Last night was “back to school night” in our neighborhood, that fun time where they cram all the parents into the classroom built for third graders to meet the teacher so she […]
The Gift of Social Capital
The Great Decoupling
In 1880, George Eastman developed a machine that could coat the dry photographic plates used in the sliver gelatin process. In plain English, that means he made it easier to make the […]
The Inevitability of the Machine
As long as we’ve been making computers, we’ve been trying to make them beat us at chess. That sounds like an odd thing to do with a computer out of all possible […]
The Trap
About halfway through the first quarter of the Super Bowl this year I began to get the feeling that the American consumer, or at least the corporations that sell to the American […]
The Trump Trilemma
Rodrik’s Trilemma, named for the Turkish born Harvard economist Dani Rodrik, states that a nation may have two of the following three things: national sovereignty, democracy, or deep, global economic integration. It […]
Most Favored Nation
“It depends on your assumptions” is really hard to put on a bumper sticker. Or a meme. And it’s even harder for stiff smiley politicians to talk about.
Star Wars: A Social Commentary
If you’re going to make a prequel to the most iconic, imitated and merchandized movie in modern American culture, you’ve got some pretty heavy decisions to make before doing it. And if […]
