Romney’s backers say he did the tough work needed to restructure the economy. Actually, he seized opportunities that the tax, securities, and bankruptcy laws should never have given him.
Paul Starr
Paul Starr is co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect, and professor of sociology and public affairs at Princeton University. A winner of the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction and the Bancroft Prize in American history, he is the author of eight books, including American Contradiction: Revolution and Revenge from the 1950s to Now (Yale University Press, October 2025).
Posted inBooks, Arts and Culture
The Fanatics of the Center
Moderation has its zealots, so convinced of their righteousness that they ignore the likely impact of their actions.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
The Case for a Clinton-Biden Switch
Putting the current secretary of state on the presidential ticket could be Obama’s best shot at re-election.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Obama’s Fate — and Ours
We’re about to find out if the president is a Jimmy Carter or a Harry Truman. The scary part is it may not make a difference in the 2012 election.
Posted inHealth and Social Policy
The Medicare Bind
Democrats should defend Medicare. But if they want to accomplish much else, they will have to change it.
Posted inArticle
The Ultimate Republican Threat
The Constitution did not omit limits on taxes and borrowing because of an oversight.
Posted inBooks, Arts and Culture
The Manichean World of Tim Wu
For the past dozen years, several distinguished thinkers about law and technology have warned that a golden age of Internet freedom may be about to close. The most influential alarm-ringer has been Lawrence Lessig, who argued in his 1999 book, Code, that under corporate and governmental pressures, the Net could be flipped to serve top-down […]
Posted inColumns
The Demise of the Moderate Republican
As the GOP presidential field shapes up, it’s become clear that any moderate restraints on the party are now gone.
Posted inDepartments
The Healthy Fallout From Fukushima
The nuclear disaster in Japan might show the safety risks of nuclear energy, but the costs don’t stop there.
Posted inColumns
Troubled States
The recession will take its biggest toll on the states this year. We could fix that.
