We just returned from a drive up and down the San Joaquin Valley. Being reared on a California almond and water ranch, I have a long-standing interest in water and California agriculture. Consequently, I always view our trip as an opportunity to read the pulse of California’s water situation. This year the landscape was fresh … Continue reading »
Higher Education Policymaking in the US After the Mid-Terms – Blue Versus Red States, Culture Wars and Budgets
The mid-term elections in the US brought a sort of victory for President Biden and Democrats, including the retention of a slim majority in the Senate and suffering only a marginal majority of Republican in the House of Representatives. Avoided was an expected much bigger electoral victory by Republicans and a clear majority in both … Continue reading »
California Takes a First Step Towards Worker Data Rights
Imagine you’re applying for a job via video, and without telling you the company uses software that analyzes your eye contact, facial expressions, and tone of voice to predict whether you’re a good match for the job. Or imagine that you work in an Amazon warehouse and an algorithm fires you for not meeting productivity … Continue reading »
A plan for Russia (and Belarus): Marshall vs. Martial?
co-authored by Ilona Sologoub (VoxUkraine), Tetyana Deryugina (U of Illinois), Tanya Babina (Columbia U.), James Hodson (AI for good) The Russian war in Ukraine is far from being over, but perhaps it is a natural time to think about what will happen after the Russian aggression is defeated. Indeed, the allies were discussing the … Continue reading »
My Annual Review 2022
In 2022, I returned to some normality. First, I traveled more. I had a wonderful trip, including Lithuania, Italy, and Israel. We had a great conference in Bologna; I enjoyed Cinque Terre and seeing my sister and relatives warmed my heart. Later in the year, I had a great trip to Argentina, combining research, tourism, … Continue reading »
German Auto Corporations and the Holocaust: Why are Porsche, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen Suppressing Accountability for their Nazi Pasts?
Many German corporations benefited enormously from supporting and advancing Nazi persecution, particularly through the use of abusive forced labor often entailing torture and frequently leading to injury, illness, and premature death during World War 2 and the Holocaust. While some German corporations have acknowledged their crimes fully and sought to direct funds towards public education … Continue reading »
Learning about Sustainability, Bioeconomy, and Circularity while Enjoying Argentina
I have been fascinated by Argentina since I was young. I learned that it was one of the most advanced countries in the world at the beginning of the 20th century; Buenos Aires is beautiful and has a large boulevard like Paris; they dance the tango; are crazy about soccer (what they call football). So, … Continue reading »
Rebuilding Ukraine: Principles and Policies
coauthored with Ilona Sologoub (VoxUkraine) and Beatrice Weder di Mauro (Geneva Graduate Institute, INSEAD and CEPR) The Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine is a dark hour for humanity – massive loss of life, millions of destroyed families and homes, and enormous economic damages – but we have to think about how Ukraine will rebuild after … Continue reading »
Want to address climate change? Start with your sandwich
As COP27 met this month, the looming effects of climate change are again in the headlines. Devastating wildfires, hurricanes, droughts and sea level rise now affect more than 6 in 10 Americans within their local communities. Billions of dollars have been committed through the Inflation Reduction Act and various state measures, including California’s most recent … Continue reading »
Unique Opportunity for Extension and Research Career in the Economics of Diversity and Equity
Some of the best jobs in academia are to be a professor of Cooperative Extension at Berkeley. The Cooperative Extension is one of the greatest inventions of the American educational system, designed to transfer knowledge to and learn from the experience of practitioners in agriculture and industry. We have two types of extension professionals: … Continue reading »
Urgent need for moratorium on deep-sea mining
The mining companies’ justification for deep-sea mining is based on a big lie
On the Contribution of Extension: In memory of Tim Wallace
When I arrived in Berkeley for my Ph.D. about 50 years ago (1973, before the Yom Kippur War), I learned that the department of Agricultural Economics, which I joined, had several faculty members who were extension specialists. Their job has been to do real applied research and to provide information and education to adults (regular … Continue reading »
Wartime economy for Ukraine
For over 230 days, Ukraine has been resisting Russian aggression. This war brings death and destruction at a scale not seen in Europe since WWII and the ripples of the war are felt everywhere—from the Ukrainian families who lost their loved ones to African countries that face the prospect of hunger. A long war rather … Continue reading »
Artificially Intelligent Vision Systems are Overconfident, Like Humans
Self-driving vehicles, security and surveillance, and robot vacuums — artificial intelligent (AI) systems are increasingly integrating themselves into our lives. Many of these modern innovations rely on AIs trained in object recognition, identifying objects like vehicles, people, or obstacles. Safety requires that a system know its limitations and realize when it doesn’t recognize something. Just … Continue reading »
Rediscovering our Roots as a Land-Grant, Agricultural Experiment Station University and Fostering its Potential
In 1862, during the midst of the Civil War, Congress had a bold vision. They passed the Morrill Act which provided land grants to states to establish colleges of agriculture and mechanical arts to teach practical agriculture, science, military science and engineering. It was on this foundation that the University of California was launched. And, … Continue reading »
Accountability, Ethics, and Integrity in the Human Rights, Development, and Humanitarian Aid Sector
Human rights NGOs are often subject to relentless criticism by those they critique, and this is particularly the case when authoritarian regimes grow furious with them for making these abuses public, demanding an end to them, and affirming the importance of justice and accountability. Non-state actors who are also criticized for human rights violations will … Continue reading »
The Inflation Reduction Act charts a pro-climate, pro-worker path
The IRA will help build a high-road green economy, creating good jobs and clear pathways into them
Publishers are blocking digital humanities research
Last fall, to little fanfare, the U.S. Copyright Office granted an exemption to a longstanding restriction on digital access to copyrighted books and movies, allowing academic researchers to bypass encryption so they can apply sophisticated datamining techniques to contemporary books and films. These same techniques have yielded powerful insights in the financial, science and medical … Continue reading »
The COVID era is the latest episode of medical scapegoating of Asian immigrants
Since 2020, Asian Americans in the United States have experienced dual existential crises: anti-Asian violence and COVID-19. According to Stop AAPI Hate, nearly 11,500 hate incidents were reported to its organization between March 19, 2020 and March 31, 2022. While the uptick in this violence has been connected to present-day coronavirus-related racism and xenophobia, anti-Asian violence … Continue reading »
Mitt Romney’s lonely crusade to lift America’s families
The former GOP presidential candidate is urging more support for economically stressed families, but his moderate proposal has won little support from Republicans or Democrats.