Articles 1998
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Foreign policy in Silicon Valley
Forbes, May 31, 1998
INFLUENTIAL New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman visited Silicon Valley recently, and he didn't like what he found. Busy with their high- tech endeavors, the businesspeople he interviewed weren't interested in the things Friedman cares about. They didn't talk about Iraq or foreign wars. They were none too respectful toward the federal government.
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The Politics of Privacy
Forbes ASAP, May 31, 1998
SUPPOSE I AM A FIFTH GRADER selling Girl Scout cookies. Commercially ambitious and a bit of a geek, I don't just peddle them to the neighbors. I set up a Web site and take orders by email. And who should order six boxes of Tagalongs but Billy Jones -- the cutest boy in the class! I shoot a message to my best friend, Susan, telling her about the order. "I think he likes me -- what do you think?" Susan forwards it to Rachel, who sends it to Casey, who tells Holly, who tells her brother Sam, who tells his friend Steve . . . and pretty soon everybody in the fifth grade knows all about Billy and me.
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The Sierra Club's Immigration Problem
Environmentalists' retreat on anti-immigration stance is just a blip on their agenda.
Los Angeles Times, May 05, 1998
A cultural-political movement opposed to mobility and change will, over time, come to support restrictions on technology, trade, and, yes, immigration—regardless of what its leftist allies think. -
Unions Forever
A new vision for America's workers.
Reason, May 1998
After a brief boost following the United Parcel Service strike, American labor unions continue to struggle. With individual workers increasingly able to strike good deals for themselves, and flexibility valued highly by both employees and employers, traditional union solidarity and detailed rules are neither as popular nor as successful as they once were
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A Net of Plenty
Making room for the worst and the best
Forbes ASAP, April 04, 1998
CRITICS HAVE FOUND plenty to fear on the Internet: too many weird political beliefs, too much sex, too many strange religions, too much untamed communication.
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License to Grill
How the Clintons invited Ken Starr into their personal lives.
Reason, April 1998
Like just about everyone else in America, I believe Bill Clinton had a sexual affair--if not dictionary-definition "sexual relations"--with intern Monica Lewinsky. I think it's likely, though by no means a sure thing, that he lied about that affair in a sworn deposition. And I wouldn't put it past him to suborn perjury or obstruct justice, though the evidence at this writing is very murky on those serious charges
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Let's Pretend
The "pageant" masquerading as environmental debate.
Reason, March 1998
There is something weirdly appropriate about beginning the Unabomber trial a few weeks after the Kyoto summit to craft a global-warming treaty.
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Pride and Prejudice
Competition and feedback are the solutions to a gatekeeper's blind spot.
Forbes ASAP, February 22, 1998
A FEW YEARS AGO, three Canadian scientists wrote an article in New Scientist magazine criticizing peer review. The article did a good job of revealing the limits of gatekeepers -- but not in the way it intended.
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Test Case
How relying on "the experts" failed public education.
Reason, February 1998
"The Important Thing Is Education." A slogan from my childhood, it put everyone on notice that in our town court-ordered desegregation would proceed in an orderly and peaceful fashion. Regardless of racial politics, the primacy of education was something everyone could agree on
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Creative Insecurity
The complicated truth behind the rise of Microsoft.
Reason, January 1998
Back in 1983, Forbes ran an article called "If they're so smart, why aren't they rich?" It was about how inventors rarely reap big financial rewards from their creations, and it started like this