Books & Ideas

Creeping credentialism and the bureaucratization of charity

Expertly deflating the pretensions of those who would make fundraising a bureaucratic and esoteric profession, this book takes on the creeping trend of professionalization in philanthropy.

Loving mankind poorly

A review of Daniel J. Mahoney’s “The Idol of Our Age: How the Religion of Humanity Subverts Christianity.”


Why some places thrive while others collapse

Reviewing Timothy P. Carney’s “Alienated America.”

There’s no such thing as free speech

Reviewing “Liberal Suppression: Section 501(c)(3) and the Taxation of Speech” by Philip Hamburger.


Why ex-churchgoers flocked to Trump

This is a story about how the breakdown of civil society, not factories, inspired a Middle American movement around one man.

Just Justice?

Rob Reich’s book “Just Giving” is thoughtful and serious. But philanthropy has more varied aims than justice, and the pluralism he celebrates can only be fully honored when we allow philanthropists to pursue their own highest ideals.


Charles Dickens and the spirit of the season

Just as Easter is the holiday of music, Christmas is the holiday of literature.

Donors who help veterans

What are the best ways for donors to help veterans?


A price tag on the American Dream

Conservatives must acknowledge that too many of the poor are staying poor, no matter how hard they work.

A flawed defense of perpetual foundations

In his recent book, Joel L. Fleishman tries to persuade donors that they should create perpetual foundations with few restrictions.