Campaign 2016 and the 420: Marijuana Policy and the Coming of Big Weed
Is there a coming tipping point for marijuana legalization? What are the implications for public policy? And what do the 2016 candidates think?
Read more...Category Archives: Social values
Spillovers of Pro-Social Motivation: Evidence From a Randomised Intervention Study on Blood Donors
Evidence suggests that people are more likely to behave in a pro-social way if they are aware of others who behave in such a manner. This column finds evidence for this phenomenon among blood donors. For every unit increase in a donor’s motivation, there is a 44% spillover in motivation to their fellow tenant. There is an overall increase in donation rates due to such a social multiplier of 17.9 percentage points, instead of the 10 percentage points obtained by calling an isolated donor.
Read more...Crane Brinton on Revolution
Some extracts from Crane Brinton’s Anatomy of Revolution, considered.
Read more...Doug Smith: Labor Day? Let’s Tell The Truth And Call It “Assets Day”
It’s not for nothing that Ambrose Bierce wrote in The Devil’s Dictionary: “Labor: One of the processes by which A acquires property for B.”
Read more...Don Quijones: Mexican Gourmet Chefs Sharpen Knives in Monsanto GMO War
GMOs have had a hard time in Mexico.
Read more...Household Labor, Caring Labor, Unpaid Labor
A discussion of the practical and policy implications of failing to measure household labor and production.
Read more...The Real Dark Side of Health Care: Health Care Corruption
A top journal excoriated two doctors who engaged in disrespectful behavior, but is vastly less vigilant or heated when faced with health care corruption, as in the sort of conduct that can and often does kill people.
Read more...King Coal, Dethroned, and Its Aftermath
The history the coal industry is tragic and its collapse is its grim final act.
Read more...Robert Reich: In the New Economy, Workers Take on All the Risk
More Americans than ever don’t know what they’ll be earning next week. That’s why we need income insurance.
Read more...Bill Maher, New York Times Op Ed on the “Post Greed is Good Economy”
Bill Maher has a devastating short segment on the “post greed is good” world, as exemplified by the “sharing economy.” In a bit of synchronicity, a New York Times op ed by a former high-end restaurant captain covered similar themes.
Read more...“How Complex Systems Fail”
Complex systems are prone to catastrophic failure. Have we come to embrace policies and values that increase the odds of failure?
Read more...The Teach For America Bait and Switch: From ‘You’ll Be Making a Difference’ to ‘You’re Making Excuses’
A report from an insider on organization dedicated to scabbing known as Teach for America.
Read more...Why Bernie Sanders Should Add a Job Guarantee to His Policy Agenda
Bernie has unapologetically rejected sclerotic visions of what is ‘politically possible’. And now he should add the Job Guarantee to his list of issues.
Read more...Robert Reich: Having a Life (Sort of) as a New Perk for “Talent”
If “talent” gets only itty bitty relief from extreme workplace demands, and that due to media pressure, imagine what it’s like for the help.
Read more...Glen Ford and Bruce Dixon on #BlackLivesMatter and the Black Misleadership Class
Glen Ford and Bruce Dixon of Black Agenda Report discuss how BlackLivesMatter seems to be abandoning its campaign against police brutality to become a tool of the black misleadership class.
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