In an era where prescription drug manufacturers seem to be raising prices on life-saving medicines left and right, citizens across the U.S. are looking towards our leaders to help get the costs under control. Fortunately, one state seems to be willing to take the lead on those efforts. Last June, Vermont legislators enacted a new
The election of Donald Trump has emboldened the white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and everyday jerks among us. Who knew so many folks would hear Trump’s repetitive, simplified, small-word vocabulary and exclaim, “He says what we’re thinking”? Many of us were sure, as Martin Luther King Jr. said, that the arc of the moral universe had been
Since 2010, a new free trade agreement has been in the works, known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). While the agreement has some notable aspects, like it’s ability to “spur U.S. exports of mechanical and electrical equipment, advanced materials, pharmaceuticals and many other goods” by cutting tariffs and non-tariff trade barriers, some are concerned that
How many times have you heard political conservatives say that the best government is small government? That the closer a government is to the governed, the more responsive and responsible it will be, and the likelier it is to both serve the needs and protect the rights of people like you and me? Local ordinances
A two-year investigation conducted by the Justice Department has uncovered some unsettling news. Throughout the state of Louisiana, an estimated 4,000 mentally ill people are being kept, unnecessarily, in expensive nursing homes with little to no contact with friends and family. They’re being deprived of independent living, all because the state has failed to provide
In yesterday’s post, I discussed how the economic concept of supply and demand works in terms of actual prices of commodities like oil, and how it can also be applied to other “markets” where people are metaphorically buying and selling other commodities, such as marriage. Today, I’d like to extend that idea a little further. Market
For many people across the country, especially those on a tight budget, tax return season means tax refunds. Some look forward to putting their refunds towards paying off debt, while others use the money for rent or paying bills and other expenses. Unfortunately, many taxpayers can expect a delay in their refunds this year, thanks
The concept of supply and demand is fundamental to the study of economics, but it’s also a useful tool for understanding many other things that go on in the world. Everybody’s selling something, and everybody’s buying something else. It doesn’t have to be goods or services. It can be ideas, for example, or affection. Supply
Earlier this month, a warehouse fire consumed an artist-collective building dubbed the “Ghost Ship” during a music performance and party. Tragically, 36 people lost their lives in what many are calling an accident. Some blame the fire on too many people crammed into a small space already riddled with building-code violations. For others, however, calling
As if women didn’t have enough on their plates, now they have to be wary about lead levels in their cosmetic products, particularly their lipsticks, eyeshadows, blush, and body lotions. Recently, the FDA released a draft of new guidelines to help regulate lead levels in cosmetic products, with lipstick being the big one. Wait a