I’ve just arrived in NYC. Reassuringly, it’s still loud and chaotic. I’m here to attend the International Policy Network’s big dinner here at the Princeton Club (where they’ve put me up). I’m in the running for the Bastiat Prize, which itself is a nice little feather in my cap.
It’s always weird to come to the city and stay in a hotel (or whatever you’d call the Princeton Club). It’s like seeing your hometown through the eyes of a stranger. It’s really amazing that millions of tourists come to the Big Apple from all around the world and think they’ve visited “America.” I’m not saying New Yorkers aren’t Americans, but this place is so far from representative of what most Americans see as the real America that it’s sort of absurd for Egyptians or Russians to think they’ve visited the U.S. simply because they’ve seen Time Square etc.