Tag: Capitalism

Topics

Books

The Rock of Eden

– “The Rock of Eden,” Encounter, June 1956.  (A review of The Dream of Success, by Kenneth S. Lynn, The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit, by Sloan Wilson, and The Exurbanites, by A. C. Spectorsky.)

The Essence of Capitalism

– “The Essence of Capitalism,” Encounter, November 1957. (A review of Polity and Economy by Joseph Cropsey.)

Our Boondoggling Democracy

– "Our Boondoggling Democracy," Commentary, August 1958.  (A review of The Affluent Society by John Kenneth Galbraith.)
Excerpt: The Affluent Society is by far the most serious critique of “welfare capitalism” that has been written in the post-Marxian era. (It is perhaps worth remarking that, though Mr.… More

Last of the Whigs

– "Last of the Whigs," Commentary, April 1960.  (A review of The Constitution of Liberty, by F.A. Hayek.)
Excerpt: Professor Friederich Hayek, who is usually thought of as a conservative and laisser-fairist, can be more accurately regarded (and clearly defines himself) as the last surviving… More

An Odd Lot

– “An Odd Lot,” Encounter, December 1960.

As Goes Demand, So Goes Invention

– “As Goes Demand, So Goes Invention,” Fortune, September 1967. (A review of Invention and Economic Growth by Jacob Schmookler.)

Men on the Move

– “Men on the Move,” Fortune, March 1968. (A review of American Occupational Structure by Otis Dudley Duncan.)

Ten Years in a Tunnel: Reflections on the 1930s

– “Ten Years in a Tunnel: Reflections on the 1930s,” in The Thirties: A Reconsideration in the Light of the American Political Tradition, ed. Morton J. Frisch and Martin Diamond (De Kalb, Ill.: Northern Illinois University Press, 1968).

The New Era of Innovation

– “The New Era of Innovation,” Fortune, February 1969. (A review of The Age of Discontinuity: Guidelines to Our Changing Society by Peter Drucker.)

“Capitalism” and “the Free Society”

– "'Capitalism' and 'the Free Society'," (a reply to John K. Jessup), The Public Interest, Winter 1971.
Excerpt: Now, there is only one rejoinder that someone like Jessup can make to this point. It is the libertarian answer given by Hayek and Friedman: what legitimates a “free… More

On the Democratic Idea in America

– New York: Harper, 1972.
1. Urban Civilization and its Discontents 2. The Shaking of the Foundations 3. Pornography, Obscenity, and the Case for Censorship 4. American Historians and the Democratic Idea 5. American… More

About Equality

– "About Equality," Commentary, November 1972.
Excerpt: So this, it appears to me, is what the controversy “about equality” is really about. We have an intelligentsia which so despises the ethos of bourgeois society, and which is so… More

Equality and Justice

– "Equality and Justice" (A reply to letters), Commentary, February 1973.
Excerpt: I still do believe that any society has to be governed by a principle of justice which legitimates particular inequalities, and that our own society is having trouble finding such… More

Capitalism, Socialism and Nihilism

– "Capitalism, Socialism and Nihilism," The Public Interest, Spring 1973.
Excerpt: WHENEVER and wherever defenders of “free enterprise,” “individual liberty,” and “a free society” assemble, these days, one senses a peculiar kind of nostalgia in the… More

Republican Virtue vs. Servile Institutions

– “Republican Virtue vs. Servile Institutions” delivered at and then reprinted by the Poynter Center at Indiana University, May 1974. (Reprinted in The Alternative, February 1975.)
Excerpt: This is a serious matter. For the American democracy today seems really to have no other purpose than to create more and more Scarsdales—to convert the entire nation into a… More

Taxes, Poverty, and Equality

– "Taxes, Poverty, and Equality," The Public Interest, Fall 1974.
Excerpt: Taxation, poverty, and equality are all and always proper subjects for concern and reformist action. But the first step toward effective reform is to disentangle these three… More

World Perspective

– “World Perspective” (Interview with Boardroom Reports), February 15, 1975.

On Corporate Capitalism in America

– "On Corporate Capitalism in America," The Public Interest, Fall 1975.
Excerpt: Whether for good or evil—and one can leave this for future historians to debate–the large corporation has gone “quasi-public,” i.e., it now straddles,… More

The High Cost of Equality

– “The High Cost of Equality,” Fortune, November 1975. (A review of Equality and Efficiency: The Big Tradeoff by Arthur Okun.)

Adam Smith and the Spirit of Capitalism

– “Adam Smith and the Spirit of Capitalism,” in The Great Ideas Today, ed. Robert Hutchins and Mortimer Adler (Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, 1976).

How Equal Can We Be?

– “How Equal Can We Be?” (An interview), Business and Society Review, Fall 1977.

Thoughts on Equality and Egalitarians

– “Thoughts on Equality and Egalitarians,” in Income Redistribution, ed. Colin D. Campbell (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute, 1977).

Two Cheers for Capitalism

– New York: Basic Books, March 1978.
PART ONE: The Enemy of Being is Having 1. Corporate Capitalism in America 2. Business and the “New Class” 3. Frustrations of Affluence 4. Ideology and Food 5. The… More

The Disaffection from Capitalism

– “The Disaffection from Capitalism,” in Capitalism and Socialism: A Theological Inquiry, ed. Michael Novak (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute, 1979).

The Spiritual Roots of Capitalism and Socialism

– “The Spiritual Roots of Capitalism and Socialism,” in Capitalism and Socialism: A Theological Inquiry, ed. Michael Novak (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute, 1979).

No Cheers for the Profit Motive

– “No Cheers for the Profit Motive,” Wall Street Journal, February 20, 1979.
Excerpt: It is, in my opinion, as absurd to praise the profit motive—i.e., economic action based on self-interest—as it is to condemn it. The human impulse to such action is, like… More

Waste of Time

– ''Waste of Time” (A contribution to a symposium), Business and Society Review, Summer 1979.

Irving Kristol, Standard-Bearer

– Peter Steinfels, "Irving Kristol, Standard-Bearer," a chapter in The Neoconservatives: The Men Who Are Changing America's Politics (New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1979).

Some Personal Reflections on Economic Well-Being and Income Distribution

– "Some Personal Reflections on Economic Well-Being and Income Distribution," in The American Economy in Transition, ed. Martin Feldstein (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980).
Excerpt: It is my understanding, from surveying various studies of trends in income distribution in the United States over the past three decades, that economists have found very little… More

The Goal

– “The Goal,” Encounter, March 1980.

Foundations and the Sin of Pride: The Myth of the Third Sector

– “Foundations and the Sin of Pride: The Myth of the Third Sector,” A speech before the Annual Conference of the Council on Foundations, May 30, 1980.
Excerpt: I want to make one final point, which is really my original point. Foundations came into existence originally to do all the things that needed to be done that the government did… More

Rationalism in Economics

– "Rationalism in Economics," The Public Interest, Special Issue 1980.
Excerpt: IT is widely conceded that something like a “crisis in economic theory” exists, but there is vehement disagreement about the extent and nature of this crisis. The more… More

William Baroody, Sr., Recipient of the 1980 Boyer Award

– “William Baroody, Sr., Recipient of the 1980 Boyer Award” (Remarks for a symposium), December 11, 1980.
Excerpt: It is a truth generally acknowledged that, the older one is, the less the likelihood of acquiring good and close friends. I count myself fortunate in having experienced some… More

Ideology and Supply-Side Economics

– "Ideology & Supply-Side Economics," Commentary, April 1981.
Excerpt: The terms being applied—by the media, by politicians, by economists—to President Reagan’s economic program, and most particularly to the tax-cutting aspect of this program,… More

A New Look at Capitalism

– “A New Look at Capitalism” (A symposium on Wealth and Poverty by George Gilder), National Review, April 17, 1981.

The Dubious Science

– “The Dubious Science,” The New Republic, June 6, 1983. (A review of Dangerous Currents: The State of Economics by Lester Thurow.)

Kristol’s Red Persuasion?

– Robert Lekachman, "Kristol's Red Persuasion?" The Nation, October 29, 1983. (A review of Reflections of a Neoconservative: Looking Back, Looking Ahead by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: In sum, at their worst these polemics are diatribes against the world supposedly made by liberals and those to the left of them. At their best, they convey much thoughtful, somber… More

The End of History?

– “The End of History?” (A symposium), The National Interest, Summer 1989.

On the Character of American Political Order

– “On the Character of American Political Order,” In The Promise of American Politics: Principles and Practice after Two Hundred Years, ed. Robert Utley (New York: University Press of America, 1989).

The Capitalist Future

– “The Capitalist Future,” Francis Boyer Lecture at the American Enterprise Institute, December 4, 1991.
Excerpt: This cultural nihilism will have, in the short term, only a limited political effect—short of a massive, enduring economic crisis. The reason it will not happen—this is still… More

A Man without Footnotes

– Nathan Glazer, "A Man without Footnotes," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Following Irving

– Norman Podhoretz, "Following Irving," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

The Common Man’s Uncommon Intellectual

– Michael S. Joyce, "The Common Man's Uncommon Intellectual," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

A Tribute to Irving Kristol

– William E. Simon, "A Tribute to Irving Kristol," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

A Third Cheer for Capitalism

– Irwin Stelzer, "A Third Cheer for Capitalism," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea

– New York: Free Press, 1995.
SECTION I 1. An Autobiographical Memoir   SECTION II: RACE, SEX, AND FAMILY 2. Welfare: The Best of Intentions, the Worst of Results 3. The Tragedy of “Multiculturalism” 4.… More

Godfather

– Wilfred M. McClay, "Godfather," Commentary, February 1996. (A review of Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: Perhaps, then, there is another sense in which Kristol deserves the appellation of “godfather.” Ever since the appearance of Mario Puzo’s book of that title, there has been a… More

Corporations and Management

– "Corporations and Management" (An introduction to an AEI lecture by Michael Novak), November 19, 1996.

