Why is public policy so often reactive, convoluted, and obtuse? This political scientist has an explanation – and a way to start fixing it. Continue reading
Category Archives: Recommendations
…Check out these reports from around the web!
A Well Regulated Militia?
The Guardian and the New York Times have come out with excellent graphics looking at existing gun regulations by state and at the proposed federal gun regulations. Both raise the interesting question of how to regulate well. Continue reading
New Map of the Census
This is an amazing map of every person counted by the 2010 US and 2011 Canadian censuses. The map has 341,817,095 dots – one for each person. Continue reading
Bartlett: Revenge of the Reality-Based Community
The dissident conservative economist Bruce Bartlett has written an excellent essay about how he was exiled from the conservative world because of the conclusions he drew about the Bush administration and the Great Recession. Continue reading
Are We Actually Living Longer?
People often point to our increasing life expectancy as an argument for raising the retirement age. But the gains have not been shared equally, and are not even as large as you might expect. These graphs tell the story. Continue reading
The Psychology of Climate Change Denial
Why Hurricane Sandy, like many disasters, may not actually prompt a response to climate change. Continue reading
NY Times Interactive: 512 Paths to the White House
The New York Times has published a fascinating interactive tool that looks at the nine most competitive states. It’s going to be a great way to understand the returns as they come in tomorrow. Check it out! Continue reading
Jonathan Chait: This is a Great President
Chait endorses Obama on the merits of his first term accomplishments. Continue reading
Obama’s Off-the-Record Interview
For those of you who missed it last week, I recommend reading the interview that the President gave to the Des Moines Register, seeking their endorsement (ill-fatedly). Obama thought the interview was off-the-record, and apparently felt a little freer to reveal his political analysis of what a second term would have in store. The paper … Continue reading
XKCD: Congressional Ideologies
XKCD is amazing. Let’s compare the recent partisan polarization with the history of American political factions. Continue reading
James Hansen: Climate Change is Here
The terrible destruction of this Hurricane was a risk greatly amplified by man’s carbon emissions. Continue reading
Washington Post: Institutionalizing Drones
The second installment of the Washington Post’s special report on drones, ‘The Permanent War’, is a profile of John Brennan, and it is worth reading. Continue reading