I agree with Tyler Cowen that sporting events are not appropriate occasions “for escalating patriotic loyalty tests.”  A slice:

Anthem practices shouldn’t be viewed as sacrosanct, and no one would think the absence of an anthem unpatriotic if expectations were set differently. Professional sports don’t start their competitions with the Pledge of Allegiance, and that is hardly considered an act of treason. Nor do we play the anthem before movies, as is mandatory in India. Furthermore, “The Star-Spangled Banner” wasn’t sanctioned by Congress as our national anthem until 1931. Earlier in the history of baseball, the anthem was played during the seventh-inning stretch. It was only during World War II that the anthem was played regularly at the beginning of each game, rather than for special games alone, such as the World Series.

Ron Manners reminds us of the late, great Leonard Read.

I was pleased and honored two weeks ago to speak at Northwood University’s annual Freedom Week.  Here’s a video of my talk, which was on trade.  (Many thanks to Alex, Kristin, Eli, and all the others at Northwood for inviting me to participate and for making my visit so pleasant.)

Respect for authority can be (and, as history teaches, often is) extraordinarily uncivilized and brutal.

My colleague Walter Williams laments, in his words, that “[m]any colleges have become hotbeds of what might be labeled as enlightened racism.

N.C. State economist Tom Grennes is no fan of the Jones Act.  See also Scott Shackford.

My Mercatus Center colleagues Matt Mitchell and Tad DeHaven wonder if Trump will, in his tax-reform efforts, really stand up to special-interest groups.

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