Original reporting

If the current trend continues, it appears that we are on the threshold of an era in which now-treatable infectious diseases re-emerge as frequent life disrupters, and, ultimately, as major killers. For the U.S. and other developed countries, that means that fundamental expectations about the normal course of life would be exploded, and that the insecurity of the pre- World War II era — where untimely death was much more routine — would return.

Why is supporting the successful implementation of health care reform incompatible with asking for more?

Despite scientific consensus that routine, non-medical use of antibiotics in animals is a risk to public health, the industry here, unlike in Denmark, keeps fighting restrictions.

Oddly, the government does not track the occupational wages of new hires, even though many economists believe that data is crucial in analyzing the recovery.

Could public investment in a super-fast internet infrastructure be a key piece of a national economic-revival strategy?

How different are natural disasters from "man-made" disasters according to some conservative state representatives?

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has painted his decision to fire more than 4,000 teachers as the only budgetary course open to him, but it turns out that an increase of less than one-half of one percent on the income tax rate paid by wealthier New Yorkers would raise more revenue than the Mayor's budget saves by firing the teachers.

To curb excesses, could capital controls again limit the ability of skittish bond investors to flee?

Ideology of unrelenting budget cuts promoted by Republicans from Texas collides with their desire to get federal help for victims of some kinds of disasters.

The preemptive campaign to rein in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Concern about "safety and soundness" or about the prospect of independent regulation?

The faux commercial from SNL's early days was directed at Big Oil. Now, some economists wonder whether bipartisan focus on "reassuring investors" holds U.S. democracy hostage.