Christopher A. Hartwell

For an average observer, the past month in the United States has been characterized by a frenzy of oppressive government legislation designed to infringe upon personal liberty. While this has been true for most of the Obama administration, the maelstrom, whipped up by the media, on this specific issue regards a minor law passed by the state of Indiana and not the federal government.

The irony specific to the Kremlin’s new paranoia is that Russia still attributes some mythical power to the United States, a power which has all but dissipated over the past two decades.

Ukraine shows that, when pressure is applied, Potemkin institutions reveal themselves for what they really are. The lessons for countries in the neighborhood, most of all Russia, should be apparent, as, although there are major differences between Ukraine and its anxious neighbor, at the most fundamental levels, the institutional stagnation is the same.

With this in mind, we wish the protesters in Ukraine well and hope that their situation, where the confrontation with the state is direct, visible and imminent, also clarifies it to the rest of the world that the struggle is always there.

In truth, the middle income trap is just another exposition of how government policy can bring an economy to ruin.

Back here in reality, however, the ramifications of adhering to a Phillips curve mentality continue to wreck the creation of wealth around the world.

The world has been slipping further into economic illiteracy over the past five years, with seemingly no country immune.