Arguing the World

– "Arguing the World" (A documentary), written and directed by Joseph Dorman, January 7, 1998.

Arguing the World

– Arguing the World: The New York Intellectuals in Their Own Words, ed. Joseph Dorman (New York: Free Press, 2000). (Transcript of TV interviews from 1998.)

The Godfather, R.I.P.

– Myron Magnet, "The Godfather, R.I.P.," City Journal, September 18, 2009.
Excerpt: His own world-historically influential magazine, The Public Interest, bore Irving’s stamp of practicality and realism, indeed of realpolitik. It aimed, through its hard-headed… More

Three Cheers for Irving by David Brooks

– David Brooks, "Three Cheers for Irving," The New York Times, September 21, 2009.
Excerpt: Kristol championed capitalism and wrote brilliantly about Adam Smith. But like Smith, he could only give two cheers for capitalism, because the system of creative destruction has… More

Irving Kristol’s Gone–We’ll Miss His Clear Vision

– Irwin Stelzer, "Irving Kristol's Gone–We'll Miss His Clear Vision," Daily Telegraph, September 22, 2009.
Excerpt: Irving is best known as the godfather of neoconservatism, although his persuasive tools were not those of Tony Soprano or Marlon Brando’s Godfather-figures, but contained in… More

The Practical Liberal by Christopher DeMuth

– Christopher DeMuth, "The Practical Liberal," The American, September 22, 2009.
Excerpt: Irving was, from start to finish, a proponent of vigorous government within its proper sphere. He never passed up a chance to enter a dissent, serious or wisecracking, against… More

Irving Kristol’s Clear Thinking

– Jonah Goldberg, "Irving Kristol's Clear Thinking," Los Angeles Times, September 23, 2009.
Excerpt: Buckley said that the neocons’ greatest contribution to conservatism was “sociology.” The early National Review conservatism was more Aristotelian, Buckley observed, while… More

My Irving Kristol and Ours by Mary Eberstadt

– Mary Eberstadt, "My Irving Kristol and Ours," The Weekly Standard, October 5, 2009.
Excerpt: “More than anyone alive, perhaps, Irving Kristol can take the credit for reversing the direction of American political culture.” These words taken from the Nation a few… More

The Equilibrist

– Wilfred M. McClay, "The Equilibrist," National Review, October 19, 2009.
Excerpt: LUNCH with Irving Kristol was an experience to remember. I had the pleasure only three times, always in the excellent dining room atop the American Enterprise Institute, but I… More

The Interested Man

– Nathan Glazer, "The Interested Man," The New Republic, November 4, 2009.
Excerpt: I think back to these early days because it seems to me that Irving was all of a piece, almost from the beginning. No comment on his passing has failed to mention the young… More

The Problem of Doing Good: Irving Kristol’s Philanthropy

– William Schambra, Rachel Wildavsky, Leslie Lenkowsky, James Piereson, Roger Hertog, Amy Kass, Kim Dennis, Chester E. Finn Jr., Hillel Fradkin, and Adam Meyerson, "The Problem of Doing Good: Irving Kristol’s Philanthropy" (A panel discussion with four additional essays), December 15, 2009.

The Moral Realism of Irving Kristol by Eric Cohen

– Eric Cohen, "The Moral Realism of Irving Kristol," National Affairs, Winter 2010.
Excerpt: Neoconservatism was, as Kristol always described it, merely a “­persuasion” that tried to “imagine the world as it might be,” but also to “live and… More

Two Cheers for Philanthropy

– Leslie Lenkowsky, "Two Cheers for Philanthropy," Philanthropy, Winter 2010.
Excerpt: In philanthropy as in much else of American life, however, the 1960s challenged older patterns. For foundations, this meant that efforts to change public policy, empower… More

Irving Kristol’s Neoconservative Persuasion

– Gertrude Himmelfarb, "Irving Kristol's Neoconservative Persuasion," Commentary, February 2011.
Excerpt: Much has been made of the consistency of tone in his writings—bold and speculative but never dogmatic or academic, always personal, witty, ironic. That tone is not only a matter… More

The Neoconservative Persuasion

– Amy Kass, Charles Krauthammer, Irwin Stelzer, Leon Kass, and William Kristol, "The Neoconservative Persuasion" (A panel discussion), February 2, 2011.

Ideas Rule the World

– Franklin Foer, "Ideas Rule the World," The New Republic, March 17, 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: We are still living in the world of total ideological combat that Irving Kristol created (or re-created, since it was also the world into which he was born) in the course of… More

A Legacy of Temperament

– Roger Kimball, "A Legacy of Temperament," National Review, June 6, 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: An honest man, said the poet William Blake, may change his opinions, but not his principles. Irving Kristol, who died in September 2009 just shy of 90, embarked on intellectual… More

The Brooklyn Burkeans

– Jonathan Bronitsky, "The Brooklyn Burkeans," National Affairs, Winter 2014.
Excerpt: By the time Kristol and Himmelfarb moved back home to New York in 1958, they were entrenched in the classical-liberal tradition and, therefore, primed to react negatively to the… More

Irving Kristol’s Capitalism

– Audio recording, Tikvah Fund, July 16, 2014.
To understand Irving Kristol’s defense and critique of capitalism, National Affairs editor Yuval Levin breaks down Kristol’s 1970 essay “‘When virtue loses all her… More

Essays

The Rock of Eden

– “The Rock of Eden,” Encounter, June 1956.  (A review of The Dream of Success, by Kenneth S. Lynn, The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit, by Sloan Wilson, and The Exurbanites, by A. C. Spectorsky.)

The Essence of Capitalism

– “The Essence of Capitalism,” Encounter, November 1957. (A review of Polity and Economy by Joseph Cropsey.)

Our Boondoggling Democracy

– "Our Boondoggling Democracy," Commentary, August 1958.  (A review of The Affluent Society by John Kenneth Galbraith.)
Excerpt: The Affluent Society is by far the most serious critique of “welfare capitalism” that has been written in the post-Marxian era. (It is perhaps worth remarking that, though Mr.… More

Last of the Whigs

– "Last of the Whigs," Commentary, April 1960.  (A review of The Constitution of Liberty, by F.A. Hayek.)
Excerpt: Professor Friederich Hayek, who is usually thought of as a conservative and laisser-fairist, can be more accurately regarded (and clearly defines himself) as the last surviving… More

An Odd Lot

– “An Odd Lot,” Encounter, December 1960.

As Goes Demand, So Goes Invention

– “As Goes Demand, So Goes Invention,” Fortune, September 1967. (A review of Invention and Economic Growth by Jacob Schmookler.)

Men on the Move

– “Men on the Move,” Fortune, March 1968. (A review of American Occupational Structure by Otis Dudley Duncan.)

Ten Years in a Tunnel: Reflections on the 1930s

– “Ten Years in a Tunnel: Reflections on the 1930s,” in The Thirties: A Reconsideration in the Light of the American Political Tradition, ed. Morton J. Frisch and Martin Diamond (De Kalb, Ill.: Northern Illinois University Press, 1968).

The New Era of Innovation

– “The New Era of Innovation,” Fortune, February 1969. (A review of The Age of Discontinuity: Guidelines to Our Changing Society by Peter Drucker.)

“Capitalism” and “the Free Society”

– "'Capitalism' and 'the Free Society'," (a reply to John K. Jessup), The Public Interest, Winter 1971.
Excerpt: Now, there is only one rejoinder that someone like Jessup can make to this point. It is the libertarian answer given by Hayek and Friedman: what legitimates a “free… More

On the Democratic Idea in America

– New York: Harper, 1972.
1. Urban Civilization and its Discontents 2. The Shaking of the Foundations 3. Pornography, Obscenity, and the Case for Censorship 4. American Historians and the Democratic Idea 5. American… More

About Equality

– "About Equality," Commentary, November 1972.
Excerpt: So this, it appears to me, is what the controversy “about equality” is really about. We have an intelligentsia which so despises the ethos of bourgeois society, and which is so… More

Equality and Justice

– "Equality and Justice" (A reply to letters), Commentary, February 1973.
Excerpt: I still do believe that any society has to be governed by a principle of justice which legitimates particular inequalities, and that our own society is having trouble finding such… More

Capitalism, Socialism and Nihilism

– "Capitalism, Socialism and Nihilism," The Public Interest, Spring 1973.
Excerpt: WHENEVER and wherever defenders of “free enterprise,” “individual liberty,” and “a free society” assemble, these days, one senses a peculiar kind of nostalgia in the… More

Republican Virtue vs. Servile Institutions

– “Republican Virtue vs. Servile Institutions” delivered at and then reprinted by the Poynter Center at Indiana University, May 1974. (Reprinted in The Alternative, February 1975.)
Excerpt: This is a serious matter. For the American democracy today seems really to have no other purpose than to create more and more Scarsdales—to convert the entire nation into a… More

Taxes, Poverty, and Equality

– "Taxes, Poverty, and Equality," The Public Interest, Fall 1974.
Excerpt: Taxation, poverty, and equality are all and always proper subjects for concern and reformist action. But the first step toward effective reform is to disentangle these three… More

World Perspective

– “World Perspective” (Interview with Boardroom Reports), February 15, 1975.

