Demographics

Here’s one representation of the Rust Belt. However, just like with definitions of the Midwest overall, people usually identify where they live in the region as the center of it.  read more »

The wannabe Trump vice-presidents have made a sad spectacle of themselves, genuflecting in support for their morally deficient leader in what has to be one of the least edifying trials in history.  read more »

The summer recess is approaching and I would like to suggest an extra-curricular activity for college students: go somewhere different, away from campus, somewhere unlike home, and talk to new people who have had appreciably different life experiences.  read more »

Jews, like elephants, tend to have long memories. We see in the past warnings of the future. As Israel marks its 76th birthday on 14 May, perhaps the most relevant and terrifying precedent comes from the days of the Roman Empire.  read more »

The Gonzalez family’s immigrant journey from Mexico to California began in the late 1970s with a modest corner market in Anaheim. Today, Northgate Gonzalez Market has evolved into a billion-dollar food retailer that operates 47 stores  read more »

My extended family spans from third to seventh generation Mexican immigrants. Most of us expect to work hard, provide for our families, and hope our children do better than we did.  read more »

In 1983, the National Commission on Excellence in Education declared that “the educational foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a nation and a people.”  read more »

From the earliest days of European settlement, Latinos have played a crucial role in the remarkable ascendancy of California. However, as they become the majority of the state’s population, workforce, and students, the trajectory of Latinos is being blocked by policies hostile to traditional middle-class values  read more »

French historian and demographer Emmanuel Todd was the first person to have predicted the fall of the Soviet Union. He noted that, unusually, its infant mortality rate was rising, and that they had even ceased publishing that statistic. Based on this and other data, he concluded that the Soviet Union had entered “the final fall.”  read more »

Over the past decade, I have been affiliated with Columbia University as a professor, collaborator, and, most recently, a visitor. There was often an undercurrent of antisemitism throughout the campus that was overlooked by the Jewish community, but sat just under the surface.  read more »