On population, U.S. remains in full denial mode
Of all the fantasies indulged in by a society speeding toward self-destruction, none is as consequential as the idea that continuing growth has a happy-ever-after ending. But even if ever-increasing population were survivable, is it really desirable? Can't we figure out any adaptations to enable an aging society to be economically and socially robust?
Popular vote for President: former Confederate states versus rest of U.S.
Data viz shows results from 1968 to 2008, and reminds us of frequency of disparate outcomes.
“Taxmageddon”? No, just a reprise of giving in to hostage-takers
An NYT piece suggests that unprecedented tax hikes for all Americans may be coming in January. In fact, what we have is basically a rerun of 2010. The central question once again: will President Obama stand up to the GOP and allow tax rates on the wealthiest Americans to return, as scheduled, to their Clinton-era levels?
The New Yorker's woefully lacking profile of NYC mayoral hopeful Christine Quinn
Lots of anecdotes to show that the City Council Speaker is down to earth, but little of substance. When you leave out the fact that Quinn runs the Council undemocratically, thwarts the will of voters, and serves the interests of the one percent, you don't have much of a profile.
BlackRock good; public employee pensions bad
Two recent NYT articles ignore altogether the need for a critical approach. In one, a front-pager billed as a news article, the reporter could easily be mistaken for a member of BlackRock's PR team. In the other, the reporter treated with contempt the idea that workers deserve to have bargained-for pensions benefits honored.
Poor, helpless Andrew Cuomo
The Governor has a 69 percent approval rating, totes around an adoring press corps, and has been described as the tamer of New York's dysfunctional legislature. But preventing a repeat of the state's usual gerrymandering process in this redistricting cycle was just not important enough to Cuomo. So he has broken his promise to veto cynical plans to reproduce the status quo.
How fiscally prudent is "lower the rate and broaden the base"?
It's the corporate tax reform mantra these days — at least on the Democratic side of the aisle. But serious questions have been raised about the underlying premises, fiscal prudence, and ultimate revenue neutrality of proceeding concurrently.
Bank profits: not so shabby after all
There has been a lot of reporting in recent weeks about how big banks have fallen on hard times. One would be forgiven for getting the impression that these banks are not doing much better than barely scraping by. But the data tell another story. In 2011, for example, the profits of Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo each exceeded the profits of Google. The average profit from 2005 to 2011 for Apple was less than that for Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, and Wells Fargo.
New tactic on affirmative action could blunt Supreme Court rollback
As the Supreme Court looks ready to restrict or eliminate race-based affirmative action in its 2012-13 session, supporters of such preferences have a tool not yet deployed: race-based affirmative action as a means to compensate for the disproportionately negative impact of current-day "legacy admissions" policies on minority applicants.
A culture that celebrates cheating
Do all cultures celebrate cheating as much as we do? I’ll concede in advance the danger of falling into the this-is-the-worst-it-has-ever-been trap, and even acknowledge, on a moment’s reflection, that our time and place has no patent on pretense, disingenuousness, and deceit. But we are still in staggeringly bad shape.
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