The word "loophole" is constantly used by politicians and the media to justify situations of extreme injustice or inequality. The word itself has a clear definition, "A loophole is an ambiguity or omission in the text through which the intent of a statute, contract, or obligation… Read full post »

In cleaning up my apartment a few weeks ago, I came across a letter that was nearly 20 years old. It was a semi-formal letter, written on official stationary by an eminent scientist.

How did I end up with this letter? The scientist had… Read full post »

With Rutgers University's Mike Rice video and subsequent firing now in the news, many are tempted to talk about the special treatment given to sports. This conversation makes me wonder, which special treatment are they talking about?
• Is it the fact that children who show athletic… Read full post »

News of Hugo Chavez's death is spreading rapidly. In America, we can anticipate a large collection of articles noting his activities, articles that are nearly all a product of our America/corporate view of the world.

These American articles will be mostly negative, a one-sided portrayal… Read full post »

As Americans discuss our system of social supports, we constantly hear the word "entitlements" and rarely the word "rights." Of course, in America the word "entitlements" is not a neutral word. Rather, it is a loaded word, laced with specific attitudes and associations in both the… Read full post »

There seems to be two very separate conversations regarding nuclear technology, one about its use as a power source and another about its use as a weapon. This separation is understandable, after all, people often distinguish between ensuring energy supplies and military goals. Of course,… Read full post »

Medical science moves in painfully small steps and occasionally huge leaps. Giant jumps such as the polio vaccine, insulin's use to control diabetes and HIV/AIDS treatments are mixed in with the far more frequent introduction of "me-three" drugs and minor tweaks on well-established procedures.… Read full post »

Surveys repeatedly show that Americans are more religious than other developed countries. We are an anomaly compared to other wealthy democracies in our comparatively high rate church/synagogue/mosque attendance. Moreover, America is the only wealthy democracy where there active debates as to wh… Read full post »

Gerrymandering congressional borders based on party affiliations, race, or some other criterion in order to maximize your support and minimize your opponent's creates congressional district maps that look like a combination of computer-drawn algorithms and children's crayon art. The idea is to pa… Read full post »

This weekend I had a brief conversation with a high school friend that went something like this:

Friend: "Sure it was OK for us to walk to school when we were kids but these days it's much too dangerous."
Me: "Actually America, and the world more generally, is much safer now."
Friend: "Well/… Read full post »

We don't saddle up the horses to ride into town nor do we use candles as our only source of light in our houses. In fact, can you name a technology that you use regularly that has not been improved in the last two hundred years?… Read full post »

There are few greater examples of the irrationality of investors than the world of hedge funds. Hedge fund managers are paid enormous sums, usually 2% of the investment amount and 20% of profits above a fixed level. As money has poured into these funds over time, hedge fund managers and others… Read full post »

Mitt Romney has stated that he is done running for president and there is little reason to doubt him. But as people start tossing around names for 2016, many are placing Paul Ryan at the top of the potential Republican ticket. Their logic is obvious, after… Read full post »

The nation will soon decide who will lead our country for the next four years. No matter who wins, pundits will jump up with explanations of what were the make or break moments of the 2012 presidential campaign.

Hindsight, they say, is 20/20. After Kennedy… Read full post »

Hiring time is coming! Sorry, it's too late to submit your resume but at least you get to be part of the hiring committee. The two finalists have gone through all of the interview rounds, kissed all the babies, shaken all the hands, memorized all their… Read full post »

Politicians learned long ago that optimism draws people much more than pessimists, regardless of what the facts say. This means that the Romney/Ryan ticket needs to convince Americans that our country was on a positive trajectory before President Obama and we can recover that lost momentum by… Read full post »

As the Presidential candidates argue over which group is paying too much in taxes and which one can afford to pay more of "their fair share" a broader perspective should be taken. That broader perspective is the fact that today Americans pay far lower taxes than citizens… Read full post »

It is a little less than two months before the election and pundits are having a terrific time. Nearly every day we hear about a "game-changing" moment and new declarations that the "election is over." Whether it is a foreign affairs event like the recent… Read full post »

Poverty and education are inextricably linked where education is a primary means of social mobility, enabling those born into poverty to rise in society. Powerful evidence of the link include the fact that 46 percent of Americans who grew up in low-income families but failed to… Read full post »

Previously we examined the relationship between the elected president and how parents named baby boys by comparing the popularity of the president's first name before he began serving versus after he began serving (see technical note below for the limitations in this method). For example, Frankl… Read full post »

This post is based on excerpts from the recently released book The Measure of a Nation: How to Regain America's Competitive Edge and Boost Our Global Standing:

Women hold elective office at every level of American government and have risen to positions of considerable power in both elected posts… Read full post »

The media is having a grand old time discussing Mitt Romney's tax returns. Will he release more years of returns? Should he? Does Harry Reid have some special knowledge or is he just making noise?

Since I have a number of friends who profess to be undecided… Read full post »

America was once a world leader in democracy, with innovations like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution with its Bill of Rights. While the early republic had major flaws, our nation was nonetheless an innovator in democracy at a time when monarchies ruled. Since… Read full post »

Comparisons of the United States to other major democratic countries show clearly that Americans are far less likely to vote than citizens in other countries. This is problematic, since one major symptom of a poorly functioning democracy is when a large percentage of citizens chooses to not vote.… Read full post »