MattPerman.com

The Sum of Good Government

by

Well stated by Thomas Jefferson in his first Inaugural Address in 1801: A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is […]

Should We Change Calendars?

by

The Wall Street Journal recently had an enjoyable article on different alternatives to the Gregorian calendar that have been put forth to try and solve some of the idiosyncrasies of our current system. (I personally find some of the idiosyncrasies of our calendar to be a good thing — it provides variety.)

On Architecture and Physics

by

This is a good word, quoted in If Aristotle Ran General Motors: Architecture is about the good, the true, and the beautiful in our edifices and landscapes, and physics is about the good, the true, and the beautiful in nature.

The Power of Moral Clarity

by

Moral clarity — and the willingness to speak it — brought the Berlin Wall down back in 1989. That’s the point made by two fantastic pieces in the Wall Street Journal from last month on Nov 9 (the day the Berlin Wall fell). I highly recommend them. I’m mentioning them now because they are relevant […]

Myths and Money: Inoculating Against the Socialist Flu

by

Marvin Olasky has some good words about Jay Richards’ book Money, Greed, and God: Why Capitalism Is the Solution and Not the Problem: Many of us have had flu shots this fall, but what about an inoculation against the hate-America economics that many colleges teach? Money, Greed and God: Why Capitalism Is the Solution and […]

Price-Driven Costing Rather than Cost-Driven Pricing

by

Here’s a good word from a BusinessWeek article summarizing Peter Drucker’s insight on how to price a product: Properly pricing a product is no easy exercise. It involves a complex bit of calculus that must take into account not only a business’ up-front investment but also the ongoing costs it expects to incur (as it […]

The Costs of Medical Care

by

Thomas Sowell does a good job of explaining in a recent column how costs are not reduced simply because you pay them in another form. We are incessantly being told that the cost of medical care is “too high”– either absolutely or as a growing percentage of our incomes. But nothing that is being proposed […]

Five Recommended Books on Theology

by

This list could get very long, and could be sub-divided into many different areas. So I’ll just limit this list to five of the most helpful and shaping books on the nature of God and the work of redemption that I’ve read. 1. The Pleasures of God by John Piper 2. Systematic Theology: An Introduction […]

This is Not Science

by

What is contained in the 3,000 emails and documents that were released last week after the Climate Research Unit’s emails were hacked? The Wall Street Journal gives a brief overview, and you can find even more details here. Here’s one part of the overview from the WSJ: Yet even a partial review of the emails […]

Why Third-World Capitalism is Not Flourishing

by

Here’s a quick statement of the reason, from my notes on the subject: The mystery of capital is this: Assets (property, money, the means of production) are not automatically capital. Capital is like electricity. Until it is there, the assets are dead. Property rights are what close the circuit and bring dead assets to life. […]