Articles 2024
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Elon Musk's Hyperloop Is Doomed for the Worst Reason
Bloomberg View, August 03, 2017
We live in a world where atoms are much harder to do anything with than bits -- and where atoms that require regulatory permission are the hardest of all. The eye-rolling about the Hyperloop comes less from the technical challenges than from the bureaucratic ones. -
Marijuana Smokers Should Be More Considerate
Bloomberg View, July 24, 2017
I support marijuana legalization, but I wish pot smokers would stop stinking up the sidewalks. -
Culture-War Travel Bans Are Counterproductive
Bloomberg View, July 18, 2017
Why can't California researchers use state money to travel to Tennessee? -
Remote Work Is Not About Avoiding the Commute
Bloomberg View, June 29, 2017
People don’t work remotely only for the convenience. Many do it so they can actually get their work done. -
Pro Immigration? Then Support All Who Came Here
Bloomberg View, June 24, 2017
Here’s a helpful hint for my fellow immigration enthusiasts: Stop dissing Americans whose ancestors got here before yours. -
Amazon Puts Restaurant Industry on Notice
Bloomberg View, June 16, 2017
Amazon's purchase of Whole Foods is likely to lower prices. That would exacerbate a trend that already has the industry nervous: the growing gap between the cost of eating at home and going out. -
America Is Awash in the Wrong Kinds of Stories
Bloomberg View, June 03, 2017
Cultures are held together by stories, and the big stories competing for dominance in America today are demoralizing. One misleadingly divides the nation into patriots and traitors, the latter defined as anyone who bucks the party line. The other portrays the American story as nothing more than a series of injustices in which every seeming accomplishment hides some terrible wrong and the country’s very existence is a crime against humanity. -
When Buying Life Insurance Was Deemed Immoral
Reason, July 2017
Why 19th-century Americans wouldn't buy life insurance and why they changed their minds. -
The Future of America's Shoe Obsession Is Male
Bloomberg View, May 30, 2017
If current trends continue, men’s U.S. shoe sales will soon surpass women's. Why? -
The Boosterism Behind China's Silk Road Story
Bloomberg View, May 24, 2017
China's Road and Belt initiative is about more than infrastructure or foreign policy. It's national myth-building for a domestic audience.