On Corporate Capitalism in America

– "On Corporate Capitalism in America," The Public Interest, Fall 1975.
Excerpt: Whether for good or evil—and one can leave this for future historians to debate–the large corporation has gone “quasi-public,” i.e., it now straddles,… More

The High Cost of Equality

– “The High Cost of Equality,” Fortune, November 1975. (A review of Equality and Efficiency: The Big Tradeoff by Arthur Okun.)

Adam Smith and the Spirit of Capitalism

– “Adam Smith and the Spirit of Capitalism,” in The Great Ideas Today, ed. Robert Hutchins and Mortimer Adler (Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, 1976).

How Equal Can We Be?

– “How Equal Can We Be?” (An interview), Business and Society Review, Fall 1977.

Thoughts on Equality and Egalitarians

– “Thoughts on Equality and Egalitarians,” in Income Redistribution, ed. Colin D. Campbell (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute, 1977).

Two Cheers for Capitalism

– New York: Basic Books, March 1978.
PART ONE: The Enemy of Being is Having 1. Corporate Capitalism in America 2. Business and the “New Class” 3. Frustrations of Affluence 4. Ideology and Food 5. The… More

The Disaffection from Capitalism

– “The Disaffection from Capitalism,” in Capitalism and Socialism: A Theological Inquiry, ed. Michael Novak (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute, 1979).

The Spiritual Roots of Capitalism and Socialism

– “The Spiritual Roots of Capitalism and Socialism,” in Capitalism and Socialism: A Theological Inquiry, ed. Michael Novak (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute, 1979).

No Cheers for the Profit Motive

– “No Cheers for the Profit Motive,” Wall Street Journal, February 20, 1979.
Excerpt: It is, in my opinion, as absurd to praise the profit motive—i.e., economic action based on self-interest—as it is to condemn it. The human impulse to such action is, like… More

Waste of Time

– ''Waste of Time” (A contribution to a symposium), Business and Society Review, Summer 1979.

Irving Kristol, Standard-Bearer

– Peter Steinfels, "Irving Kristol, Standard-Bearer," a chapter in The Neoconservatives: The Men Who Are Changing America's Politics (New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1979).

Some Personal Reflections on Economic Well-Being and Income Distribution

– "Some Personal Reflections on Economic Well-Being and Income Distribution," in The American Economy in Transition, ed. Martin Feldstein (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980).
Excerpt: It is my understanding, from surveying various studies of trends in income distribution in the United States over the past three decades, that economists have found very little… More

The Goal

– “The Goal,” Encounter, March 1980.

Foundations and the Sin of Pride: The Myth of the Third Sector

– “Foundations and the Sin of Pride: The Myth of the Third Sector,” A speech before the Annual Conference of the Council on Foundations, May 30, 1980.
Excerpt: I want to make one final point, which is really my original point. Foundations came into existence originally to do all the things that needed to be done that the government did… More

Rationalism in Economics

– "Rationalism in Economics," The Public Interest, Special Issue 1980.
Excerpt: IT is widely conceded that something like a “crisis in economic theory” exists, but there is vehement disagreement about the extent and nature of this crisis. The more… More

William Baroody, Sr., Recipient of the 1980 Boyer Award

– “William Baroody, Sr., Recipient of the 1980 Boyer Award” (Remarks for a symposium), December 11, 1980.
Excerpt: It is a truth generally acknowledged that, the older one is, the less the likelihood of acquiring good and close friends. I count myself fortunate in having experienced some… More

Ideology and Supply-Side Economics

– "Ideology & Supply-Side Economics," Commentary, April 1981.
Excerpt: The terms being applied—by the media, by politicians, by economists—to President Reagan’s economic program, and most particularly to the tax-cutting aspect of this program,… More

A New Look at Capitalism

– “A New Look at Capitalism” (A symposium on Wealth and Poverty by George Gilder), National Review, April 17, 1981.

The Dubious Science

– “The Dubious Science,” The New Republic, June 6, 1983. (A review of Dangerous Currents: The State of Economics by Lester Thurow.)

Kristol’s Red Persuasion?

– Robert Lekachman, "Kristol's Red Persuasion?" The Nation, October 29, 1983. (A review of Reflections of a Neoconservative: Looking Back, Looking Ahead by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: In sum, at their worst these polemics are diatribes against the world supposedly made by liberals and those to the left of them. At their best, they convey much thoughtful, somber… More

The End of History?

– “The End of History?” (A symposium), The National Interest, Summer 1989.

On the Character of American Political Order

– “On the Character of American Political Order,” In The Promise of American Politics: Principles and Practice after Two Hundred Years, ed. Robert Utley (New York: University Press of America, 1989).

The Capitalist Future

– “The Capitalist Future,” Francis Boyer Lecture at the American Enterprise Institute, December 4, 1991.
Excerpt: This cultural nihilism will have, in the short term, only a limited political effect—short of a massive, enduring economic crisis. The reason it will not happen—this is still… More

A Man without Footnotes

– Nathan Glazer, "A Man without Footnotes," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Following Irving

– Norman Podhoretz, "Following Irving," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

The Common Man’s Uncommon Intellectual

– Michael S. Joyce, "The Common Man's Uncommon Intellectual," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

A Tribute to Irving Kristol

– William E. Simon, "A Tribute to Irving Kristol," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

A Third Cheer for Capitalism

– Irwin Stelzer, "A Third Cheer for Capitalism," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea

– New York: Free Press, 1995.
SECTION I 1. An Autobiographical Memoir   SECTION II: RACE, SEX, AND FAMILY 2. Welfare: The Best of Intentions, the Worst of Results 3. The Tragedy of “Multiculturalism” 4.… More

Godfather

– Wilfred M. McClay, "Godfather," Commentary, February 1996. (A review of Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: Perhaps, then, there is another sense in which Kristol deserves the appellation of “godfather.” Ever since the appearance of Mario Puzo’s book of that title, there has been a… More

Corporations and Management

– "Corporations and Management" (An introduction to an AEI lecture by Michael Novak), November 19, 1996.

Arguing the World

– "Arguing the World" (A documentary), written and directed by Joseph Dorman, January 7, 1998.

Arguing the World

– Arguing the World: The New York Intellectuals in Their Own Words, ed. Joseph Dorman (New York: Free Press, 2000). (Transcript of TV interviews from 1998.)

The Godfather, R.I.P.

– Myron Magnet, "The Godfather, R.I.P.," City Journal, September 18, 2009.
Excerpt: His own world-historically influential magazine, The Public Interest, bore Irving’s stamp of practicality and realism, indeed of realpolitik. It aimed, through its hard-headed… More

Three Cheers for Irving by David Brooks

– David Brooks, "Three Cheers for Irving," The New York Times, September 21, 2009.
Excerpt: Kristol championed capitalism and wrote brilliantly about Adam Smith. But like Smith, he could only give two cheers for capitalism, because the system of creative destruction has… More

Irving Kristol’s Gone–We’ll Miss His Clear Vision

– Irwin Stelzer, "Irving Kristol's Gone–We'll Miss His Clear Vision," Daily Telegraph, September 22, 2009.
Excerpt: Irving is best known as the godfather of neoconservatism, although his persuasive tools were not those of Tony Soprano or Marlon Brando’s Godfather-figures, but contained in… More

The Practical Liberal by Christopher DeMuth

– Christopher DeMuth, "The Practical Liberal," The American, September 22, 2009.
Excerpt: Irving was, from start to finish, a proponent of vigorous government within its proper sphere. He never passed up a chance to enter a dissent, serious or wisecracking, against… More

Irving Kristol’s Clear Thinking

– Jonah Goldberg, "Irving Kristol's Clear Thinking," Los Angeles Times, September 23, 2009.
Excerpt: Buckley said that the neocons’ greatest contribution to conservatism was “sociology.” The early National Review conservatism was more Aristotelian, Buckley observed, while… More

My Irving Kristol and Ours by Mary Eberstadt

– Mary Eberstadt, "My Irving Kristol and Ours," The Weekly Standard, October 5, 2009.
Excerpt: “More than anyone alive, perhaps, Irving Kristol can take the credit for reversing the direction of American political culture.” These words taken from the Nation a few… More

The Equilibrist

– Wilfred M. McClay, "The Equilibrist," National Review, October 19, 2009.
Excerpt: LUNCH with Irving Kristol was an experience to remember. I had the pleasure only three times, always in the excellent dining room atop the American Enterprise Institute, but I… More

The Interested Man

– Nathan Glazer, "The Interested Man," The New Republic, November 4, 2009.
Excerpt: I think back to these early days because it seems to me that Irving was all of a piece, almost from the beginning. No comment on his passing has failed to mention the young… More

The Problem of Doing Good: Irving Kristol’s Philanthropy

– William Schambra, Rachel Wildavsky, Leslie Lenkowsky, James Piereson, Roger Hertog, Amy Kass, Kim Dennis, Chester E. Finn Jr., Hillel Fradkin, and Adam Meyerson, "The Problem of Doing Good: Irving Kristol’s Philanthropy" (A panel discussion with four additional essays), December 15, 2009.

