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RI State House (photo by author) Last weekend, I attended the Rhode Island Fiscal Summit, sponsored by a Brown student group called Common Sense Action.  The group hopes to bridge the partisan divide about the national debt (good luck with that!)....

How to Structure the Ocean State?

RI State House (photo by author) Last weekend, I attended the Rhode Island Fiscal Summit, sponsored by a Brown student group called Common Sense Action.  The group hopes to bridge the partisan divide about the national debt (good luck with that!)....

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s recently proposed buyback plan for homes devastated by Hurricane Sandy is an important step towards a more sustainable America. Offering to purchase coastal dwellers’ homes for their pre-storm value (with bonuse...

New York’s Coastal Buyback Plan: Policy of the Future?

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s recently proposed buyback plan for homes devastated by Hurricane Sandy is an important step towards a more sustainable America. Offering to purchase coastal dwellers’ homes for their pre-storm value (with bonuse...

Photo by author Here, urban density and neighborhood spirit combine to make a fun community. Having a lot at hand is especially important in a place like RI where we can get two feet of snow. Many places with high density have a strong neighborhood s...

Wayland Square and Mixed-Use Development

Photo by author Here, urban density and neighborhood spirit combine to make a fun community. Having a lot at hand is especially important in a place like RI where we can get two feet of snow. Many places with high density have a strong neighborhood s...

Urbanist Richard Florida talks often about hub cities. These are cities that define a region – Atlanta in the Southeast, Boston in New England, New York City and DC in the middle. Young educated people roll down into these cities like marbles on th...

There’s No Shame in Being a Spoke off the Hub

Urbanist Richard Florida talks often about hub cities. These are cities that define a region – Atlanta in the Southeast, Boston in New England, New York City and DC in the middle. Young educated people roll down into these cities like marbles on th...

Editor’s Note: The following guest column comes to us from Graham Sheridan, master of public affairs candidate at Brown University’s Taubman Center for Public Policy.  Image by Bjoertvedt As Congress comes to the teetering edge of the fi...

The Perfect End to “Starve the Beast”

Editor’s Note: The following guest column comes to us from Graham Sheridan, master of public affairs candidate at Brown University’s Taubman Center for Public Policy.  Image by Bjoertvedt As Congress comes to the teetering edge of the fi...

Image by Winnerslay It’s not clear that gun control could have prevented the killing of 20 children and 7 adults in Newtown, Connecticut this past Friday. The weapons used by gunman Adam Lanza were owned legally by Lanza’s mother. A few states (b...

Is Gun Control the Answer? Maybe, But Do It Anyway

Image by Winnerslay It’s not clear that gun control could have prevented the killing of 20 children and 7 adults in Newtown, Connecticut this past Friday. The weapons used by gunman Adam Lanza were owned legally by Lanza’s mother. A few states (b...

Rhode Island Supreme Court Building (by chensiyuan) Harvard Law School professor Noah Feldman wrote an interesting article last week in Bloomberg about the Rhode Island Pension crisis. His main points are: 1) government has the right to modify contr...

The Role of the Courts in RI Pension Reform

Rhode Island Supreme Court Building (by chensiyuan) Harvard Law School professor Noah Feldman wrote an interesting article last week in Bloomberg about the Rhode Island Pension crisis. His main points are: 1) government has the right to modify contr...

“The Comeback Kid.” Such was President Bill Clinton’s self-branded title following the 1992 New Hampshire presidential primary. It was a fitting nickname, and an especially meaningful one from a swing state like New Hampshire. Bogged down at th...

The Clinton Comeback

“The Comeback Kid.” Such was President Bill Clinton’s self-branded title following the 1992 New Hampshire presidential primary. It was a fitting nickname, and an especially meaningful one from a swing state like New Hampshire. Bogged down at th...

Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act (from Wikimedia Commons) I’ve come to view Paul Krugman as belligerent and repetitive, but he’s still a smart writer who can turn a phrase. Last year Krugman noted that the federal government is essentially...

Take From the Young, Give to the Old

Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act (from Wikimedia Commons) I’ve come to view Paul Krugman as belligerent and repetitive, but he’s still a smart writer who can turn a phrase. Last year Krugman noted that the federal government is essentially...

Bill O’Reilly (by Justin Hoch) On election night, Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly said, regarding the demographic shifts that helped President Obama win reelection, “It’s not a traditional America anymore.” O’Reilly went on to say that many...

America: A Tradition Like No Other

Bill O’Reilly (by Justin Hoch) On election night, Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly said, regarding the demographic shifts that helped President Obama win reelection, “It’s not a traditional America anymore.” O’Reilly went on to say that many...

I would like to think that this year’s elections have rendered a negative verdict on the practice of political pledges. Few are unfamiliar with the now classic hand-raising (or lack thereof) moment in the GOP primaries in which all of the candi...

The Idiocy of the Pledge

I would like to think that this year’s elections have rendered a negative verdict on the practice of political pledges. Few are unfamiliar with the now classic hand-raising (or lack thereof) moment in the GOP primaries in which all of the candi...

At first, the answer to this question is easy. Another term in the White House, two additional Senate seats, and eight new blue Congressmen. Liberal marijuana or gay rights votes passed in almost 10 states. But beyond the veneer, is this reflective o...

Did the Democrats Win on Election Day?

At first, the answer to this question is easy. Another term in the White House, two additional Senate seats, and eight new blue Congressmen. Liberal marijuana or gay rights votes passed in almost 10 states. But beyond the veneer, is this reflective o...