Economics

Transit ridership dropped sharply with the onset of the COVID pandemic in 2020. The slow rebound in the years that followed has prompted discussion, sometimes in hushed tones, as to whether transit had entered a “death spiral.” That ominous description refers to a situation where a decrease in ridership leads to lower farebox revenue, which in turn leads to service cuts, which further reduces ridership, and so on in a vicious downward cycle.  read more »

The World Economic Forum says the world faces a new crisis, "One-third of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions come from food production." With the world's population expected to reach 10 billion people by 2050, it is there fore "urgent" that we launch a "radical" and "comprehensive" transformation of the global food system - from "reinventing" farming to "reimagining" how food is produced, processed, distributed, consumed and disposed of.  read more »

Age is a big deal. We saw just how big a deal it is from the deterioration of President Biden evident during the recent debate with Donald Trump. There’s a growing sense that the world is being run by a gerontocracy  read more »

The shot heard around the world may have been aimed at Donald Trump’s head, but it could also put extra cash in his pocket. In the aftermath of last weekend’s assassination attempt, two prominent billionaires – Elon Musk and investor Bill Ackman – announced their support for the former president.  read more »

Five years ago, just prior to the announcement by the IOC of who would host the 2016 Olympics, Chicago's bid was assumed to be in a commanding lead.  read more »

In 2017, Google declared it had reached “100% renewable energy for our global operations.”  read more »

The latest American Community Survey data (2022) indicates that higher density condo living is strongly correlated with lower rates of home ownership than among detached or attached houses. The table below provides US data as well as data for the 56 major metropolitan areas by residential building density.

National Home Ownership by Type of Residential Building: Overall, 65.2% of US households owned their own homes  read more »

Where you grow up in America powerfully influences your prospects in life.  read more »

During his 16-year career in the NBA, Rasheed Wallace was among basketball’s most intimidating power forwards. He was also among the most volatile.  read more »

Germany was the first country to go “green.” Today, Germany now has some of the world’s highest electricity prices, and the number of Germany’s corporate insolvencies in March 2024 reached the highest level on record  read more »