ehm1212

Tim Fernholz on the progressive approach to deficit reduction: With the economy stumbling towards recovery — we’ll know more after this week’s unemployment numbers are released — deficit worriers and those with a political ax to grind are complaining about the budget shortfall and the accompanying national debt, and placing blame on President Barack Obama […]

Alyssa Katz explains how New York could create affordable housing from its empty glass condo buildings and failed takeover projects: Commuters arriving in Brooklyn via the Manhattan Bridge are greeted with a shiny vision of New York City’s future that never came to be: condo buildings with names like the Oro, the Toren, and Forté, […]

Spencer Ackerman on Samantha Power‘s book A Problem from Hell: Liberalism in the 20th century made two enduring contributions to American foreign policy. Early on, it contended that global stability and prosperity were better guaranteed by architectures of international cooperation than by great-power competition. Later, it brought the human-rights revolution to the center of geopolitics, […]

Courtney Martin maps out a path for American self-improvement: As the new decade dawns, plenty of institutions — from gyms to retailers to churches — will be trying to capitalize on the resolution spirit. The advertising copy promises: Now’s the time to join, to run, to buy. Our usually frenetic pace slows, and we’re all […]

Alec MacGillis profiles urban studies theorist Richard Florida: In April 2006, the Richard Florida show arrived in the Southern Tier of Upstate New York. It was only one of the scores of appearances this decade by the economic-development guru, whose speaking fee soared to $35,000 not long after his 2002 book The Rise of the […]

Paul Starr on Obama‘s first year: As Barack Obama ends his first year in office, there is much talk about disillusionment with the president among progressives. The litany of complaints is obvious: unemployment still at 10 percent, economic policies unduly favorable to Wall Street, the surge in Afghanistan, compromises on health care, the failure to […]

Matthew Yglesias on Obama‘s foreign policy: As Barack Obama’s first year in office comes to a close, grumbling about his alleged shortcomings has become a favorite pastime among liberals. The reality, however, is that a president’s room to move on most policy areas is severely constrained by the realities of congressional politics. The major exception […]

Adam Serwer explains how Dick Cheney plays a convenient foil to Barack Obama: According to John Bolton, the conservative magazine Human Events chose Dick Cheney as its “conservative of the year” because of his “persuasive positions on substantive policy matters.” In fact, Cheney was chosen for his ability to effectively manipulate American fear to defend […]

Ann Friedman argues that U.S. intervention has never been and won’t become a force for humanitarianism: In the spring of 2008 I wrote a column, “Listening to Iraq,” in which I lamented the lack of access that most Americans had to the voices and opinions of the people most affected by the ongoing war. This […]

Michelle Goldberg on cosmetic surgery, taxation, and the beauty myth: Late last month, Terry O’Neill, president of the National Organization for Women, came out against a proposal for a 5 percent tax on cosmetic surgery to help offset the cost of health care reform. Speaking to The New York Times, O’Neill argued that for some […]