No. Not again. That’s how I felt on Saturday when I heard the terrible news from El Paso and then again on Sunday morning when Dayton added a second blow. I imagine I wasn’t alone. Each time the shocking news of another mass shooting arrives, I find myself wanting to turn away. I was the … Continue reading »
Telling Berkeley’s Story
Scholars and teachers all over the world were surprised and delighted by the news coming out of Oxford University last month that the American financier Stephen Schwarzman had given Oxford its largest gift “since the Renaissance,” in order to promote and develop the humanities. Beyond the extent of Schwarzman’s largesse, what impressed me was the … Continue reading »
Democrats must get out of their bubble
In a surprising new national survey, members of each major American political party were asked what they imagined to be the beliefs held by members of the other. The survey asked Democrats: “How many Republicans believe that racism is still a problem in America today?” Democrats guessed 50%. It’s actually 79%. The survey asked Republicans how … Continue reading »
‘Send Her Back!’ chant harkens back to 1957
Video of the crowds at Trump’s North Carolina rally chanting “send her back” in reference to Representative Ilhan Omar reminded me of the iconic photo of Elizabeth Eckford being heckled and harassed by a mob of 1000 as she attempted to integrate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957. As Eckford sought to … Continue reading »
If everyone in the U.S. went back to where they came from
Melania Trump and I would both have to leave the United States. We weren’t born here. In fact, if everyone who is not born in the U.S. left tomorrow, 1 in 7 people living in the country would disappear. That would certainly make your commute easier. But a lot of other things would get much, … Continue reading »
How a can of Peaches from San Francisco crossed the Atlantic by air in 1919 and what it teaches us
Exactly 100 years ago, in July 1919, at the sound of the bugle 700 men each holding the end of a rope passing above their heads, began walking slowly forward. The ropes were holding down a 640 foot, two football fields long airship called the R 34: ‘R’ for rigid and ‘34’ for the total … Continue reading »
Presidential hopefuls should campaign for a more caring capitalist economy
Co-authored with Simon Sallstrom, research coordinator for UC Berkeley’s Sustainable Shared-Prosperity Policy Index The candidates in the 2020 U.S. presidential race are proposing an array of economic policies frequently described as either free-market or socialist. These labels often confuse the American public. In particular, capitalism is widely — and wrongly — understood to be synonymous … Continue reading »
Trump’s NAFTA replacement needs its tires kicked
President Trump would like to see the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement ratified without delay. It’s a bit like a used car salesperson giving you 10 minutes to accept the deal of the century. You may want to look under the hood and test-drive the vehicle first. USMCA is largely an updated and rebranded version of the … Continue reading »
What Does It Mean to Live in This “Second Gilded Age”?
I am hearing from a number of people that columns like this one on “Excessive Wealth Disorder” and its ilk by Paul Krugman and our other compadres are bloodless, and ineffective. They do not convey any sense of what is happening. So let me make it more concrete: The top 0.01% of American workers—now some … Continue reading »
On receiving the Wolf Prize and on the scholar as an intellectual athlete
On May 30 I received the Wolf Prize in Agriculture in Jerusalem. It is considered the “Nobel Prize” of agriculture and mathematics. Many of the Wolf Prize laureates in Medicine and Chemistry go on to receive the Nobel Prize. I was honored and humbled to get the prize – especially because I am the … Continue reading »
Break ‘Em Up!
Forty years after Ronald Reagan, the antitrust pendulum has swung back. So far most of the discussion has focused on whether Facebook and other tech giants deserve “scrutiny.” But what then? Simply replacing Facebook with a new monopolist would do nothing to make consumers better off. The real question should instead be whether we can … Continue reading »
Creating a National Park System in China
Just over 20 years ago, I visited China representing the US National Park Service and traveled extensively to suggest how China might manage its protected areas. During our tour, I noted that their parks and protected areas, some carrying the National Park moniker, were poorly managed and lacked the professional oversight found in the US … Continue reading »
Reforming Facebook: First, Do No Harm
People say that America is a divided society, but there are at least two things we can agree on. First, that nobody likes Facebook’s ability to censor political speech. And second, that it would be incredible if Facebook’s leaders and employees, knowing that they hold such power, were not tempted to use it. From this … Continue reading »
D. Day
This is a blog I couldn’t find the way in Please post for me D Day On Tuesday June 6th 1944 I was a small boy attending primary school. I’m sure my parents heard the BBC 9 o’clock news announcing the Normandy invasion, but I was asleep in bed. However, I do have genuine memories … Continue reading »
DDay
I couldn’t make my password work can you post for me? Today is important.! 510 524 4320 D Day On Tuesday June 6th 1944 I was a small boy attending primary school. I’m sure my parents heard the BBC 9 o’clock news announcing the Normandy invasion, but I was asleep in bed. However, I do … Continue reading »
My annual review 2018
Towards the end of every year I post a summary of my personal and professional activities. They are intertwined. I hope this summary is enlightening to people who are interested in the university, its people and their ideas. I discuss first personal aspects, and then move to research and academic activities. I am 71 and … Continue reading »
Lyft doesn’t cause congestion, all vehicles do
Restrictions targeted at the newest road users are unfair and inefficient
NAFTA’s dark holidays
General Motors’ surprise announcement the Monday after Thanksgiving that it would eliminate 14,000 jobs and shutter five plants sent traumatic shock waves across the industrial Midwest and into Canada, putting a dark cloud over the holiday season. While these changes will affect autoworkers today, they will undoubtedly be felt by all working Americans in the … Continue reading »
The grim reality of racial segregation in the S.F. Bay Area
A new series of maps illustrates the reality of segregation in the Bay Area — not merely diversity, racial concentration and clustering, or mere demographics.
Peter Berck RIP — a distinguished scholar and member of the ARE family
This year we lost Peter Berck, a prominent member of the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ARE) and the College of Natural Resources as well as a cherished friend and colleague of mine. Peter was born in New York, fell in love with Berkeley as an undergraduate and after completing his Ph.D. at MIT, … Continue reading »