There is a longing on the left for the golden years of the 1940s, 50s, and early 60s. However, America of the past is a different country to which we cannot return.

Conservatives, being conservatives, have a soft spot for the good old days, but those who pine for the way things were fail to grasp that in the ways that matter, the good old days were not perfect.

What matters for China is not whether Westerners believe the system is cracking. The question is: How do the Chinese view their own system?

I don’t know how many times I’ve seen liberal commentators look back with nostalgia to the days when a young man fresh out of high school or military service could get a well-paying job on an assembly line at a unionized auto factory that could carry him through to a...

This studyanalyzes polls on peoples' attitudes toward the past, including quality of life, morality, adolescent behavior, religion, and patriotism.

Today marks the first anniversary of the revolution that overthrew Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Oddly enough, many tears have been shed for the departed Mr. Mubarak—and not just tears from his military cronies, his business cronies, his family cronies, and the Israelis, who had gotten used to the devil they knew in Cairo.

Conservatives who celebrate "the halcyon 1950s" are in danger of succumbing to nostalgia by idealizing an era that was the product of very unusual circumstances.

President Barack Obama and Republican presidential contender Rick Santorum have finally managed to find something they agree on. Despite their many differences, they see eye to eye on the notion that the tax system should favor manufacturing over other sectors of the economy.