In The News

After Bush

March 27, 2008
The Bush administration has been bedeviled by foreign-policy problems – and the Economist predicts that Bush’s successor will struggle likewise. To be sure, Democrats and Republicans have foreign-policy differences: Democrats oppose the war in Iraq, favoring multilateralism and diplomacy, while Republicans remain committed hawks. Inheriting an overburdened national-security establishment, the...

Shade Crusade: Why City Trees Are Good Medicine

Sandra Hines March 24, 2008
The largest cities in the US have lost more than 25 percent of their tree canopies since 1972. Even as concern about climate change mounts and consumers pursue products that are environmentally friendly, cities remove trees of all sizes, including ones that are more than 100 years old, for new construction and easy maintenance. Reducing storm run-off, removing pollutants from the air and...

Let’s Try a Dose. We’re Bound to Feel Better

Jacob S. Hacker March 23, 2008
Republicans have criticized Democratic health-care reform plans that rely on greater government involvement, arguing government will only increase costs and diminish the quality of care. Yet, Yale political science Professor Jacob Hacker suggests that the US government has a role in health care – ensuring care for the elderly. He cites how Medicare’s increases in expenditure rates compare...

Italian Waste Hits New Snag

Judy Fahys March 11, 2008
Utah is more remote than Italy, with about 30 people per square mile to Italy’s 5000. That doesn’t mean Utahns want 20,000 tons of radioactive waste from Italy buried in their deserts. “We believe that any country that has the technological capability of producing nuclear power within its borders should not seek to dispose of its waste outside them,” reads a letter from a state advisory board...

Chavez Picks a New Fight, With Colombia

Peter Wilson March 4, 2008
Nationalistic economic policies have led to shortages of staples including milk and eggs, and high inflation rates in Venezuela, the highest in South America. Colombia President Álvaro Uribe and Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez have squabbled over both rebels and a recent free-trade pact between Colombia and the US, yet to be approved by Congress. After the killing of a Colombian rebel...

The Lure of Protectionism in Ohio

Susan Froetschel, Morgan Robinson March 3, 2008
Ohio, part of the country’s Rust Belt, was a swing state in the 2004 US presidential election, and the state’s voters will play a big role deciding the 2008 Democratic nominee and probably the next president of the United States. Their choice might set the US agenda for global economy. As one of the country’s leading manufacturing states, Ohio suffers as companies shift factory jobs to low-wage...

Running for Cover

February 28, 2008
In a relatively rare instance of policy – rather than personal – disagreement, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama hold differing views on how to make sure Americans have health insurance. While Clinton proposes an individual mandate, Obama contends that making health care affordable is the only way to achieve true universal coverage. Individual mandates have run into trouble, in legislation in...