I want to offer up some straightforward data on how Americans experience interactions with law enforcement and the degree to which that experience varies by race. My goal here was to try to put my hands on the best data I could find, and to look at those data while trying to impart as little spin as possible. You’ll find a list of the sources I used at the end of this post. Key Measure…
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Two Psychological Illusions are Fueling Our Differences On the evening of September 11, 2001, hours after the terrorist attacks that left nearly 3,000 people dead, Republican and Democratic senators stood on the steps of the Capitol to participate together in a moment of silence. When that moment of silence came to a close, the senators — who had engaged in plenty of partisan politics days before — spontaneously began to sing “God Bless America.” On…
Comments closedThe tricky balance between saving lives and protecting the economy Faced with the possibility of their healthcare systems being overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients, most developed countries implemented some form of “locking down.” Citizens were told to stay home except in the case of emergencies or to buy food or medicine. Restaurants and bars were closed. The use of face masks was sometimes deemed mandatory. Schools had to learn how to operate online. Sweden took a…
Comments closedMy wife and I have been locked down on our little farm in rural Italy for a few weeks now. We’re only allowed off the property to go to the grocery store, the pharmacy or the post office. And when we go, we are required to bring along a signed form declaring our reason for leaving. But we have it easy — living on a farm means we can let our dogs run around, and…
Comments closedThe NY Times reports that the FDA will soon release rules that will “require chain restaurants, movie theaters and pizza parlors across the country to post calorie counts on their menus.” The new regulations are described as “sweeping” and go much further and deeper than most health policy experts expected. The last time I looked, the evidence for posting calorie content was mixed at best. There is some evidence that suggests that when perceived caloric…
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