Congress ties Postal Service into knots
Told to operate like a business but prevented from thriving like one, the Postal Service is the victim of politicians who either wanted it fail or had a remarkable lack of foresight.
“The Other America” revisited
An interview with Professor Maurice Isserman, Michael Harrington's biographer, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Harrington's landmark examination of poverty in America.
Exaggerating harm of Treasury’s continued GM stock ownership
Does the fact that the Treasury Department still has a significant stake in GM stigmatize the company? Give it a negative “Government Motors” reputation among investors or consumers? There’s lot of chatter but little evidence. And analysts say that the company’s reputation hinges more on it’s product line-up and profit outlook.
Underfunding of voter registration: a guarantee that 25 percent or more of Americans won’t participate
According to the Census Bureau, even during presidential election years, at least a quarter of the eligible electorate has been unregistered in the period from 1980 through 2008. But current voter registration efforts don’t come close to meeting the need, especially because so much of registration under the U.S. system is highly labor-intensive.
Don’t be fooled by “common sense”
Politicians have used and abused the term “common sense” for a long time. A discussion of the history of the term and why appeals to common sense need to be scrutinized carefully.
Leaving the picket fence behind
Though engaging marketing has shifted consumer preferences on a range of products, people tend to think that preferences for traditional suburban neighborhoods are set in stone. Advertisers say they’re wrong.
Two-tier morality? Catholic Bishops' anti-poverty advocacy lags
In U.S., less political muscle expended on battling structural causes of poverty than on fighting “intrinsic evils.”
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