The most remarkable thing about Calvin Coolidge is that he served for 67 months, and when he left office, the budget was lower than he came in. In real terms - in nominal terms with vanilla on top - he cut the budget year over year. Amity Shlaes budgetcalvincoolidge share on social
When you do something moral and upright and wander off by yourself, well, everyone doesn't always follow you, do they, right? You pat yourself on your sanctimonious back but it doesn't mean the crowd rewards you for doing what you think is right. Amity Shlaes backcrowdfollow share on social
Entitlements seem to grow with prosperity; not only because they are indexed to inflation or GDP, but also because a prosperous country tells itself it can afford more benefits. Amity Shlaes affordbenefitcountry Change image and share on social
People value Halloween, like Valentine's Day, because they can tell themselves that it's not merely secularized but actually secular, which is to say, not Christian, Jewish, Hindu or Muslim. Amity Shlaes christiandayhalloween Change image and share on social
Anything can be done if you find friends to do it with. The lucky biographers find themselves drawn into a sort of friendship with their subject. Amity Shlaes biographerdrawfind Change image and share on social
I think some authors suffer from a need to try to prove that they're clever and educated. I try not to suffer from that. I would rather sacrifice my own narrative in the exercise of writing a biography. So I'm not worried about whether I'm clever. Amity Shlaes authorbiographyclever share on social
I'm always for lower taxes because lower taxes make people want to do things. Less burden, more fun, and economics is about people wanting to have fun. Growth is fun for people in the marketplace. Amity Shlaes burdeneconomicsfun Change image and share on social
A while ago I did a story comparing the change in employment rates in recessions in the U.S. and in Europe, and what I found was that America fired a lot of people and rehired a lot of people faster than Europe. That difference is disappearing, and that is a problem. Amity Shlaes agoamericachange share on social
Prices don't merely reflect what people think things ought to cost today; they also reflect what people expect items to cost tomorrow. Amity Shlaes costexpectitem Change image and share on social
What's wrong with the auto industry isn't that it failed to create jobs. What's wrong is that it emphasizes jobs over general growth itself. Amity Shlaes autocreateemphasize Change image and share on social
