Uber, Airbnb, Seamless, Waze—Twenty years ago these concepts were a distant impossibility. Smart phone technology has given programmers, computer scientists and entrepreneurs tools to revolutionize traditional industries like hospitality, transportation and su... More »
Most countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) offer one form or another of tax breaks for commuting expenses. In countries like Germany and Denmark, the cost of commuting to and from one’s place of work is exempted from tax... More »
Over the past several decades, public sector unionization rates have held fairly steady, even as private sector unionization rates have plummeted. Among economists and social scientists, a debate persists as to whether public sector unions serve the public int... More »
Dehumanization is the process through which we come to believe that a person cannot think, feel, and behave intentionally, nor experience right and wrong. A substantial body of literature from the social sciences posits that dehumanization may be the psycholog... More »
In October 2017, Richard Thaler won the University of Chicago its 29th Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to behavioral economics. Stockholm’s nod to Thaler is less coup than coronation, of both Thaler himself and of the broad applicability... More »
U.S. presidents make up perhaps the most analyzed collection of individuals in the entire world. Researchers routinely mine demographic, electoral and biographical data to gain insights into the composition of the 45-entry dataset and to better understand the ... More »
In 2016, the FBI reported a 4.1 percent increase in violent crime from the previous year. With more than 1.2 million incidences, that report claims that cities like Chicago, Baltimore, and Las Vegas—cities that have all struggled with pervasive crime for decad... More »
In the early nineties, politicians took up the task of reforming America’s welfare system. A bipartisan effort led to the creation of an employment-focused entitlement program: The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996. Popularly known as “w... More »
North Korea conducted three nuclear tests between 2006 and 2013, but this rate has intensified to three tests in the past two years alone. This threat of unchecked nuclear escalation has led to an all-time low in U.S.–North Korea relations and turned East Asia... More »
Policymakers use tax penalties and incentives as a mechanism to modify the public’s behavior. Cigarette taxes are one of the most obvious examples of such a policy. As a matter of public health, society would be better off if fewer people smoked cigarettes—rai... More »
Initiatives that aim to address geographically concentrated poverty often focus on providing affordable housing. While such housing projects may increase quality of life for residents, they are unlikely to reduce the concentration of poverty in particular area... More »
On October 6, the Trump Administration rolled back the federal requirement that all employers must include birth control coverage in their health insurance plans. As a result, some employees will be asked to pay for contraceptives on their own. By making contr... More »