Free Republic

“This town is now as nervous as it’s ever been.” That’s Congressman Chip Roy’s assessment of the mood in Washington, D.C., since President Trump’s return to the White House. It’s one of several dozen refreshingly blunt descriptions of American politics in Ned Ryun’s new documentary based on his book, American Leviathan. The documentary is available to anyone with an Internet connection, and it is nothing short of a declaration of war on the administrative state. I highlighted Ryun’s book when it came out last September for several reasons. First, it is a remarkably clear description of the ideas, people, and...

America's education system needs a Bill James, and a Billy Beane. Together, James and Beane — the focus of Michael Lewis's recent bestseller Moneyball — revolutionized Major League Baseball by demonstrating how maximizing efficiency can leverage limited resources to create a successful outcome. Bill James, author of the comprehensive Historical Baseball Abstract, spent three decades challenging the national pastime's conventional wisdom, applying rigorous statistical analysis to determine the traits most associated with a player's true value to his team. James's findings didn't square with most baseball experts' opinion, and his research was ignored for years. Until, that is, Oakland A's...