top of page
Stay Curious.
Make the most of your college experience.
Jeff Hulett
Curator, The Curiosity Vine
Stay Curious.
The Curiosity Vine is an idea incubator.
Our contributors have experience and interest in a variety of high-impact topics, such as science, technology, conservation, mathematics, data science, public policy, economics, and others. Our objective is to promote early-stage ideas, enable idea collaboration, and test idea purchase.
​
TCV platform is curated by Jeff Hulett.
​
Join our team - become a TCV contributor!
Learn about why you should join The Curiosity Vine.
TCV's ideas are used to provide seminars, write books, build businesses, and especially to help people.
So take a look around the site, feel free to ask or answer your own questions, and enjoy your own curiosity exploration!
​
Like what you see? Please join our BEST DECISIONS newsletter!
Featured Posts
Beyond "Lesser-of-Two-Evils": A Guide to Voting Your Conscience
People like to imagine political campaigns as a pitch for a better future (a candidate standing on stage declaring, "Vote for me because here is what I will build, protect, and deliver"). Instead, voters face a relentless strategy built almost entirely on fear. Over the past fifty years, institutional reforms shifted power toward low-turnout primaries dominated by party activists and focused money. Consequently, positive visions quietly gave way to defensive positioning. Mode
Â
Â
Â
An Investment in Emergence: 35 Years, Four Children, and the Generational Power of Everyday Faithfulness
Looking back on our journey together, my wife Patti and I feel such gratitude. We met over 40 years ago at the beginning of college and now approach our 35th wedding anniversary. Over those decades, four wonderful children (three sons and a daughter) blessed our lives, ranging from 31 down to our youngest, David, who is 25. Born roughly two years apart, watching them grow from energetic kids into healthy adults remains the great privilege of our lives. Recently, David got eng
Â
Â
Â
The Boundaries of Power: What Economic History Teaches Us About the Proper Role of Government
Every generation faces a core question of political economy: What is the proper role of government? Historically, the debate waxes and wanes between expanded state intervention and restrained governance. Modern practice reveals a steady expansion of state power. Effective government does not represent a luxury; it represents a foundational necessity. As Adam Smith and classic commentators made clear, market societies require a government enforcing justice to function properly
Â
Â
Â
The Classical Liberal’s Dilemma: Why Freedom Fails at the Ballot Box
When the Classical Liberal Revival Feels Real The impulse to dismantle the administrative state is a recurring rhythm in the history of governance, a perennial tension between the expanding reach of the bureaucracy and the enduring ideals of classical liberalism. While the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) stands as a recent historical attempt to prune the thicket of executive overreach, it follows a storied lineage of efforts to restore institutional accountability.
Â
Â
Â
Never Miss a New Post.
What goes into changing our minds?
Search
Beyond "Lesser-of-Two-Evils": A Guide to Voting Your Conscience
People like to imagine political campaigns as a pitch for a better future (a candidate standing on stage declaring, "Vote for me because here is what I will build, protect, and deliver"). Instead, voters face a relentless strategy built almost entirely on fear. Over the past fifty years, institutional reforms shifted power toward low-turnout primaries dominated by party activists and focused money. Consequently, positive visions quietly gave way to defensive positioning. Mode
Jeff Hulett
15 hours ago7 min read
Â
Â
Â
Mortgage Rates Update: August 27th, 2026
The mortgage market for the week ending August 27, 2026, demonstrated a classic spread expansion as primary market borrowing costs edged upward even as benchmark bond yields pulled back. As an experienced economist who closely monitors market spreads, I see this divergence as primary lenders re-establishing their margin buffers amidst ongoing economic uncertainty. While the 10 Year Treasury Note rate dropped 2 basis points to 4.67 percent, the 30 year fixed mortgage rate move
Bill Knudson
3 days ago1 min read
Â
Â
Â
Treasury Rates Update: August 27th, 2026
In my decades monitoring fixed-income markets, late August often brings a distinctive calm as traders position ahead of autumn policy decisions. Following the recalibration seen after the mid-month inflation data, the Treasury market exhibited a slight flattening shift this past week. Yields on the short end pushed modestly higher while longer-term rates edged downward, reflecting a market carefully balancing late-summer economic signals. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yiel
Bill Knudson
3 days ago1 min read
Â
Â
Â
Mortgage Rates Update: August 20th, 2026
The mortgage market for the week ending August 20, 2026, demonstrated notable margin compression as primary retail rates edged lower despite upward pressure on underlying benchmark yields. As an experienced economist tracking fixed income spreads, I find this week's movement reveals primary lenders absorbing higher capital costs to maintain competitive borrowing terms. While the 10 Year Treasury Note rate jumped by 6 basis points to 4.69 percent, the 30 year fixed mortgage ra
Bill Knudson
Aug 211 min read
Â
Â
Â
Treasury Rates Update: August 20th, 2026
The fixed-income market is delivering a classic textbook lesson in yield curve dynamics following the latest inflation data. The August 12th CPI release confirmed that headline inflation has moderated to 3.5%, providing the bond market with much-needed breathing room ahead of the September 16th Federal Reserve meeting. Rather than sparking a broad rally, however, investors used the news to aggressively recalibrate short-to-intermediate maturities while long-term rates remaine
Bill Knudson
Aug 211 min read
Â
Â
Â
An Investment in Emergence: 35 Years, Four Children, and the Generational Power of Everyday Faithfulness
Looking back on our journey together, my wife Patti and I feel such gratitude. We met over 40 years ago at the beginning of college and now approach our 35th wedding anniversary. Over those decades, four wonderful children (three sons and a daughter) blessed our lives, ranging from 31 down to our youngest, David, who is 25. Born roughly two years apart, watching them grow from energetic kids into healthy adults remains the great privilege of our lives. Recently, David got eng
Jeff Hulett
Aug 205 min read
Â
Â
Â
The Boundaries of Power: What Economic History Teaches Us About the Proper Role of Government
Every generation faces a core question of political economy: What is the proper role of government? Historically, the debate waxes and wanes between expanded state intervention and restrained governance. Modern practice reveals a steady expansion of state power. Effective government does not represent a luxury; it represents a foundational necessity. As Adam Smith and classic commentators made clear, market societies require a government enforcing justice to function properly
Jeff Hulett
Aug 118 min read
Â
Â
Â
The Classical Liberal’s Dilemma: Why Freedom Fails at the Ballot Box
When the Classical Liberal Revival Feels Real The impulse to dismantle the administrative state is a recurring rhythm in the history of governance, a perennial tension between the expanding reach of the bureaucracy and the enduring ideals of classical liberalism. While the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) stands as a recent historical attempt to prune the thicket of executive overreach, it follows a storied lineage of efforts to restore institutional accountability.
Jeff Hulett
Aug 98 min read
Â
Â
Â
bottom of page