Austerity measures in Europe have been the topic of a heated and mostly confused debate in the economic world. During the May summit of the leading industrial nations at Camp David, German chancellor Angela Merkel and other European leaders pushed for continued European austerity. Keynesian critics argue that these policies destroy economic growth.

Hope springs eternal among policy makers in Europe’s beleaguered periphery. At five minutes to midnight in Athens, and with a bank run having started in Madrid, these policy makers cling to the forlorn hope that somehow Germany is going to relent on its strong opposition to euro bonds.

The Obama administration has launched a furtive and worrisome effort that will entail Uncle Sam's becoming a provider of free community college courses.

Sunday’s elections results in six European countries, particularly France, Greece and Germany, bode poorly for satisfactorily resolving the European Union’s ongoing financial and political crisis.

As I listened to House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan describe his latest budget plan in a speech at American Enterprise Institute on Tuesday, I couldn't help thinking how different things will be in Britain today when Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne steps out of Number 11 Downing Street with a battered red briefcase holding his budget for the forthcoming year.

Enjoying a fascinating visit to Berlin, newly designated capital of the (you must bail out the) Eurozone. One cannot help but feel for Chancellor Merkel, who is meant to be fixing the Eurodisaster on her own by creating a Eurofinance system relying on newly powerful Eurocrats who will remain without an actual democratic mandate from, you know, Europeans. But I get ahead of myself.

Education leaders often act lazily, blaming union contracts and federal regulation rather than confronting the problems they have the capacity to solve.

Gedmin on Germany's Christian Democratic Union.