The last generation has famously lifted millions out of poverty in rising economies such as China and India, but countless millions more lag behind, caught in societies that fail to gain a foothold on material progress. What to do for them? Lant Pritchett, an Oxford development researcher formerly of the World Bank, has an ideaContinue reading “A Labor Case for Managed Migration”
Category Archives: Newsfeed
Chicago Is One Kind of Town
The geographical resorting of America continues apace–the separation of peoples based broadly on ideology. You see this population movement on both coasts, accentuated by the pandemic and remote work. It’s about other things, of course–costs, space, weather–but it’s a lot about politics. And after Tuesday’s mayoral election result in Chicago (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/04/us/elections/chicago-mayor-election-brandon-johnson.html), we can expect moreContinue reading “Chicago Is One Kind of Town”
When Data Don’t Compute to Equity
It is implored, by one side of America’s political divide especially, that we “follow the science.” And that is good guidance, but is it consistent politics? Perhaps not. Many on the same left side have a problem with, for example, data science. This emerges in a New York Times Magazine interview with Colin Koopman, anContinue reading “When Data Don’t Compute to Equity”
Legislative Action Is a Real Thing
Outfits on both the political left and right in the U.S. have been beefing up their digital news coverage of America’s statehouses, where lawmaking is both meaningful and sometimes quick. Just such political action was spotlighted in last week’s New York Times article (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/09/us/michigan-democrats-right-to-work-lgbtq-guns.html) on the Michigan legislature after last November’s electoral sweep of theContinue reading “Legislative Action Is a Real Thing”
Should Your New Road Hog Be EV?
The New York Times’ climate crew produced this moral guide for prospective purchasers of Ford’s mainstay F-150 pickup truck–go electric or not? The battery-powered Lightning model, it happens, weighs 6,000 pounds or nearly 50% more than the gasoline counterparts, and that raises various issues explored in the article: Not just whether EV power needs negateContinue reading “Should Your New Road Hog Be EV?”
Title IX’s Ticket to Training Camp
The big business of college sports in the U.S. is for the better or worse, and has many causes and consequences. One reason that the two highly commercial features of most programs–football and men’s basketball–are such big tickets is that they not only carry their own ever-heavier weight but also that of most of theContinue reading “Title IX’s Ticket to Training Camp”
A Tale of Montauk’s Camp Hero
This personalized recollection from the retired Hamptons publisher Dan Rattiner in the current issue of his old magazine, Dan’s Papers, sets the historical scene for one of eastern Long Island’s most unusual preserves: Camp Hero near Montauk Point. Now an ocean-facing state park on nearly 280 acres, it was a secretive military base during theContinue reading “A Tale of Montauk’s Camp Hero”
Will State Pensions Pay Off?
This Bloomberg article captures the growing worry about state pension promises, and the resistance to reforming them, such is evident on the streets of France. In the U.S., we call these benefits Social Security, and efforts to contain its taxpayer cost are said to touch the political “third rail.” The authors here speculate that onlyContinue reading “Will State Pensions Pay Off?”
Socialized Medicine a Dream? NY Is Nearly There
Vermont notably tried a form of socialized medicine a few years back and had to give up on the program for fiscal reasons. But the dream endures and New York State is coming close to realization: This New York Post article reports how 9 million residents are due to participate in Medicaid this year, perContinue reading “Socialized Medicine a Dream? NY Is Nearly There”
A Chinese Banquet Where I Needn’t Eat My Words
Along about 2012, I began telling audiences in Greater China that I thought the GDP growth trajectories of the U.S. and the PRC would cross. These were groups composed mostly of family business principals who were making good coin off China’s rise, and had they not been enjoying a nice meal from the business magazineContinue reading “A Chinese Banquet Where I Needn’t Eat My Words”
Tim W. Ferguson 