David R. Henderson

David R. Henderson is a research fellow with the Hoover Institution and an emeritus professor of economics in the Graduate School of Business and Public Policy at the Naval Postgraduate School. He is author of The Joy of Freedom: An Economist’s Odyssey and co-author, with Charles L. Hooper, of Making Great Decisions in Business and Life(Chicago Park Press). His latest book is The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics (Liberty Fund, 2008). He has appeared on The O’Reilly Factor, the Jim Lehrer Newshour, CNN, MSNBC, RT, Fox Business Channel, and C-SPAN. He has had over 100 articles published in Fortune, the Wall Street Journal, Red Herring, Barron’s, National Review, Reason, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, The Hill, and the Christian Science Monitor. He has also testified before the House Ways and Means Committee, the Senate Armed Services Committee, and the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources. He blogs at Econlog.econlib.org and I Blog To Differ.

Don’t Lean on the NIE

On the surface, and even below the surface, the latest National Intelligence Estimate on Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons is good news. The major U.S. intelligence agencies are now saying that the Iranian government abandoned its direct quest for nuclear weapons in 2003. This finding, and the wide publicity it has been given, will make … Continue reading “Don’t Lean on the NIE”

The Religion Called Americanism

Americanism: The Fourth Great Western Religion David Gelernter Doubleday, 2007 240 pp. David Gelernter, the Yale University computer science professor known for surviving a bomb attack by the Unabomber, has written a fascinating book, Americanism: The Fourth Great Western Religion. I should warn the readers of Antiwar.com that I started off with a bias in … Continue reading “The Religion Called Americanism”

Why Attack Iran?

A Question for Mr. Romney In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said something quite interesting about Iran. One of the editors at the Journal asked him how he would respond upon learning that President Bush had launched an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. He answered: "I would … Continue reading “Why Attack Iran?”

Economists and the
Nobel Peace Prize

Question: Who was the first economist to win a Nobel Prize? Many economists, hearing this question, would know that it’s a trick question, but they would identify the small trick and miss the big one. The small trick is that there was no first economist to win the Nobel Prize in economics because two economists, … Continue reading “Economists and the
Nobel Peace Prize”

How George Bush Changed
My Life

A friend and colleague of mine at the Hoover Institution, Peter Robinson, wrote a book a few years ago titled How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life. In this excellent book, Peter tells of how his time as a speechwriter for Reagan changed his life in a good way. Peter, by the way, was the author … Continue reading “How George Bush Changed
My Life”

War and the Constitution

Author’s note: Sept. 17 was the 220th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution. To commemorate that day, California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB) held a public forum with a panel of four speakers: David Anderson, a history professor at CSUMB; Michelle Welsh, a lawyer and member of the ACLU; John Arquilla, a professor … Continue reading “War and the Constitution”

Myths and Truths About Iran

On Sunday, Aug. 19, the Peace Coalition of Monterey County held a public meeting at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Monterey, Calif. The main topic of discussion was Iran. My local chapter of Libertarians for Peace is a member of the Coalition, and so I had volunteered to speak at the event, to tell what … Continue reading “Myths and Truths About Iran”

Remembering Hiroshima

Editor’s note: The following is an encore presentation of David R. Henderson’s column of July 31, 2006. Sometimes, something happens that is so awful that we find ourselves rationalizing it, talking as if it had to happen, to make ourselves feel better about the horrible event. For many people, I believe, President Truman’s dropping the … Continue reading “Remembering Hiroshima”