The Moral Realism of Irving Kristol by Eric Cohen

– Eric Cohen, "The Moral Realism of Irving Kristol," National Affairs, Winter 2010.
Excerpt: Neoconservatism was, as Kristol always described it, merely a “­persuasion” that tried to “imagine the world as it might be,” but also to “live and… More

Two Cheers for Philanthropy

– Leslie Lenkowsky, "Two Cheers for Philanthropy," Philanthropy, Winter 2010.
Excerpt: In philanthropy as in much else of American life, however, the 1960s challenged older patterns. For foundations, this meant that efforts to change public policy, empower… More

Irving Kristol’s Neoconservative Persuasion

– Gertrude Himmelfarb, "Irving Kristol's Neoconservative Persuasion," Commentary, February 2011.
Excerpt: Much has been made of the consistency of tone in his writings—bold and speculative but never dogmatic or academic, always personal, witty, ironic. That tone is not only a matter… More

The Neoconservative Persuasion

– Amy Kass, Charles Krauthammer, Irwin Stelzer, Leon Kass, and William Kristol, "The Neoconservative Persuasion" (A panel discussion), February 2, 2011.

Ideas Rule the World

– Franklin Foer, "Ideas Rule the World," The New Republic, March 17, 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: We are still living in the world of total ideological combat that Irving Kristol created (or re-created, since it was also the world into which he was born) in the course of… More

A Legacy of Temperament

– Roger Kimball, "A Legacy of Temperament," National Review, June 6, 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: An honest man, said the poet William Blake, may change his opinions, but not his principles. Irving Kristol, who died in September 2009 just shy of 90, embarked on intellectual… More

The Brooklyn Burkeans

– Jonathan Bronitsky, "The Brooklyn Burkeans," National Affairs, Winter 2014.
Excerpt: By the time Kristol and Himmelfarb moved back home to New York in 1958, they were entrenched in the classical-liberal tradition and, therefore, primed to react negatively to the… More

Irving Kristol’s Capitalism

– Audio recording, Tikvah Fund, July 16, 2014.
To understand Irving Kristol’s defense and critique of capitalism, National Affairs editor Yuval Levin breaks down Kristol’s 1970 essay “‘When virtue loses all her… More

Commentary

The Rock of Eden

– “The Rock of Eden,” Encounter, June 1956.  (A review of The Dream of Success, by Kenneth S. Lynn, The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit, by Sloan Wilson, and The Exurbanites, by A. C. Spectorsky.)

The Essence of Capitalism

– “The Essence of Capitalism,” Encounter, November 1957. (A review of Polity and Economy by Joseph Cropsey.)

Our Boondoggling Democracy

– "Our Boondoggling Democracy," Commentary, August 1958.  (A review of The Affluent Society by John Kenneth Galbraith.)
Excerpt: The Affluent Society is by far the most serious critique of “welfare capitalism” that has been written in the post-Marxian era. (It is perhaps worth remarking that, though Mr.… More

Last of the Whigs

– "Last of the Whigs," Commentary, April 1960.  (A review of The Constitution of Liberty, by F.A. Hayek.)
Excerpt: Professor Friederich Hayek, who is usually thought of as a conservative and laisser-fairist, can be more accurately regarded (and clearly defines himself) as the last surviving… More

An Odd Lot

– “An Odd Lot,” Encounter, December 1960.

As Goes Demand, So Goes Invention

– “As Goes Demand, So Goes Invention,” Fortune, September 1967. (A review of Invention and Economic Growth by Jacob Schmookler.)

Men on the Move

– “Men on the Move,” Fortune, March 1968. (A review of American Occupational Structure by Otis Dudley Duncan.)

Ten Years in a Tunnel: Reflections on the 1930s

– “Ten Years in a Tunnel: Reflections on the 1930s,” in The Thirties: A Reconsideration in the Light of the American Political Tradition, ed. Morton J. Frisch and Martin Diamond (De Kalb, Ill.: Northern Illinois University Press, 1968).

The New Era of Innovation

– “The New Era of Innovation,” Fortune, February 1969. (A review of The Age of Discontinuity: Guidelines to Our Changing Society by Peter Drucker.)

“Capitalism” and “the Free Society”

– "'Capitalism' and 'the Free Society'," (a reply to John K. Jessup), The Public Interest, Winter 1971.
Excerpt: Now, there is only one rejoinder that someone like Jessup can make to this point. It is the libertarian answer given by Hayek and Friedman: what legitimates a “free… More

On the Democratic Idea in America

– New York: Harper, 1972.
1. Urban Civilization and its Discontents 2. The Shaking of the Foundations 3. Pornography, Obscenity, and the Case for Censorship 4. American Historians and the Democratic Idea 5. American… More

About Equality

– "About Equality," Commentary, November 1972.
Excerpt: So this, it appears to me, is what the controversy “about equality” is really about. We have an intelligentsia which so despises the ethos of bourgeois society, and which is so… More

Equality and Justice

– "Equality and Justice" (A reply to letters), Commentary, February 1973.
Excerpt: I still do believe that any society has to be governed by a principle of justice which legitimates particular inequalities, and that our own society is having trouble finding such… More

Capitalism, Socialism and Nihilism

– "Capitalism, Socialism and Nihilism," The Public Interest, Spring 1973.
Excerpt: WHENEVER and wherever defenders of “free enterprise,” “individual liberty,” and “a free society” assemble, these days, one senses a peculiar kind of nostalgia in the… More

Republican Virtue vs. Servile Institutions

– “Republican Virtue vs. Servile Institutions” delivered at and then reprinted by the Poynter Center at Indiana University, May 1974. (Reprinted in The Alternative, February 1975.)
Excerpt: This is a serious matter. For the American democracy today seems really to have no other purpose than to create more and more Scarsdales—to convert the entire nation into a… More

Taxes, Poverty, and Equality

– "Taxes, Poverty, and Equality," The Public Interest, Fall 1974.
Excerpt: Taxation, poverty, and equality are all and always proper subjects for concern and reformist action. But the first step toward effective reform is to disentangle these three… More

World Perspective

– “World Perspective” (Interview with Boardroom Reports), February 15, 1975.

On Corporate Capitalism in America

– "On Corporate Capitalism in America," The Public Interest, Fall 1975.
Excerpt: Whether for good or evil—and one can leave this for future historians to debate–the large corporation has gone “quasi-public,” i.e., it now straddles,… More

The High Cost of Equality

– “The High Cost of Equality,” Fortune, November 1975. (A review of Equality and Efficiency: The Big Tradeoff by Arthur Okun.)

Adam Smith and the Spirit of Capitalism

– “Adam Smith and the Spirit of Capitalism,” in The Great Ideas Today, ed. Robert Hutchins and Mortimer Adler (Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, 1976).

How Equal Can We Be?

– “How Equal Can We Be?” (An interview), Business and Society Review, Fall 1977.

Thoughts on Equality and Egalitarians

– “Thoughts on Equality and Egalitarians,” in Income Redistribution, ed. Colin D. Campbell (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute, 1977).

Two Cheers for Capitalism

– New York: Basic Books, March 1978.
PART ONE: The Enemy of Being is Having 1. Corporate Capitalism in America 2. Business and the “New Class” 3. Frustrations of Affluence 4. Ideology and Food 5. The… More

The Disaffection from Capitalism

– “The Disaffection from Capitalism,” in Capitalism and Socialism: A Theological Inquiry, ed. Michael Novak (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute, 1979).

The Spiritual Roots of Capitalism and Socialism

– “The Spiritual Roots of Capitalism and Socialism,” in Capitalism and Socialism: A Theological Inquiry, ed. Michael Novak (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute, 1979).

No Cheers for the Profit Motive

– “No Cheers for the Profit Motive,” Wall Street Journal, February 20, 1979.
Excerpt: It is, in my opinion, as absurd to praise the profit motive—i.e., economic action based on self-interest—as it is to condemn it. The human impulse to such action is, like… More

Waste of Time

– ''Waste of Time” (A contribution to a symposium), Business and Society Review, Summer 1979.

Irving Kristol, Standard-Bearer

– Peter Steinfels, "Irving Kristol, Standard-Bearer," a chapter in The Neoconservatives: The Men Who Are Changing America's Politics (New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1979).

Some Personal Reflections on Economic Well-Being and Income Distribution

– "Some Personal Reflections on Economic Well-Being and Income Distribution," in The American Economy in Transition, ed. Martin Feldstein (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980).
Excerpt: It is my understanding, from surveying various studies of trends in income distribution in the United States over the past three decades, that economists have found very little… More

The Goal

– “The Goal,” Encounter, March 1980.

Foundations and the Sin of Pride: The Myth of the Third Sector

– “Foundations and the Sin of Pride: The Myth of the Third Sector,” A speech before the Annual Conference of the Council on Foundations, May 30, 1980.
Excerpt: I want to make one final point, which is really my original point. Foundations came into existence originally to do all the things that needed to be done that the government did… More

Rationalism in Economics

– "Rationalism in Economics," The Public Interest, Special Issue 1980.
Excerpt: IT is widely conceded that something like a “crisis in economic theory” exists, but there is vehement disagreement about the extent and nature of this crisis. The more… More

William Baroody, Sr., Recipient of the 1980 Boyer Award

– “William Baroody, Sr., Recipient of the 1980 Boyer Award” (Remarks for a symposium), December 11, 1980.
Excerpt: It is a truth generally acknowledged that, the older one is, the less the likelihood of acquiring good and close friends. I count myself fortunate in having experienced some… More

Ideology and Supply-Side Economics

– "Ideology & Supply-Side Economics," Commentary, April 1981.
Excerpt: The terms being applied—by the media, by politicians, by economists—to President Reagan’s economic program, and most particularly to the tax-cutting aspect of this program,… More

A New Look at Capitalism

– “A New Look at Capitalism” (A symposium on Wealth and Poverty by George Gilder), National Review, April 17, 1981.

