California Leaders Double Down on Dry
“What do we do with this worthless area, the region of savages and wild beasts, of shifting sands and whirlwinds of dust, of cactus and prairie dogs? To what use could we ever hope to put these great deserts and these endless mountain ranges?” – U.S. Secretary of State Daniel Webster, on the American West, 1852 […]
A $15 Minimum Wage Is A Booby Prize For American Workers
In principle, there is solid moral ground for the recent drive to boost the minimum wage to $15, with California and New York State taking dramatic steps Monday toward that goal. Low-wage workers have been losing ground for decades, as stagnant incomes have been eroded by higher living costs. This has been particularly tragic for workers in […]
Aristocracy of Talent: Social Mobility Is the Silver Lining to America’s Inequality Crisis
Yes, wealth concentration is insane. But the ways in which wealth is shifting are surprising—and give reason for a little optimism. In an age of oligarchy, one should try to know one’s overlords—how they made their money, and where they want to take the country. By looking at the progress of the super-rich — in […]
Trumpism: America’s Berlusconi Moment
Trump envisioned and created today’s city of white boxes for rootless new money types, who dominate the city even as they leave little mark here. An old joke—that in heaven, the Italians do the cooking; in hell, they run the government—feels a lot darker now that American politics are taking an Italian turn. Since the […]
Farewell, Grand Old Party
The increased likelihood of Donald Trump as the GOP presidential nominee, as evidenced by his win in Florida and other states last week, spells the end of the Republican Party as we have known it. Successful political parties unite interests under a broadly shared policy agenda. The Clinton Democrats may seem ethically challenged, condescending and […]
Mass Transit Expansion Goes Off The Rails In Many U.S. Cities
Journalists in older cities like New York, Boston or San Francisco may see the role of rail transit as critical to a functioning modern city. In reality, rail transit has been a financial and policy failure outside of a handful of cities. In 23 metropolitan areas that have built new rail systems since 1970, transit’s share of […]
California Valued For Cash, Not Candidates
California may be the country’s most important and influential state for technology, culture and lifestyle, but has become something of a cipher in terms of providing national political leaders. Not one California politician entered the 2016 presidential race in either party and, looking over the landscape, it’s difficult to see even a potential contender emerging […]
The Effect of Race on the Race
Until now, the presidential campaign largely has been dominated by issues of class, driving the improbable rise of both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. But as we head toward Super Tuesday – which will focus largely on Southern states – racial issues may assume greater importance. In the next few weeks, you can pick your states and […]
We Now Join the U.S. Class War Already in Progress
Neither Trump nor Sanders started the nation’s current class war—the biggest fight over class since the New Deal—but both candidates, as different as they are, have benefited. Class is back. Arguably, for the first time since the New Deal, class is the dominant political issue. Virtually every candidate has tried appealing to class concerns, particularly […]
This Is Why You Can’t Afford a House
The rising cost of housing is one of the greatest burdens on the American middle class. So why hasn’t it become a key issue in the presidential primaries? There’s little argument that inequality, and the depressed prospects for the middle class, will be a dominant issue this year’s election. Yet the most powerful force shaping […]