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Posted inEconomic Policy
Liberalism, Socialism, and Democracy
What, if anything, can be usefully salvaged from the socialist tradition, now that communism lies in final disgrace? Paul Starr argued in these pages last fall that four developments — the implosion of communism, the collapse of efforts to reform communism from within, the failure of socialism in the Third World, and the shift of […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
The Pressure Elite: Inside the Narrow World of Advocacy Group Politics
Today’s advocacy groups are remotely democratic—all too remotely.
Posted inEconomic Policy
Bringing Fathers Back In: The Child Support Assurance Strategy
Holding absent fathers financially accountable, while providing a minimum assured benefit for child support, could reduce child poverty significantly and help millions of single mothers move out of dependency.
Posted inLaw and Justice
Rehnquist’s Road to Serfdom: The Ominous Message of -Rust v. Sullivan-
An Orwellian Supreme Court decision creates a false choice between social benefits and individual rights.
Posted inEnergy and the Environment
The Great Environmental Awakening
Conservatives called environmentalism elitist and inconsistent with old American values. But look who’s green now.
Posted inEconomic Policy
The Myth of a Savings Shortage
A precipitous decline in saving during the 1980s? A closer look shows it isn’t so.
Posted inHealth and Social Policy
States First: The Other Path to National Health Reform
As a state legislator in Massachusetts since 1985, I have seen the best and worst of state health policy-making. In 1988 the Massachusetts Legislature approved a measure intended to guarantee health insurance to all 600,000 uninsured state residents. The early steps under the law, covering students, the unemployed, and disabled adults and children, were preludes […]