Category Archives: Relevant History

Attending the #AHA2012 Digitally, Part II

Posted on January 8, 2012 by Steve

Well, attending something digitally is pretty hard. The folks using the #AHA2012 twitter hashtag are great though. They’re giving a lot of informative comments. I will say this: It is pretty difficult to follow the comments without being there. The … Continue reading →

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National Defense Authorization Act in the Context of a Social Contract

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Steve

social contract (also social compact) noun an implicit agreement among the members of a society to cooperate for social benefits, for example by sacrificing some individual freedom for state protection. Theories of a social contract became popular in the 16th, … Continue reading →

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Relevant History – Ron Suskind’s Confidence Men Review

Posted on November 18, 2011 by Steve

I just finished Ron Suskind’s new look at the first two years of the Obama presidency, and I have to admit that I’m a little bit worried. Suskind, former national affairs writer for the Wall Street Journal, paints a picture … Continue reading →

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Square Deals for Occupy Wall Street

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Steve

Markets are sacred. Its a defining principle of American economics; at least rhetorically. Americans hold fast to the idea that markets are more efficient than command economies. That’s probably true in most instances. The history of the twentieth century seems … Continue reading →

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Relevant History – Occupy Wall Street’s the Cause, What’s the Effect?

Posted on October 27, 2011 by Steve

Be very careful what you wish for. We’ve all heard that phrase told to us as little children, and then later, with more dripping irony, as adults. No matter what the end goal of an action, you have to deal … Continue reading →

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Editorial – Is There Really a Crisis at All?

Posted on October 18, 2011 by Steve

“Look Ma’, ain’t nothing gonna change, everything still remain the same, I can’t do what ten people tell me to do, so I guess I’ll remain the same.” – Ottis Redding, Dock of the Bay Ottis was right. Ain’t nothing … Continue reading →

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Relevant History – Progressive Progress Stalls After a Century

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Steve

We know this is a late post seeing as how we’ve been in presidential campaign season for five years or so now, but this is the most appropriate time. Ninety nine years ago today, Theodore Roosevelt gave a speech, a … Continue reading →

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“Ir” relevant history? – Academia Makes Historians Irrelevant

Posted on October 11, 2011 by Steve

In a recent Chronicle article, Professor Anthony T. Grafton of Princeton University argues that history departments all over the country need to do better by their graduate students. Since the 1970s the rate of PhD production in the field of … Continue reading →

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Relevant History – Tariffs Have Worked Before, Could They Work Again?

Posted on October 6, 2011 by Steve

Its time to take another look at tariffs. There, I said it, and I feel better for it. Tariffs were historically an enormous part of American fiscal policy. In 1792, tariffs on imported goods accounted for 95% of the Federal … Continue reading →

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Relevant History – Holly Petreaus Talks About For-Profit Colleges and the Military

Posted on September 28, 2011 by Steve

Its education week again at NBC so what better time to point out some of the continuing abuses of for profit secondary education. NPR had a story today interviewing Holly Petreaus, wife of the current CIA director and anti-insurgency specialist … Continue reading →

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