More than two years since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, enrollment at American colleges and universities is continuing to plummet. College enrollment had been falling by about 1% each year for a decade before the pandemic, but COVID-19 accelerated that trend. In the past two years, more than 1 million students have walked away from higher… Continue reading College Enrollment is Down – But There’s a Silver Lining
Dressing Like a Handmaid: The Brown Scapular
When news broke that the Supreme Court was planning on overturning Roe v. Wade, the protests began almost immediately. In some, women showed up at Catholic Masses dressed in the famous “Handmaid’s Tale” costumes in protest of what they saw as the Catholic Church’s misogynistic meddling in American politics. What they missed is the fact… Continue reading Dressing Like a Handmaid: The Brown Scapular
Russian Capture of Ukraine’s Chernobyl Nuclear Plant Threatens Future Research
The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. Shortly after Russia launched its attack on Ukraine, both governments said that the Russian military had taken over the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster. In a tweet, the Ukrainian Ministry of… Continue reading Russian Capture of Ukraine’s Chernobyl Nuclear Plant Threatens Future Research
Former Japanese PM Abe Shot Dead During Speech, “Frustrated” Assassin Arrested
Update (0930ET): President Biden released a statement Friday morning on the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Biden said he was “stunned, outraged, and deeply saddened” by the news. Here’s President Biden’s full statement: I am stunned, outraged, and deeply saddened by the news that my friend Abe Shinzo, former Prime Minister of… Continue reading Former Japanese PM Abe Shot Dead During Speech, “Frustrated” Assassin Arrested
What is Stock Market Seasonality?
Seasonality is when things change in data in a repeatable and predictable manner. Like summer heat and winter cold, data too, has “seasons” which repeat itself predictably. There’s seasonality in most datasets, especially in the financial and economic fields. Look at any economic statistic published by the government and you’ll often see the headline figure… Continue reading What is Stock Market Seasonality?
A Proposed National Agreement on Abortion
Although it may seem counterintuitive, the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Center may ultimately help secure a woman’s right to an abortion. By extinguishing Roe v. Wade’s constitutional abortion rights, the court has created the acute need for a national compromise, which can lead to landmark legislation on abortion, and other… Continue reading A Proposed National Agreement on Abortion
Hugo Duminil-Copin Wins the Fields Medal
Mathematicians want to understand how the system behaves below, at and above that critical point. But until around 2008, percolation theory was mostly limited to pinning down the details of the simplest model of percolation, called Bernoulli percolation. It wasn’t until Duminil-Copin made it his mission to extend that understanding to other percolation models that… Continue reading Hugo Duminil-Copin Wins the Fields Medal
Wall Street Stunned As June Payrolls Unexpectedly Smash Expectations As Labor Force Shrinks, Household Survey Tumbles
With even permabull economists conceding that the US economy is slowing rapidly and today’s payrolls report should show a big slowdown, moments ago the BLS confirmed yet again that the monthly payrolls number is nothing but a politically mandated homework assignment (where trends only change when someone gets a tap on the shoulder), when –… Continue reading Wall Street Stunned As June Payrolls Unexpectedly Smash Expectations As Labor Force Shrinks, Household Survey Tumbles
In Appreciation of Harvey Mansfield at 90
This is based on a July 6 talk for a panel, “Tocqueville and America” at “Harvey Mansfield at 90: A Conference on Major Themes of His Work,” sponsored by the American Enterprise Institute and the Foundation for Constitutional Government. In 1990, I arrived at Harvard’s Department of Government as a young assistant professor. It was… Continue reading In Appreciation of Harvey Mansfield at 90
Exorcist Diary: Do Saints Choose Us?
“K” was possessed. She was consecrated to the Evil One by her biological parents: one was a witch and the other a Satanist. Her upbringing was brutal including a drug habit foisted upon her by her mother and repeated rapes by men. Both biological parents died young. K was, by the grace of God, eventually… Continue reading Exorcist Diary: Do Saints Choose Us?