June 19, 2013
Previous Editions 
Original Reporting
Original Reporting
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Economy, Role of government
To judge from the absence of mainstream press and political discussion in the United States about the kinds of public policy choices that Denmark has made, the Danish model is about as relevant to the U.S. as an experiment on Mars. But when Remapping Debate recently spoke with several centrist and conservative U.S.-based economists and policy experts, it turned out that many agreed that the Danish experience might offer some valuable lessons for the United States. “One can disagree with the general thrust of a what a country is doing,” said David Mitchell, a senior fellow at the libertarian-oriented Cato Institute, “but we should never let that prevent us from looking to see if any specific policies are working and if they might be adapted.”More
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Alternative models, Politics, Role of government
Last week, 87 percent of Danes went to the polls for parliamentary elections, representing one of the highest voter participation rates in the world. And that public spiritedness is no accident. According to many Danes, much of the explanation can be found in the country’s interconnected network of social institutions, which has evolved over the last several decades to both reflect and reinforce the notion of collective citizenship. “In Denmark, the nation is still thought of as a collectivist project,” Danish historian Ove Korsgaard said. “There is a much stronger sense of coherency and citizenship than in most other countries.”More
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Alternative models, Economy, Employment
The second installment in Remapping Debate’s series on Danish policy choices focuses on low-wage work. Denmark has successfully reduced its reliance on low-wage work in the last several decades, offering an alternate path for other countries. “What the Danish example proves is that there are two distinct ways to organize your labor market,” said John Schmitt, a U.S. labor economist. “There is a low road, and there is a high road.”More
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Alternative models, Economy, Role of government
Public policy choices are both the building blocks and the reflection of the kind of society in which people want to live: “It’s obvious that in Denmark, both the public and business leaders regard the state as a partner,” said Stine Bosse, who until recently served as the group CEO of TrygVesta, Denmark’s largest insurance company. “A strong state is not just something you have to live with…it’s something we reckon is pretty important, a positive thing for business.”
The first installment in Remapping Debate's new series on how different Danish choices are from those being made in the U.S.More
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Labor, Unions
In exchange for agreeing to build a new subcompact car at its Orion, Michigan assembly plant, General Motors got the United Auto Workers to agree to permit 40 percent of plant workers to be paid about half of the standard union wage of $28 an hour. For workers being paid "Tier 2" wages, there will be a dramatic difference in security and standard of living from that of their Tier 1 counterparts. We examine the expected concrete impacts on the lives of lower-paid workers and their families.More
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Environment, Media
According to a recent Financial Times report on the extent of public support for green energy development (based on a poll sponsored by Lazard), U.S. voters cap their willingness to pay for renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, at $10 per month. But can the poll results be trusted? Remapping Debate sought to find out, but neither the Financial Times nor Lazard — despite the transparency that the standards of professional practice in the polling field call for — would provide the basic information required to make this determination.More
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Gender equity, Health
As Remapping Debate recently reported, new findings show that life expectancy for women has declined significantly in hundreds of U.S. counties over the course of the last generation. That trend is leading many to ask why so many states fail to put basic public health measures in place, especially since the absence of those measures — often thought of as “gender neutral” — exerts a profoundly negative and disproportionate effect on women.More
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Education, Employment, Health, Income inequality, Politics, State government
Can "benchmarks" and "indicators" be implemented in a way to have a real impact on public policy? A key question: do indicator systems work by attempting to “insulate” them from politics, or by attempting to have them do battle in the political arena by challenging those who don’t accept the importance of the indicators and by promulgating specific policy recommendations?More