Wheeling, West Virginia Correspondent — In my part of the country a lot of families borrowed heavily for degrees that never produced the jobs or the earnings they were promised. I know men who worked thirty years in a mill, got out with nothing, and then cosigned for a child who's now carrying forty thousand … Continue reading Is the current model of college education sustainable given rising student debt and questions about the actual value of many degrees?
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How should the United States address the long-term fiscal consequences of repeated short-term continuing resolutions and debt-ceiling crises?
Dayton, Ohio Correspondent — You can't run a serious manufacturing operation on three-month continuing resolutions, and you can't run a government that way either. We've had two shutdowns this year and we're sitting in a third as I speak. The brinkmanship raises uncertainty for everyone who depends on federal funding and distracts from the actual … Continue reading How should the United States address the long-term fiscal consequences of repeated short-term continuing resolutions and debt-ceiling crises?
Will the increasing concentration of economic and political power in a small number of technology companies eventually require structural remedies similar to earlier antitrust actions?
Clermont, Florida Correspondent — Most people don't wake up wanting to break up large technology companies. They want the services to work and they don't want to feel manipulated, and I'd say this spring did more to move the second half of that sentence than a decade of antitrust commentary did. My concern is narrower … Continue reading Will the increasing concentration of economic and political power in a small number of technology companies eventually require structural remedies similar to earlier antitrust actions?
Should members of Congress who used taxpayer funds to settle sexual misconduct claims be required to repay those funds, resign, or face prosecution?
Wheeling, West Virginia Correspondent — We've watched powerful people protect each other for a long time in this country, and I spent thirty years on the union side of that arrangement, so I'm not new to it. When the settlement money comes out of public funds, it stops being a private personnel matter. Ordinary workers … Continue reading Should members of Congress who used taxpayer funds to settle sexual misconduct claims be required to repay those funds, resign, or face prosecution?
Is the growing use of tariffs as a primary tool of trade policy more likely to strengthen or weaken long-term U.S. manufacturing competitiveness?
Dayton, Ohio Correspondent — I've spent most of my working life in manufacturing, first in quality and later in process engineering. Tariffs can serve a purpose when you're dealing with clear subsidy or dumping. They can keep a line running long enough for a company to retool or renegotiate supplier contracts. I watched that happen … Continue reading Is the growing use of tariffs as a primary tool of trade policy more likely to strengthen or weaken long-term U.S. manufacturing competitiveness?
What does the year-end government shutdown over border-wall funding suggest about the state of budget negotiations and immigration politics in Washington?
Las Vegas, Nevada Correspondent I read budget hearings for pleasure, which is a confession, and I want to begin with the thing that nobody covering this shutdown has bothered to say, which is that 2018 was the best year for the federal appropriations process in a decade. Five of the twelve spending bills, including the … Continue reading What does the year-end government shutdown over border-wall funding suggest about the state of budget negotiations and immigration politics in Washington?
How has the #MeToo movement evolved in 2018 beyond high-profile cases, and what lasting institutional changes, if any, has it produced in workplaces and public life?
Long Island, New York Correspondent I have worked in and around the law for thirty years, in a district attorney's office, a school district, and a practice that handles the letters people write when they discover the rules apply to them, and I want to answer this question by pointing to the one change this … Continue reading How has the #MeToo movement evolved in 2018 beyond high-profile cases, and what lasting institutional changes, if any, has it produced in workplaces and public life?
What do the California wildfires and other extreme weather events of 2018 indicate about the readiness of governments and insurers for climate-related disasters?
Clermont, Florida Correspondent I follow insurance and property markets for a living, and I want to start with a fact that explains more about readiness than any climate report: a small insurer in California called Merced Property and Casualty was declared insolvent on Monday because it wrote homeowners policies in Paradise and Paradise is gone. … Continue reading What do the California wildfires and other extreme weather events of 2018 indicate about the readiness of governments and insurers for climate-related disasters?
Is the growing migrant caravan from Central America primarily a humanitarian, security, or political issue, and what policy responses does it demand?
Prescott Valley, Arizona Correspondent The question gives me three boxes to choose from, and I taught long enough to distrust any question that comes with its own boxes, so let me say at the outset that the caravan is all three and that the order in which a person ranks them tells you more about … Continue reading Is the growing migrant caravan from Central America primarily a humanitarian, security, or political issue, and what policy responses does it demand?
Is the United Kingdom on a sustainable path toward an orderly Brexit, or is the process heading toward deeper political and economic disruption?
Sydney, Australia Correspondent Australians have a particular stake in this question, and not the sentimental one. Britain is the country that left us behind once already, in 1973, when it joined the Common Market and gave up Commonwealth preference, and the Australian economy spent a decade reorienting toward Japan and then China as a result. … Continue reading Is the United Kingdom on a sustainable path toward an orderly Brexit, or is the process heading toward deeper political and economic disruption?
