Conservative Conversation and Community
Richard Epstein considers whether Donald Trump has correctly assessed the threat from Chinese trade practices, analyzes whether widespread tariff increases are an effective tool to combat them, and explains why he reluctantly prefers Trump’s economic policies over those that may have emerged from a more conventional Republican president.
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With a new wave of congressional progressives claiming America is insufficiently committed to social justice, Victor Davis Hanson defends the country’s history of progress — and explains why it was dependent on traditions of western civilization that the critics now denounce.
More Victor Davis Hanson examines the strategic calculations behind China’s economic, political, military, and cultural initiatives.
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It’s a lively session in the faculty lounge as Professors Richard Epstein and John Yoo navigate a minefield of legal controversies: what do Alabama’s new restrictions on abortion mean for the future of Roe v. Wade? What’s the proper libertarian position on compulsory vaccinations? Does Congress have a leg to stand on in its pursuit of Bill Barr? Was Harvard wrong to turn its back on a professor who’s defending Harvey Weinstein? And then, the professors finally answer the question you’ve waited years for: are bans on toplessness unconstitutional? We guarantee you’ll leave disturbed.
More Richard Epstein examines the difficult legal and philosophical questions that emerge when widespread opt-outs from vaccination threaten herd immunity.
More Richard Epstein breaks down the fight between the Justice Department and the House over the Mueller Report, providing a history of executive privilege (what it is, what it isn’t, and where it came from), an examination of what it really means for Congress to hold someone in contempt, and explains when and under what circumstances the White House can prevent congressional testimony.
More As congressional Democrats accuse Attorney General William Barr of deliberate deception and Trump Administration officials refuse to honor congressional subpoenas, the executive and legislative branches find themselves on a collision course.
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The faculty lounge has reopened and Professors Richard Epstein and John Yoo are colluding to bring you top-shelf legal analysis. On this installment: is the Mueller Report vindication of President Trump or the predicate for impeachment? Can the White House resist congressional subpoenas? Can congressional Democrats (or a wily coalition of state governments) force the president to release his tax returns? Will the Supreme Court break new ground on gay and trans discrimination? And is chalking tires unconstitutional?
All that plus our annual World Series picks and an especially heated debate on … free parking.
More Richard Epstein examines the controversies attending the Mueller Report and finds few heroes amidst the partisan squabbling.
More Richard Epstein considers the practical and legal difficulties around setting up reparations payments, and explores alternatives that may be more effective in fostering black mobility.
More Richard Epstein analyzes a controversial new policy at the Yale Law School that would withhold financial support from students who work with “discriminatory” institutions — a category that may include large numbers of religious organizations.
More Richard Epstein parses the conclusions of the Mueller report, the implications for the Trump Administration, and whether the investigation justified the resulting political dislocations.
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It’s March Madness in the faculty lounge — and with the current news cycle, this episode is a layup line for Professors Epstein and Yoo. On the agenda: a deep dive into the Mueller Report; a look at the legal ramifications of the college admissions scandal; and a discussion of the Jussie Smollett controversy (one of the profs has a disturbingly deep grasp of the details). Plus, Epstein proposes a deal with the Russians, Yoo takes millennials down a peg, and Senik deals out some Jerry Springer trivia.
More Richard Epstein explains how the Electoral College has morphed from the Founding Fathers’ intent — but why it is still the best way to pick a president.
More Richard Epstein grapples with a new wave of anti-semitism on the left, and explains why progressive notions of ‘tolerance’ often undermine pluralism.
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Hoover Institution fellow and award-winning historian Victor Davis Hanson joins the Manhattan Institute’s Troy Senik to discuss the presidency of Donald Trump and Hanson’s new book, The Case for Trump.
Hanson argues that our 45th president alone has the instinct and energy to upset the balance of American politics. “We could not survive a series of presidencies as volatile as Trump’s,” he writes, “but after decades of drift, America needs the outsider Trump to do what normal politicians would not and could not do.”
More Richard Epstein looks at the resurgent popularity of rent control, explains the factors driving high housing prices in some of America’s largest metropolitan areas, and explains the economic, legal, and regulatory possibilities for bringing costs down.
More Richard Epstein uses the controversy over Green Book‘s best picture win to discuss how racial tension in America has become completely unmoored from the reality on the ground.
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The newest installment of Law Talk sees debate brewing in the faculty lounge as Professors Richard Epstein and John Yoo find themselves on the opposite side of several issues. On the agenda: Did Michael Cohen’s testimony change anything about the case against Trump? Can the president’s emergency measures to build a border wall stand up in court? Does the Supreme Court’s blow against civil asset forfeiture actually represent a constitutional error? And is a group of states about to take down the electoral college?
More Richard Epstein dismantles the Green New Deal’s assertions about climate change, agriculture, labor, diversity, and transportation.
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