The Dubious Science

– “The Dubious Science,” The New Republic, June 6, 1983. (A review of Dangerous Currents: The State of Economics by Lester Thurow.)

Kristol’s Red Persuasion?

– Robert Lekachman, "Kristol's Red Persuasion?" The Nation, October 29, 1983. (A review of Reflections of a Neoconservative: Looking Back, Looking Ahead by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: In sum, at their worst these polemics are diatribes against the world supposedly made by liberals and those to the left of them. At their best, they convey much thoughtful, somber… More

The End of History?

– “The End of History?” (A symposium), The National Interest, Summer 1989.

On the Character of American Political Order

– “On the Character of American Political Order,” In The Promise of American Politics: Principles and Practice after Two Hundred Years, ed. Robert Utley (New York: University Press of America, 1989).

The Capitalist Future

– “The Capitalist Future,” Francis Boyer Lecture at the American Enterprise Institute, December 4, 1991.
Excerpt: This cultural nihilism will have, in the short term, only a limited political effect—short of a massive, enduring economic crisis. The reason it will not happen—this is still… More

A Man without Footnotes

– Nathan Glazer, "A Man without Footnotes," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Following Irving

– Norman Podhoretz, "Following Irving," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

The Common Man’s Uncommon Intellectual

– Michael S. Joyce, "The Common Man's Uncommon Intellectual," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

A Tribute to Irving Kristol

– William E. Simon, "A Tribute to Irving Kristol," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

A Third Cheer for Capitalism

– Irwin Stelzer, "A Third Cheer for Capitalism," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea

– New York: Free Press, 1995.
SECTION I 1. An Autobiographical Memoir   SECTION II: RACE, SEX, AND FAMILY 2. Welfare: The Best of Intentions, the Worst of Results 3. The Tragedy of “Multiculturalism” 4.… More

Godfather

– Wilfred M. McClay, "Godfather," Commentary, February 1996. (A review of Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: Perhaps, then, there is another sense in which Kristol deserves the appellation of “godfather.” Ever since the appearance of Mario Puzo’s book of that title, there has been a… More

Corporations and Management

– "Corporations and Management" (An introduction to an AEI lecture by Michael Novak), November 19, 1996.

Arguing the World

– "Arguing the World" (A documentary), written and directed by Joseph Dorman, January 7, 1998.

Arguing the World

– Arguing the World: The New York Intellectuals in Their Own Words, ed. Joseph Dorman (New York: Free Press, 2000). (Transcript of TV interviews from 1998.)

The Godfather, R.I.P.

– Myron Magnet, "The Godfather, R.I.P.," City Journal, September 18, 2009.
Excerpt: His own world-historically influential magazine, The Public Interest, bore Irving’s stamp of practicality and realism, indeed of realpolitik. It aimed, through its hard-headed… More

Three Cheers for Irving by David Brooks

– David Brooks, "Three Cheers for Irving," The New York Times, September 21, 2009.
Excerpt: Kristol championed capitalism and wrote brilliantly about Adam Smith. But like Smith, he could only give two cheers for capitalism, because the system of creative destruction has… More

Irving Kristol’s Gone–We’ll Miss His Clear Vision

– Irwin Stelzer, "Irving Kristol's Gone–We'll Miss His Clear Vision," Daily Telegraph, September 22, 2009.
Excerpt: Irving is best known as the godfather of neoconservatism, although his persuasive tools were not those of Tony Soprano or Marlon Brando’s Godfather-figures, but contained in… More

The Practical Liberal by Christopher DeMuth

– Christopher DeMuth, "The Practical Liberal," The American, September 22, 2009.
Excerpt: Irving was, from start to finish, a proponent of vigorous government within its proper sphere. He never passed up a chance to enter a dissent, serious or wisecracking, against… More

Irving Kristol’s Clear Thinking

– Jonah Goldberg, "Irving Kristol's Clear Thinking," Los Angeles Times, September 23, 2009.
Excerpt: Buckley said that the neocons’ greatest contribution to conservatism was “sociology.” The early National Review conservatism was more Aristotelian, Buckley observed, while… More

My Irving Kristol and Ours by Mary Eberstadt

– Mary Eberstadt, "My Irving Kristol and Ours," The Weekly Standard, October 5, 2009.
Excerpt: “More than anyone alive, perhaps, Irving Kristol can take the credit for reversing the direction of American political culture.” These words taken from the Nation a few… More

The Equilibrist

– Wilfred M. McClay, "The Equilibrist," National Review, October 19, 2009.
Excerpt: LUNCH with Irving Kristol was an experience to remember. I had the pleasure only three times, always in the excellent dining room atop the American Enterprise Institute, but I… More

The Interested Man

– Nathan Glazer, "The Interested Man," The New Republic, November 4, 2009.
Excerpt: I think back to these early days because it seems to me that Irving was all of a piece, almost from the beginning. No comment on his passing has failed to mention the young… More

The Problem of Doing Good: Irving Kristol’s Philanthropy

– William Schambra, Rachel Wildavsky, Leslie Lenkowsky, James Piereson, Roger Hertog, Amy Kass, Kim Dennis, Chester E. Finn Jr., Hillel Fradkin, and Adam Meyerson, "The Problem of Doing Good: Irving Kristol’s Philanthropy" (A panel discussion with four additional essays), December 15, 2009.

The Moral Realism of Irving Kristol by Eric Cohen

– Eric Cohen, "The Moral Realism of Irving Kristol," National Affairs, Winter 2010.
Excerpt: Neoconservatism was, as Kristol always described it, merely a “­persuasion” that tried to “imagine the world as it might be,” but also to “live and… More

Two Cheers for Philanthropy

– Leslie Lenkowsky, "Two Cheers for Philanthropy," Philanthropy, Winter 2010.
Excerpt: In philanthropy as in much else of American life, however, the 1960s challenged older patterns. For foundations, this meant that efforts to change public policy, empower… More

Irving Kristol’s Neoconservative Persuasion

– Gertrude Himmelfarb, "Irving Kristol's Neoconservative Persuasion," Commentary, February 2011.
Excerpt: Much has been made of the consistency of tone in his writings—bold and speculative but never dogmatic or academic, always personal, witty, ironic. That tone is not only a matter… More

The Neoconservative Persuasion

– Amy Kass, Charles Krauthammer, Irwin Stelzer, Leon Kass, and William Kristol, "The Neoconservative Persuasion" (A panel discussion), February 2, 2011.

Ideas Rule the World

– Franklin Foer, "Ideas Rule the World," The New Republic, March 17, 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: We are still living in the world of total ideological combat that Irving Kristol created (or re-created, since it was also the world into which he was born) in the course of… More

A Legacy of Temperament

– Roger Kimball, "A Legacy of Temperament," National Review, June 6, 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: An honest man, said the poet William Blake, may change his opinions, but not his principles. Irving Kristol, who died in September 2009 just shy of 90, embarked on intellectual… More

The Brooklyn Burkeans

– Jonathan Bronitsky, "The Brooklyn Burkeans," National Affairs, Winter 2014.
Excerpt: By the time Kristol and Himmelfarb moved back home to New York in 1958, they were entrenched in the classical-liberal tradition and, therefore, primed to react negatively to the… More

Irving Kristol’s Capitalism

– Audio recording, Tikvah Fund, July 16, 2014.
To understand Irving Kristol’s defense and critique of capitalism, National Affairs editor Yuval Levin breaks down Kristol’s 1970 essay “‘When virtue loses all her… More

Multimedia

The Rock of Eden

– “The Rock of Eden,” Encounter, June 1956.  (A review of The Dream of Success, by Kenneth S. Lynn, The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit, by Sloan Wilson, and The Exurbanites, by A. C. Spectorsky.)

The Essence of Capitalism

– “The Essence of Capitalism,” Encounter, November 1957. (A review of Polity and Economy by Joseph Cropsey.)

Our Boondoggling Democracy

– "Our Boondoggling Democracy," Commentary, August 1958.  (A review of The Affluent Society by John Kenneth Galbraith.)
Excerpt: The Affluent Society is by far the most serious critique of “welfare capitalism” that has been written in the post-Marxian era. (It is perhaps worth remarking that, though Mr.… More

Last of the Whigs

– "Last of the Whigs," Commentary, April 1960.  (A review of The Constitution of Liberty, by F.A. Hayek.)
Excerpt: Professor Friederich Hayek, who is usually thought of as a conservative and laisser-fairist, can be more accurately regarded (and clearly defines himself) as the last surviving… More

An Odd Lot

– “An Odd Lot,” Encounter, December 1960.

As Goes Demand, So Goes Invention

– “As Goes Demand, So Goes Invention,” Fortune, September 1967. (A review of Invention and Economic Growth by Jacob Schmookler.)

Men on the Move

– “Men on the Move,” Fortune, March 1968. (A review of American Occupational Structure by Otis Dudley Duncan.)

Ten Years in a Tunnel: Reflections on the 1930s

– “Ten Years in a Tunnel: Reflections on the 1930s,” in The Thirties: A Reconsideration in the Light of the American Political Tradition, ed. Morton J. Frisch and Martin Diamond (De Kalb, Ill.: Northern Illinois University Press, 1968).

The New Era of Innovation

– “The New Era of Innovation,” Fortune, February 1969. (A review of The Age of Discontinuity: Guidelines to Our Changing Society by Peter Drucker.)

