Volume One, Number Seven

CONTENTS

From the Editor

Editor-in-Chief James K. Glassman introduces this month's issue of THE AMERICAN.

The American Scene

The business magazine cover jinx, the joy of living together (and cleaning up), eminent domain, and more.

The Young Economist

Iván Werning of MIT uses theoretical models to find the best real-life economic policies for such thorny matters as estate taxes and unemployment insurance.
BY CAREN CHESLER

Interview

Bill Marriott, avid blogger, runs a global empire of 3,000 hotels. He talks about immigration, green lodging, and the Next Big Thing.

Q&A

Who really pays the taxes? Hint: the top 5 percent of U.S. earners foot well over half the bill.
BY STEPHEN MOORE

DataPoints

The election: one year out. Fact and opinion.
BY KARLYN BOWMAN

Techno-Ideas

Your cell phone camera can take a look at a product and tell you all about it.
BY NICK SCHULZ

Geopolitics

Some say George W. Bush is the worst president ever, but don't count him out yet.
BY VICTOR DAVIS HANSON

Futurology

The future of business, as seen by BRUCE MCCALL.

FEATURES

What Makes a Terrorist?

Politicians, pundits, and religious leaders ascribe terrorism to poverty and lack of education. Economic research points elsewhere.
BY ALAN KRUEGER

Is Cheese the New Wine?

Some 1,200 artisan cheeses—stinky, blue, crumbly, or luscious—just competed for best in the nation. So why the boom in cheese? (And who won?)
BY MATTHEW RUBINER

The China Model

Leaders of developing nations from Africa to Asia to Latin America love what they see in the new Communist China: economic freedom plus political repression. It’s working now, but for how long?
BY ROWAN CALLICK

Fast Cars

In the past, top business executives simply funded auto racing. Now, more and more, they’re driving the cars, sometimes against the biggest names in the sport.
BY TRAVIS BRAUN

Samurai Sage

The Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, maker of “Seven Samurai” and “Yojimbo,” helped bring a new kind of hero to the American movie screen.
BY JAMES BOWMAN

The Glorious Toothpick

The mass-produced toothpick tells the full story of American manufacturing: inspiration, marketing, competition, trade, success, and failure.
BY HENRY PETROSKI

Chess Express

How does a no-name school like the University of Texas at Dallas build up its brand? By whipping Harvard and Yale in the thinking-person’s sport.
BY LUKE MULLINS

Human Wrongs

Why the outlook for human rights in China is so bleak. And what it means for the global economy and national security.
BY JACQUELINE A. NEWMYER