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Chasing The News
Every two weeks I write a column for Lagniappe. I usually pick a topic and start composing the column in my head about a week before the deadline. I haven’t written about family matters
Read More »The Special Interest Effect
Economists are famous for disagreeing with one another. So a few years ago, Harvard professor Greg Mankiw put together a list based on various surveys of what economists agree about. He found that 93
Read More »The Search For A Vice President
Donald Trump is now the Republican presumptive presidential nominee, and Hillary Clinton, despite a pesky challenge by Bernie Sanders, appears to have a lock on the Democrat nomination. Thus, speculation has turned to whom
Read More »A New Political Center?
It appears the presidential election this fall will offer us a choice between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton — two candidates with the highest unfavorable ratings in political history. Their campaigns will be based
Read More »Who ‘Owns’ Our Political Parties?
A Primer on the Electoral Process Many people are angry about and befuddled by our convoluted process for choosing the president. The confusion has been made worse this year as millions of new voters
Read More »LOUISIANA’S FISCAL CRISIS
All eyes in Louisiana will be on the special session of the state Legislature for the next three weeks as it works to avert a fiscal crisis. Legislators must come up with nearly a
Read More »LOOKING FORWARD TO 2016
The year 2015 was not a particularly good one. It was dominated by news of terrorist attacks, crazy people with guns, fear of immigrants and refugees from war-torn Syria, protests and riots, villainization of
Read More »TRUMP MEETS THE PRESIDENT OF MEXICO
When I woke up this morning, I found a soiled envelope that someone had slid under my door. It had a Mexican postmark, and inside was a handwritten note in Spanish signed “El Chapo.”
Read More »NO GREATER LOVE: COMING HOME FROM THE WAR
A month ago, the SEED center hosted a screening of No Greater Love, a documentary about U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. I thought about going, but didn’t. Later, several of my friends who went told
Read More »TRUMPTOPIA: WHO IS GOING TO PAY FOR IT?
Trumptopia: it will be fantastic, amazing, you’ll love it! Imagine a world where America is great again. The dummies who presided over the decline of our nation have been fired; our enemies fear us
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