Mutuality matters, morally and economically

Dr. Manuel Pastor and J. Mijin Cha | To envision a path forward on environmental policy, we should remember some key lessons from the original New Deal, the 1930s-era policies that pulled the United States out of the Great Depression through a combination of relief programs, public-works projects, financial reforms and progressive regulation.

Dr. Manuel Pastor | When we emerge from this crisis, it will be a bit like the end of a movie about an imagined apocalypse: Many people will be crawling out of their homes with their savings demolished, health shattered, jobs lost and education interrupted — and they will be suffering from trauma. Expecting everyone to just bounce back is a bit like thinking a computer-based vaccination system will give everyone an equal shot at a vaccine.

Dr. Manuel Pastor | No one should be surprised that America’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout system has produced sharp racial disparities in vaccination rates – the system has played upon existing inequalities from digital access, to quality of employment, to transportation access. Indeed, I would have flunked any of my graduate students had they failed to anticipate what was soon to occur. The positive news is that together with the business community, we can achieve vaccine equity in a way that gets us back on our feet for good. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how a disease can reveal an underlying sickness—and in America, that means our failure to provide universal health care, our marginalization of immigrants and others, and our devaluation of the caring work that makes...

What the Nation Can Learn From America’s Metropolitan Regions In the last several years, much has been written about growing economic challenges, increasing income inequality, and political polarization in the United States. This new book by Chris...