“Capitalism” and “the Free Society”

– "'Capitalism' and 'the Free Society'," (a reply to John K. Jessup), The Public Interest, Winter 1971.
Excerpt: Now, there is only one rejoinder that someone like Jessup can make to this point. It is the libertarian answer given by Hayek and Friedman: what legitimates a “free… More

On the Democratic Idea in America

– New York: Harper, 1972.
1. Urban Civilization and its Discontents 2. The Shaking of the Foundations 3. Pornography, Obscenity, and the Case for Censorship 4. American Historians and the Democratic Idea 5. American… More

About Equality

– "About Equality," Commentary, November 1972.
Excerpt: So this, it appears to me, is what the controversy “about equality” is really about. We have an intelligentsia which so despises the ethos of bourgeois society, and which is so… More

Equality and Justice

– "Equality and Justice" (A reply to letters), Commentary, February 1973.
Excerpt: I still do believe that any society has to be governed by a principle of justice which legitimates particular inequalities, and that our own society is having trouble finding such… More

Capitalism, Socialism and Nihilism

– "Capitalism, Socialism and Nihilism," The Public Interest, Spring 1973.
Excerpt: WHENEVER and wherever defenders of “free enterprise,” “individual liberty,” and “a free society” assemble, these days, one senses a peculiar kind of nostalgia in the… More

Republican Virtue vs. Servile Institutions

– “Republican Virtue vs. Servile Institutions” delivered at and then reprinted by the Poynter Center at Indiana University, May 1974. (Reprinted in The Alternative, February 1975.)
Excerpt: This is a serious matter. For the American democracy today seems really to have no other purpose than to create more and more Scarsdales—to convert the entire nation into a… More

Taxes, Poverty, and Equality

– "Taxes, Poverty, and Equality," The Public Interest, Fall 1974.
Excerpt: Taxation, poverty, and equality are all and always proper subjects for concern and reformist action. But the first step toward effective reform is to disentangle these three… More

World Perspective

– “World Perspective” (Interview with Boardroom Reports), February 15, 1975.

On Corporate Capitalism in America

– "On Corporate Capitalism in America," The Public Interest, Fall 1975.
Excerpt: Whether for good or evil—and one can leave this for future historians to debate–the large corporation has gone “quasi-public,” i.e., it now straddles,… More

The High Cost of Equality

– “The High Cost of Equality,” Fortune, November 1975. (A review of Equality and Efficiency: The Big Tradeoff by Arthur Okun.)

Adam Smith and the Spirit of Capitalism

– “Adam Smith and the Spirit of Capitalism,” in The Great Ideas Today, ed. Robert Hutchins and Mortimer Adler (Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, 1976).

How Equal Can We Be?

– “How Equal Can We Be?” (An interview), Business and Society Review, Fall 1977.

Thoughts on Equality and Egalitarians

– “Thoughts on Equality and Egalitarians,” in Income Redistribution, ed. Colin D. Campbell (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute, 1977).

Two Cheers for Capitalism

– New York: Basic Books, March 1978.
PART ONE: The Enemy of Being is Having 1. Corporate Capitalism in America 2. Business and the “New Class” 3. Frustrations of Affluence 4. Ideology and Food 5. The… More

The Disaffection from Capitalism

– “The Disaffection from Capitalism,” in Capitalism and Socialism: A Theological Inquiry, ed. Michael Novak (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute, 1979).

The Spiritual Roots of Capitalism and Socialism

– “The Spiritual Roots of Capitalism and Socialism,” in Capitalism and Socialism: A Theological Inquiry, ed. Michael Novak (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute, 1979).

No Cheers for the Profit Motive

– “No Cheers for the Profit Motive,” Wall Street Journal, February 20, 1979.
Excerpt: It is, in my opinion, as absurd to praise the profit motive—i.e., economic action based on self-interest—as it is to condemn it. The human impulse to such action is, like… More

Waste of Time

– ''Waste of Time” (A contribution to a symposium), Business and Society Review, Summer 1979.

Irving Kristol, Standard-Bearer

– Peter Steinfels, "Irving Kristol, Standard-Bearer," a chapter in The Neoconservatives: The Men Who Are Changing America's Politics (New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1979).

Some Personal Reflections on Economic Well-Being and Income Distribution

– "Some Personal Reflections on Economic Well-Being and Income Distribution," in The American Economy in Transition, ed. Martin Feldstein (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980).
Excerpt: It is my understanding, from surveying various studies of trends in income distribution in the United States over the past three decades, that economists have found very little… More

The Goal

– “The Goal,” Encounter, March 1980.

Foundations and the Sin of Pride: The Myth of the Third Sector

– “Foundations and the Sin of Pride: The Myth of the Third Sector,” A speech before the Annual Conference of the Council on Foundations, May 30, 1980.
Excerpt: I want to make one final point, which is really my original point. Foundations came into existence originally to do all the things that needed to be done that the government did… More

Rationalism in Economics

– "Rationalism in Economics," The Public Interest, Special Issue 1980.
Excerpt: IT is widely conceded that something like a “crisis in economic theory” exists, but there is vehement disagreement about the extent and nature of this crisis. The more… More

William Baroody, Sr., Recipient of the 1980 Boyer Award

– “William Baroody, Sr., Recipient of the 1980 Boyer Award” (Remarks for a symposium), December 11, 1980.
Excerpt: It is a truth generally acknowledged that, the older one is, the less the likelihood of acquiring good and close friends. I count myself fortunate in having experienced some… More

Ideology and Supply-Side Economics

– "Ideology & Supply-Side Economics," Commentary, April 1981.
Excerpt: The terms being applied—by the media, by politicians, by economists—to President Reagan’s economic program, and most particularly to the tax-cutting aspect of this program,… More

A New Look at Capitalism

– “A New Look at Capitalism” (A symposium on Wealth and Poverty by George Gilder), National Review, April 17, 1981.

The Dubious Science

– “The Dubious Science,” The New Republic, June 6, 1983. (A review of Dangerous Currents: The State of Economics by Lester Thurow.)

Kristol’s Red Persuasion?

– Robert Lekachman, "Kristol's Red Persuasion?" The Nation, October 29, 1983. (A review of Reflections of a Neoconservative: Looking Back, Looking Ahead by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: In sum, at their worst these polemics are diatribes against the world supposedly made by liberals and those to the left of them. At their best, they convey much thoughtful, somber… More

The End of History?

– “The End of History?” (A symposium), The National Interest, Summer 1989.

On the Character of American Political Order

– “On the Character of American Political Order,” In The Promise of American Politics: Principles and Practice after Two Hundred Years, ed. Robert Utley (New York: University Press of America, 1989).

The Capitalist Future

– “The Capitalist Future,” Francis Boyer Lecture at the American Enterprise Institute, December 4, 1991.
Excerpt: This cultural nihilism will have, in the short term, only a limited political effect—short of a massive, enduring economic crisis. The reason it will not happen—this is still… More

A Man without Footnotes

– Nathan Glazer, "A Man without Footnotes," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Following Irving

– Norman Podhoretz, "Following Irving," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

The Common Man’s Uncommon Intellectual

– Michael S. Joyce, "The Common Man's Uncommon Intellectual," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

A Tribute to Irving Kristol

– William E. Simon, "A Tribute to Irving Kristol," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

A Third Cheer for Capitalism

– Irwin Stelzer, "A Third Cheer for Capitalism," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea

– New York: Free Press, 1995.
SECTION I 1. An Autobiographical Memoir   SECTION II: RACE, SEX, AND FAMILY 2. Welfare: The Best of Intentions, the Worst of Results 3. The Tragedy of “Multiculturalism” 4.… More

Godfather

– Wilfred M. McClay, "Godfather," Commentary, February 1996. (A review of Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: Perhaps, then, there is another sense in which Kristol deserves the appellation of “godfather.” Ever since the appearance of Mario Puzo’s book of that title, there has been a… More

Corporations and Management

– "Corporations and Management" (An introduction to an AEI lecture by Michael Novak), November 19, 1996.

Arguing the World

– "Arguing the World" (A documentary), written and directed by Joseph Dorman, January 7, 1998.

Arguing the World

– Arguing the World: The New York Intellectuals in Their Own Words, ed. Joseph Dorman (New York: Free Press, 2000). (Transcript of TV interviews from 1998.)

The Godfather, R.I.P.

