Happy Thanksgiving!

(Photo courtesy of Tyler Cowen)

Wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving! Sorry for the light blogging this past week. I'm currently down in Orlando, FL for the holiday.

A few things I'm thankful for this year:

• My Faith: I am incredibly thankful for my Christian faith, how it has shaped me and the perspective it gives me on the world. It fills me with joy and hope, gives me purpose, and deepens my love.
• My Family: My Mom and Dad have showered me with love all of my life and given me a great example of what it means to be committed to family and marriage. My brother, his wife, my niece and nephew, Aunt Ruth, and everyone else in our family are wonderful. I wouldn't trade them for the world.
• My Friends: I've been in Orlando for the past few days and have been reminded reminded of how blessed I am by my friends, both down here, back home in Virginia, and around the world.
• My School: GMU has really been great to me and supportive after a less than stellar performance last semester. I'm getting back on track and appreciate all the help from the faculty and my research director. I love my profs, my program, and my experience thus far.

There is so much more I could and should give thanks for this day.

Wishing everyone a happy Thanksgiving this year!

P.S. -- I'd be much a very poor economist if I did not also give thanks for the "Invisible Hand":

It is commonplace to speak of seeing God's signature in the intricacy of a spider's web or the animation of a beehive. But they pale in comparison to the kaleidoscopic energy and productivity of the free market. If it is a blessing from Heaven when seeds are transformed into grain, how much more of a blessing is it when our private, voluntary exchanges are transformed -- without our ever intending it -- into prosperity, innovation, and growth?

The social order of freedom, like the wealth and the progress it makes possible, is an extraordinary gift from above. On this Thanksgiving Day and every day, may we be grateful.

Read the whole thing!

(Hattip Greg Mankiw)