Article Archive
Dreams of a New Atlantic-Pacific Passage
Nicaragua’s legislature has approved a plan for a canal to rival Panama’s. But with challenges including financial viability and seismic stability, the canal may be more valuable as a radiant future than as a reality.
A Roundup: Myriad, Monsanto, and the Supreme Court
In recent rulings on patents, the Supreme Court spoke with a rare, single voice, devising a framework that encourages innovation while also ensuring that its fruits are enjoyed fairly by consumers.
Putting the Debt in Context
The deficit is shrinking, but federal debt is at an all-time high. More importantly, how large is the debt burden?
The ECB Delays at Europe’s Peril
Without bold action from the European Central Bank, it is difficult to see how the European periphery can avoid sinking ever deeper into economic recession in the months ahead.
A Route to Better Roads: The Case for Public-Private Partnerships
As governments across the United States wrestle with the challenge of providing high-quality transportation infrastructure, they should increasingly consider public-private partnerships.
Benghazi Matters
The Benghazi attack raises fundamental questions on how to keep America safe and whether to trust the administration. We need a substantive debate on how to protect America against the growing threat of Islamic extremists.
‘Environmental Justice,’ EPA Style
If the EPA wants to help low-income and minority populations, it should stick to promoting technologies that reduce pollution for everyone, rather than making environmental issues about racial justice.
China and the Cyber Challenge
Cyber issues will likely determine the tenor of U.S.-China ties over the coming months, and how the United States addresses these problems will be a harbinger of its overall approach to the challenge China poses.
35 Years after Prop 13, Has It Worked?
Often described as the opening shot in the Reagan-era tax revolt, Prop 13 limited California’s property tax rates, but has it yielded greater fiscal discipline? What about tax and expenditure limits in other states?
Putin’s Petro State Approaching Empty
Russia faces two challenges that will affect its preeminence as an energy supplier and its ability to wield oil and gas as geostrategic tools. At stake are the stability of the regime — and perhaps even its survival.
Tribal Politics in the 21st Century
Progressives, conservatives, and libertarians each have a mythology in which they are the heroes and the other tribes are villains. Partisans of these three ideologies even speak different languages.
How to Stop the Rise of Superbugs
The rise of 'superbugs' is causing tens of thousands of deaths a year in the United States alone. A problem as complex as antibiotic resistance will require several solutions.
What to Do With Fannie and Freddie
The biggest question with the $10 trillion U.S. housing finance sector is what to do with the government-sponsored enterprises that have recently attained even greater monopoly power. Here’s a way to move beyond the political stalemate.
A Fiscal Proposal Both Keynes and Reagan Could Support
The Left says the government should spend more, but the Right says it should spend less. It sounds like an ideological standoff, but there is common ground.
Austerity and Its Discontents
After a period of pushback, proponents of austerity are retaking the intellectual high ground and promoting responsible budgeting throughout the developed world.
Eric Hoffer: Longshoreman Philosopher
‘Any social order . . . which can function well with a minimum of leadership will be an anathema to the intellectual.’
Fallen Heroes, Never Forgotten
Toward a deeper gratitude for our freedom, with a clean pride in a country that has spilled so much of its blood for others.
Ever the Prophet, Never the King
Jim Wallis’s new book asks readers to consider what each side of the political aisle gets right and to recall an ancient religious commitment to the common good.
Hindsight Isn’t 20/20
Many lessons should be drawn from the U.S. experience in Iraq. Unfortunately, we’re not learning what we should.