– Myron Magnet, "The Godfather, R.I.P.," City Journal, September 18, 2009.
Excerpt: His own world-historically influential magazine, The Public Interest, bore Irving’s stamp of practicality and realism, indeed of realpolitik. It aimed, through its hard-headed… More

Three Cheers for Irving by David Brooks

– David Brooks, "Three Cheers for Irving," The New York Times, September 21, 2009.
Excerpt: Kristol championed capitalism and wrote brilliantly about Adam Smith. But like Smith, he could only give two cheers for capitalism, because the system of creative destruction has… More

Irving Kristol’s Gone–We’ll Miss His Clear Vision

– Irwin Stelzer, "Irving Kristol's Gone–We'll Miss His Clear Vision," Daily Telegraph, September 22, 2009.
Excerpt: Irving is best known as the godfather of neoconservatism, although his persuasive tools were not those of Tony Soprano or Marlon Brando’s Godfather-figures, but contained in… More

The Practical Liberal by Christopher DeMuth

– Christopher DeMuth, "The Practical Liberal," The American, September 22, 2009.
Excerpt: Irving was, from start to finish, a proponent of vigorous government within its proper sphere. He never passed up a chance to enter a dissent, serious or wisecracking, against… More

Irving Kristol’s Clear Thinking

– Jonah Goldberg, "Irving Kristol's Clear Thinking," Los Angeles Times, September 23, 2009.
Excerpt: Buckley said that the neocons’ greatest contribution to conservatism was “sociology.” The early National Review conservatism was more Aristotelian, Buckley observed, while… More

My Irving Kristol and Ours by Mary Eberstadt

– Mary Eberstadt, "My Irving Kristol and Ours," The Weekly Standard, October 5, 2009.
Excerpt: “More than anyone alive, perhaps, Irving Kristol can take the credit for reversing the direction of American political culture.” These words taken from the Nation a few… More

The Equilibrist

– Wilfred M. McClay, "The Equilibrist," National Review, October 19, 2009.
Excerpt: LUNCH with Irving Kristol was an experience to remember. I had the pleasure only three times, always in the excellent dining room atop the American Enterprise Institute, but I… More

The Interested Man

– Nathan Glazer, "The Interested Man," The New Republic, November 4, 2009.
Excerpt: I think back to these early days because it seems to me that Irving was all of a piece, almost from the beginning. No comment on his passing has failed to mention the young… More

The Problem of Doing Good: Irving Kristol’s Philanthropy

– William Schambra, Rachel Wildavsky, Leslie Lenkowsky, James Piereson, Roger Hertog, Amy Kass, Kim Dennis, Chester E. Finn Jr., Hillel Fradkin, and Adam Meyerson, "The Problem of Doing Good: Irving Kristol’s Philanthropy" (A panel discussion with four additional essays), December 15, 2009.

The Moral Realism of Irving Kristol by Eric Cohen

– Eric Cohen, "The Moral Realism of Irving Kristol," National Affairs, Winter 2010.
Excerpt: Neoconservatism was, as Kristol always described it, merely a “­persuasion” that tried to “imagine the world as it might be,” but also to “live and… More

Two Cheers for Philanthropy

– Leslie Lenkowsky, "Two Cheers for Philanthropy," Philanthropy, Winter 2010.
Excerpt: In philanthropy as in much else of American life, however, the 1960s challenged older patterns. For foundations, this meant that efforts to change public policy, empower… More

Irving Kristol’s Neoconservative Persuasion

– Gertrude Himmelfarb, "Irving Kristol's Neoconservative Persuasion," Commentary, February 2011.
Excerpt: Much has been made of the consistency of tone in his writings—bold and speculative but never dogmatic or academic, always personal, witty, ironic. That tone is not only a matter… More

The Neoconservative Persuasion

– Amy Kass, Charles Krauthammer, Irwin Stelzer, Leon Kass, and William Kristol, "The Neoconservative Persuasion" (A panel discussion), February 2, 2011.

Ideas Rule the World

– Franklin Foer, "Ideas Rule the World," The New Republic, March 17, 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: We are still living in the world of total ideological combat that Irving Kristol created (or re-created, since it was also the world into which he was born) in the course of… More

A Legacy of Temperament

– Roger Kimball, "A Legacy of Temperament," National Review, June 6, 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: An honest man, said the poet William Blake, may change his opinions, but not his principles. Irving Kristol, who died in September 2009 just shy of 90, embarked on intellectual… More

The Brooklyn Burkeans

– Jonathan Bronitsky, "The Brooklyn Burkeans," National Affairs, Winter 2014.
Excerpt: By the time Kristol and Himmelfarb moved back home to New York in 1958, they were entrenched in the classical-liberal tradition and, therefore, primed to react negatively to the… More

Irving Kristol’s Capitalism

– Audio recording, Tikvah Fund, July 16, 2014.
To understand Irving Kristol’s defense and critique of capitalism, National Affairs editor Yuval Levin breaks down Kristol’s 1970 essay “‘When virtue loses all her… More

Teaching

The Rock of Eden

– “The Rock of Eden,” Encounter, June 1956.  (A review of The Dream of Success, by Kenneth S. Lynn, The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit, by Sloan Wilson, and The Exurbanites, by A. C. Spectorsky.)

The Essence of Capitalism

– “The Essence of Capitalism,” Encounter, November 1957. (A review of Polity and Economy by Joseph Cropsey.)

Our Boondoggling Democracy

– "Our Boondoggling Democracy," Commentary, August 1958.  (A review of The Affluent Society by John Kenneth Galbraith.)
Excerpt: The Affluent Society is by far the most serious critique of “welfare capitalism” that has been written in the post-Marxian era. (It is perhaps worth remarking that, though Mr.… More

Last of the Whigs

– "Last of the Whigs," Commentary, April 1960.  (A review of The Constitution of Liberty, by F.A. Hayek.)
Excerpt: Professor Friederich Hayek, who is usually thought of as a conservative and laisser-fairist, can be more accurately regarded (and clearly defines himself) as the last surviving… More

An Odd Lot

– “An Odd Lot,” Encounter, December 1960.

As Goes Demand, So Goes Invention

– “As Goes Demand, So Goes Invention,” Fortune, September 1967. (A review of Invention and Economic Growth by Jacob Schmookler.)

Men on the Move

– “Men on the Move,” Fortune, March 1968. (A review of American Occupational Structure by Otis Dudley Duncan.)

Ten Years in a Tunnel: Reflections on the 1930s

– “Ten Years in a Tunnel: Reflections on the 1930s,” in The Thirties: A Reconsideration in the Light of the American Political Tradition, ed. Morton J. Frisch and Martin Diamond (De Kalb, Ill.: Northern Illinois University Press, 1968).

The New Era of Innovation

– “The New Era of Innovation,” Fortune, February 1969. (A review of The Age of Discontinuity: Guidelines to Our Changing Society by Peter Drucker.)

“Capitalism” and “the Free Society”

– "'Capitalism' and 'the Free Society'," (a reply to John K. Jessup), The Public Interest, Winter 1971.
Excerpt: Now, there is only one rejoinder that someone like Jessup can make to this point. It is the libertarian answer given by Hayek and Friedman: what legitimates a “free… More

On the Democratic Idea in America

– New York: Harper, 1972.
1. Urban Civilization and its Discontents 2. The Shaking of the Foundations 3. Pornography, Obscenity, and the Case for Censorship 4. American Historians and the Democratic Idea 5. American… More

About Equality

– "About Equality," Commentary, November 1972.
Excerpt: So this, it appears to me, is what the controversy “about equality” is really about. We have an intelligentsia which so despises the ethos of bourgeois society, and which is so… More

Equality and Justice

– "Equality and Justice" (A reply to letters), Commentary, February 1973.
Excerpt: I still do believe that any society has to be governed by a principle of justice which legitimates particular inequalities, and that our own society is having trouble finding such… More

Capitalism, Socialism and Nihilism

– "Capitalism, Socialism and Nihilism," The Public Interest, Spring 1973.
Excerpt: WHENEVER and wherever defenders of “free enterprise,” “individual liberty,” and “a free society” assemble, these days, one senses a peculiar kind of nostalgia in the… More

Republican Virtue vs. Servile Institutions

– “Republican Virtue vs. Servile Institutions” delivered at and then reprinted by the Poynter Center at Indiana University, May 1974. (Reprinted in The Alternative, February 1975.)
Excerpt: This is a serious matter. For the American democracy today seems really to have no other purpose than to create more and more Scarsdales—to convert the entire nation into a… More

Taxes, Poverty, and Equality

– "Taxes, Poverty, and Equality," The Public Interest, Fall 1974.
Excerpt: Taxation, poverty, and equality are all and always proper subjects for concern and reformist action. But the first step toward effective reform is to disentangle these three… More

World Perspective

– “World Perspective” (Interview with Boardroom Reports), February 15, 1975.

On Corporate Capitalism in America

– "On Corporate Capitalism in America," The Public Interest, Fall 1975.
Excerpt: Whether for good or evil—and one can leave this for future historians to debate–the large corporation has gone “quasi-public,” i.e., it now straddles,… More

The High Cost of Equality

– “The High Cost of Equality,” Fortune, November 1975. (A review of Equality and Efficiency: The Big Tradeoff by Arthur Okun.)

Adam Smith and the Spirit of Capitalism

– “Adam Smith and the Spirit of Capitalism,” in The Great Ideas Today, ed. Robert Hutchins and Mortimer Adler (Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, 1976).

How Equal Can We Be?

– “How Equal Can We Be?” (An interview), Business and Society Review, Fall 1977.

Thoughts on Equality and Egalitarians

– “Thoughts on Equality and Egalitarians,” in Income Redistribution, ed. Colin D. Campbell (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute, 1977).

Two Cheers for Capitalism

– New York: Basic Books, March 1978.
PART ONE: The Enemy of Being is Having 1. Corporate Capitalism in America 2. Business and the “New Class” 3. Frustrations of Affluence 4. Ideology and Food 5. The… More

The Disaffection from Capitalism

– “The Disaffection from Capitalism,” in Capitalism and Socialism: A Theological Inquiry, ed. Michael Novak (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute, 1979).

The Spiritual Roots of Capitalism and Socialism

– “The Spiritual Roots of Capitalism and Socialism,” in Capitalism and Socialism: A Theological Inquiry, ed. Michael Novak (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute, 1979).

No Cheers for the Profit Motive

– “No Cheers for the Profit Motive,” Wall Street Journal, February 20, 1979.
Excerpt: It is, in my opinion, as absurd to praise the profit motive—i.e., economic action based on self-interest—as it is to condemn it. The human impulse to such action is, like… More

Waste of Time

– ''Waste of Time” (A contribution to a symposium), Business and Society Review, Summer 1979.

