Economics

The Coming War of Civilizations

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Media coverage of world events focuses on one crisis at a time, as if each was a separate phenomenon. But Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas war, the assaults on shipping in the Red Sea, China’s threats on Tawain, the closing of the Red Sea  read more »

The California Whimper

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As the glint of the Golden State - rub worn by misdirection, doubt, and fear - fades just another little bit each day  read more »

Transportation Policy and the Ukrainians

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The dominant philosophy that guides North American land use and transportation policy is advocacy of car ownership. The logic is simple. If you have a car you have automatic access to a wide variety of geographic employment options at any time of the day or night regardless of weather.  read more »

How to Shrink a Fortune

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For generations, millions have come to California to make their fortunes, relying on the state’s own seemingly limitless fortune of natural resources, favorable climate, and economic opportunity.  read more »

The Cost of Opportunity Cost Blindness to Riders and Taxpayers

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New research by Yadi Wang and David Levinson at the University of Sydney (Australia) casts considerable doubt on the outcomes of major transit projects in the United States  read more »

Illinois: Skilled Moving In, Unskilled Moving Out — At a New Loss

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Too often, people interpret population numbers at face value and make a determination of a place’s success or failure based on absolute numbers.  read more »

Why the Right is Eating the Left's Lunch

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The Western world is experiencing the most dramatic political realignment since the rise of socialism over a century ago. The driving force then was the rise of the working class, created by the Industrial Revolution.  read more »

The Road to Autocracy

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Ernst Nolte’s Three Faces of Fascism examined the three devastating ideologies that led to the undermining of European democracy in the 1930s. Today, democratic life is also under threat – and there are also three basic forms that this authoritarian threat takes.  read more »

Property: The Myth That Built the World

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Joel Kotkin reviews the recently released book, Property: The Myth That Built the World, by Rowan Moore. The review is excerpted below:  read more »

The Gloomy Future Facing Trade Unions

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Few developments have more cheered progressive activists than the perceived resurgence of labor unions. This has been sparked by largely symbolic efforts to unionize in places such as Starbucks and Amazon  read more »