Media

In Wednesday’s GOP presidential debate in Arizona a predictable event occurred. When the issue of immigration came up--finally, after some 45 minutes--candidates fought to strike the harshest chord. Further, each candidate assured the base that they would not only drop the Federal lawsuits against Arizona’s harsh immigration laws but turn it into a national model.

Here’s another reason to not like Wall Street, as if we needed more: Gas prices are rising right now not just because of instability in the Middle East, but as a result of Wall Street speculators and traders. Recent reporting indicates that speculators and traders are holding on to a record number of gasoline contracts, equal to roughly 44 percent of U.S. inventories of gasoline.

Few would disagree that the United States needs to stay on the cutting edge of science and technology in order to remain a global economic powerhouse. Stop innovating in today's high-tech era and we'll be left behind by those countries that do.

Where there is ever less agreement, though, is what the proper role is for government in helping to spur innovation. No surprise there, since everything government does is now being fiercely contested.

At the University of Virginia, 17 students (now including a member of the school’s beloved athletic program) are entering the 7th day of a hunger strike, calling for living wages for all campus employees. 

“It’s a disgrace that this is happening in a country as rich as ours,” former New York Times op-ed columnist Bob Herbert said, describing what he called a “massive employment crisis” in the U.S.

Herbert, a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the economic equality think tank Demos, delivered his lecture on “A Call to Civic Engagement” as part of SIPA’s Weston lecture series.

Here is a question you shouldn't have to think on too hard.

What is a more likely scenario in the next ten or twenty years: A) the United States economy is dealt a grievous blow by an energy crisis that, say, is brought on by a disruption of oil supplies from the Persian Gulf; or B) the U.S. faces a military showdown with a foe that possesses more advanced weaponry than we do?

The more we learn about Super PACs, the uglier the picture gets.

Ahead of the 20th UN Conference on Sustainable Development in June, Oxfam has released a discussion paper that presents a model that could help eradicate poverty while at the same time is environmentally sustainable.

One of the major companies responsible for the nation’s credit meltdown will now control your personal credit history.