Irving Kristol, Standard-Bearer

– Peter Steinfels, "Irving Kristol, Standard-Bearer," a chapter in The Neoconservatives: The Men Who Are Changing America's Politics (New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1979).

Some Personal Reflections on Economic Well-Being and Income Distribution

– "Some Personal Reflections on Economic Well-Being and Income Distribution," in The American Economy in Transition, ed. Martin Feldstein (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980).
Excerpt: It is my understanding, from surveying various studies of trends in income distribution in the United States over the past three decades, that economists have found very little… More

The Goal

– “The Goal,” Encounter, March 1980.

Foundations and the Sin of Pride: The Myth of the Third Sector

– “Foundations and the Sin of Pride: The Myth of the Third Sector,” A speech before the Annual Conference of the Council on Foundations, May 30, 1980.
Excerpt: I want to make one final point, which is really my original point. Foundations came into existence originally to do all the things that needed to be done that the government did… More

Rationalism in Economics

– "Rationalism in Economics," The Public Interest, Special Issue 1980.
Excerpt: IT is widely conceded that something like a “crisis in economic theory” exists, but there is vehement disagreement about the extent and nature of this crisis. The more… More

William Baroody, Sr., Recipient of the 1980 Boyer Award

– “William Baroody, Sr., Recipient of the 1980 Boyer Award” (Remarks for a symposium), December 11, 1980.
Excerpt: It is a truth generally acknowledged that, the older one is, the less the likelihood of acquiring good and close friends. I count myself fortunate in having experienced some… More

Ideology and Supply-Side Economics

– "Ideology & Supply-Side Economics," Commentary, April 1981.
Excerpt: The terms being applied—by the media, by politicians, by economists—to President Reagan’s economic program, and most particularly to the tax-cutting aspect of this program,… More

A New Look at Capitalism

– “A New Look at Capitalism” (A symposium on Wealth and Poverty by George Gilder), National Review, April 17, 1981.

The Dubious Science

– “The Dubious Science,” The New Republic, June 6, 1983. (A review of Dangerous Currents: The State of Economics by Lester Thurow.)

Kristol’s Red Persuasion?

– Robert Lekachman, "Kristol's Red Persuasion?" The Nation, October 29, 1983. (A review of Reflections of a Neoconservative: Looking Back, Looking Ahead by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: In sum, at their worst these polemics are diatribes against the world supposedly made by liberals and those to the left of them. At their best, they convey much thoughtful, somber… More

The End of History?

– “The End of History?” (A symposium), The National Interest, Summer 1989.

On the Character of American Political Order

– “On the Character of American Political Order,” In The Promise of American Politics: Principles and Practice after Two Hundred Years, ed. Robert Utley (New York: University Press of America, 1989).

The Capitalist Future

– “The Capitalist Future,” Francis Boyer Lecture at the American Enterprise Institute, December 4, 1991.
Excerpt: This cultural nihilism will have, in the short term, only a limited political effect—short of a massive, enduring economic crisis. The reason it will not happen—this is still… More

A Man without Footnotes

– Nathan Glazer, "A Man without Footnotes," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Following Irving

– Norman Podhoretz, "Following Irving," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

The Common Man’s Uncommon Intellectual

– Michael S. Joyce, "The Common Man's Uncommon Intellectual," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

A Tribute to Irving Kristol

– William E. Simon, "A Tribute to Irving Kristol," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

A Third Cheer for Capitalism

– Irwin Stelzer, "A Third Cheer for Capitalism," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea

– New York: Free Press, 1995.
SECTION I 1. An Autobiographical Memoir   SECTION II: RACE, SEX, AND FAMILY 2. Welfare: The Best of Intentions, the Worst of Results 3. The Tragedy of “Multiculturalism” 4.… More

Godfather

– Wilfred M. McClay, "Godfather," Commentary, February 1996. (A review of Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: Perhaps, then, there is another sense in which Kristol deserves the appellation of “godfather.” Ever since the appearance of Mario Puzo’s book of that title, there has been a… More

Corporations and Management

– "Corporations and Management" (An introduction to an AEI lecture by Michael Novak), November 19, 1996.

Arguing the World

– "Arguing the World" (A documentary), written and directed by Joseph Dorman, January 7, 1998.

Arguing the World

– Arguing the World: The New York Intellectuals in Their Own Words, ed. Joseph Dorman (New York: Free Press, 2000). (Transcript of TV interviews from 1998.)

The Godfather, R.I.P.

– Myron Magnet, "The Godfather, R.I.P.," City Journal, September 18, 2009.
Excerpt: His own world-historically influential magazine, The Public Interest, bore Irving’s stamp of practicality and realism, indeed of realpolitik. It aimed, through its hard-headed… More

Three Cheers for Irving by David Brooks

– David Brooks, "Three Cheers for Irving," The New York Times, September 21, 2009.
Excerpt: Kristol championed capitalism and wrote brilliantly about Adam Smith. But like Smith, he could only give two cheers for capitalism, because the system of creative destruction has… More

Irving Kristol’s Gone–We’ll Miss His Clear Vision

– Irwin Stelzer, "Irving Kristol's Gone–We'll Miss His Clear Vision," Daily Telegraph, September 22, 2009.
Excerpt: Irving is best known as the godfather of neoconservatism, although his persuasive tools were not those of Tony Soprano or Marlon Brando’s Godfather-figures, but contained in… More

The Practical Liberal by Christopher DeMuth

– Christopher DeMuth, "The Practical Liberal," The American, September 22, 2009.
Excerpt: Irving was, from start to finish, a proponent of vigorous government within its proper sphere. He never passed up a chance to enter a dissent, serious or wisecracking, against… More

Irving Kristol’s Clear Thinking

– Jonah Goldberg, "Irving Kristol's Clear Thinking," Los Angeles Times, September 23, 2009.
Excerpt: Buckley said that the neocons’ greatest contribution to conservatism was “sociology.” The early National Review conservatism was more Aristotelian, Buckley observed, while… More

My Irving Kristol and Ours by Mary Eberstadt

– Mary Eberstadt, "My Irving Kristol and Ours," The Weekly Standard, October 5, 2009.
Excerpt: “More than anyone alive, perhaps, Irving Kristol can take the credit for reversing the direction of American political culture.” These words taken from the Nation a few… More

The Equilibrist

– Wilfred M. McClay, "The Equilibrist," National Review, October 19, 2009.
Excerpt: LUNCH with Irving Kristol was an experience to remember. I had the pleasure only three times, always in the excellent dining room atop the American Enterprise Institute, but I… More

The Interested Man

– Nathan Glazer, "The Interested Man," The New Republic, November 4, 2009.
Excerpt: I think back to these early days because it seems to me that Irving was all of a piece, almost from the beginning. No comment on his passing has failed to mention the young… More

The Problem of Doing Good: Irving Kristol’s Philanthropy

– William Schambra, Rachel Wildavsky, Leslie Lenkowsky, James Piereson, Roger Hertog, Amy Kass, Kim Dennis, Chester E. Finn Jr., Hillel Fradkin, and Adam Meyerson, "The Problem of Doing Good: Irving Kristol’s Philanthropy" (A panel discussion with four additional essays), December 15, 2009.

The Moral Realism of Irving Kristol by Eric Cohen

– Eric Cohen, "The Moral Realism of Irving Kristol," National Affairs, Winter 2010.
Excerpt: Neoconservatism was, as Kristol always described it, merely a “­persuasion” that tried to “imagine the world as it might be,” but also to “live and… More

Two Cheers for Philanthropy

– Leslie Lenkowsky, "Two Cheers for Philanthropy," Philanthropy, Winter 2010.
Excerpt: In philanthropy as in much else of American life, however, the 1960s challenged older patterns. For foundations, this meant that efforts to change public policy, empower… More

Irving Kristol’s Neoconservative Persuasion

– Gertrude Himmelfarb, "Irving Kristol's Neoconservative Persuasion," Commentary, February 2011.
Excerpt: Much has been made of the consistency of tone in his writings—bold and speculative but never dogmatic or academic, always personal, witty, ironic. That tone is not only a matter… More

The Neoconservative Persuasion

– Amy Kass, Charles Krauthammer, Irwin Stelzer, Leon Kass, and William Kristol, "The Neoconservative Persuasion" (A panel discussion), February 2, 2011.

Ideas Rule the World

– Franklin Foer, "Ideas Rule the World," The New Republic, March 17, 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: We are still living in the world of total ideological combat that Irving Kristol created (or re-created, since it was also the world into which he was born) in the course of… More

A Legacy of Temperament

– Roger Kimball, "A Legacy of Temperament," National Review, June 6, 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: An honest man, said the poet William Blake, may change his opinions, but not his principles. Irving Kristol, who died in September 2009 just shy of 90, embarked on intellectual… More

The Brooklyn Burkeans

– Jonathan Bronitsky, "The Brooklyn Burkeans," National Affairs, Winter 2014.
Excerpt: By the time Kristol and Himmelfarb moved back home to New York in 1958, they were entrenched in the classical-liberal tradition and, therefore, primed to react negatively to the… More

Irving Kristol’s Capitalism

– Audio recording, Tikvah Fund, July 16, 2014.
To understand Irving Kristol’s defense and critique of capitalism, National Affairs editor Yuval Levin breaks down Kristol’s 1970 essay “‘When virtue loses all her… More