Features
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Controversy: The Rhetoric of "Corporate Welfare"
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Below the Beltway: New Labor, New Democrats -- New Alliance?
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The Myth of the Supermayor
A new breed of supermayor is supposed to be revitalizing the nation's cities. So let's visit the city and mayor often held up these days as a model for America.
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Storylines: Tough Chat
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Devil in the Details
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How Low Can You Go?
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Of Our Time: Constraining Capital, Liberating Politics
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State of the Debate: Lessons of Right-Wing Philanthropy
It is well known that the conservative movement has for years enjoyed a decided financial advantage on the battleground of ideas -- they have far more corporate and foundation support than liberals. But conservatives don't just have more money; they spend it better, too.
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State of the Debate: The Rise and Fall of Racialized Liberalism
Liberalism took a fateful turn in the 1960s by redefining reform in racial terms. Two new books on urban politics sometimes overstate their case against recent liberal policies, but they help clarify what went wrong.
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Essay: Web of Paradox
The language of our emerging digital culture suggests adventure, daring, and unprecedented novelty, while we sit comfortably at our desks, alone, communing with our computer screens. Are we being taken in by our own metaphors?
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No Dumping
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The Great Carjacking
Public outrage about auto insurance costs -- which almost derailed Christine Todd Whitman's re-election in New Jersey -- is symptomatic of a deeper problem that reforms typically fail to confront.
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What Japan Teaches Us Now
Japan's economic crisis is a case study in the long-term costs of protecting inefficient industries. Yet it also shows how the pressures for protectionism become irresistible without a strong safety net and policies to aid displaced workers.
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A Fast Track for Labor
Saying no to trade agreements won't stop trade. Labor's advocates need to support realistic proposals for modifying NAFTA and other pacts.
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America's Next Achievement Test
Despite significant improvement in recent decades, blacks still score consistently lower than whites on tests of academic performance. But recent studies show that the gap is not genetic in origin and suggest how it can be closed.
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Rooting the Home Team
All over America, owners are demanding extravagant subsidies and tax breaks for new stadiums. If communities want to keep their teams, there's often a cheaper solution than giving way to these demands. Follow the example of Green Bay.
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The Still-Industrial City
In Chicago, like most other big cities in America, manufacturing was once the core of the urban economy -- until recent decades, when most of it moved out to suburban areas and beyond. But while much smaller today, manufacturing still makes a vital contribution that cities should work hard to maintain.
