Opinion Essays
2004
- On Sen. John Kerry's acceptance speech
- Comparing economic plans: President Bush vs. Senator Kerry
- Analyzing an e-mail entitled "A Day in the Life of Joe Republican"
- On the losses of totalitarianism
Free markets may not be perfect, but the other choices for society are much worse
2005
- On Iowa's Condition of the State
- Why we need more Thatcherites
- What's wrong with socialism: A case in hidden meanings
- In praise of commercial culture
- The big lie about having "too many choices"
2006
- Evaluating Iowa's gubernatorial candidates
- Banning junk food in schools teaches the wrong lesson
- Advice for broadcasting students
- How subsidies put Iowa's economy at risk
- Why voters should say "No" to Project Destiny
2007
- Scorecard for the Iowa Legislature in the 2007 session
2008
- Observations on the market squeeze: Don't panic
- Senator McCain vs. Senator Obama
- Things to do when the economy looks rough
- If only... (a list of regrets)
2009
- The return of savings
- It's not another Great Depression
- The failure of General Motors
- The new rules for today's technology
- Should Berkshire Hathaway split its stock?
2010
- Why the days are numbered for today's tech giants
- Why business is done differently in the Midwest
- Essential books in conservative thought
- Why the Cubs should return to organ-played walk-up music
2011
- The resignation of David Sokol from Berkshire Hathaway
- Profiteering from the Holocaust
- Economic stances of the 2012 Republican Presidential candidates
2012
- What's wrong with a gold standard?
- Living like a sharpened sword
- Stop the abuse of the word "fundamentally"
- A radical thought experiment about endowments
- On the school shooting in Connecticut
- Labor and capital: Each has its place, and neither should be shunned
2013
- Some rules of politics
- The Economist needs to steal some ideas from Buzzfeed
- Why is the stock market bullish right now?
- What Jim Zabel taught me
- For the sake of the monarchs, end monarchies
2015
2016
- A pre-test for the Iowa Caucuses
- Suggested introductory reading in economics
- Competence matters
- What makes the passing of Alan Thicke such a depressing cultural passage
- Three audiobooks for holiday travel entertainment
- What it means that @realdonaldtrump needs to become @potus
- More than one "only hope"
2017
- President Obama and the awful egg roll
- The opportunity cost of the President's tweeting
- Seven rules for St. Patrick's Day
- How many cheers for LA 2028?
- Always vote in school board elections
- Don't surrender to despair after Las Vegas
- The danger in decoupling
- Farewell to the Ringling Brothers Circus
- Civil Religion, the LDS Church, and the Boy Scouts
- Girls in the Boy Scouts
- Personality engines are emerging
- A reading list for the Trump Era
2018
- Mitt Romney for US Senate
- Why pose with the Antifa handbook?
- Reforming prisoners
- Oprah 2020?
- On President Trump's blundering talk about other countries
- New California? No way.
- Amazon's HQ2 semi-finalists
- Don't love the government
- A few thoughts on robo-dogs
- When tension is good for you
- Mass violence is a public-health crisis
- Creating the risk of suicide by teacher
- Justice and humanity -- or, "Why you gotta be so mean about everything?"
- Keep clearing the way for self-driving cars
- Is journalism a form of activism?
- I'll trade you
- Harry Anderson and the genius of "Night Court"
- The Booker jobs guarantee
- On the cancellation of "Roseanne"
- What do you want, America? (Or: The madness of tariffs)
- On primary elections
- Pardon me
- A border policy with decency
- Decriminalizing marijuana
- The return of city-states
- Are you a practicing American?
- A revival for Reform Republicanism?
- 40 observations after 40 years
- The cause of national unity
- Pitbull in "Africa"
- James Mattis resigns
- The doubters after Mattis
2019
- Barbarians at the tweet
- Jack Bogle, capitalist revolutionary
- Standoff over the State of the Union
- Des Moines needs a good winter festival
- The planned Federal courthouse isn't the best Des Moines deserves
- Integrity isn't a part-time thing
- The flag isn't an adornment, and it doesn't go on shoes
- Which Ross Perot do we remember?