Free tuition at public colleges and universities — it’s a rallying cry in Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, and it sounds like an effective strategy for ensuring that the widest range of students can graduate from college without burdensome debt. But zero tuition actually runs counter to Sanders’ core principle of reducing income inequality. In this … Continue reading »
Bernie Sanders
What do young women want from Bernie Sanders?
I’ve been watching the cross-generational dialogue here on the Berkeley Blog between Ph.D. candidate Peggy O’Donnell and professor emerita Robin Lakoff, which started with Lakoff’s interesting observation about how Hillary Clinton is being “hyperinterpreted” and concluded with O’Donnell’s defense of young women who vote for Bernie Sanders. Meanwhile, over in my corner of UC Berkeley, I’ve … Continue reading »
An open letter to Peggy O’Donnell
Dear Peggy: I want first to express my admiration for your recent post. It was eloquent and to the point, and everything you said was well worth saying. But there was also a lot in your post that troubled me, as an older woman and a feminist, a great deal. I cannot let these arguments … Continue reading »
Feminism’s fault lines: understanding young women’s support for Bernie
This campaign season has been pretty bleak on the gender front, from Marco Rubio’s assurance that he understands rape victims’ “terrible situation,” but would insist on them carrying any resulting child regardless, to Trump’s “blood out of her…wherever” comment heard ’round the world. Even so, last weekend stood out a new low for women, particularly for … Continue reading »
The volcanic core fueling the 2016 election
Not a day passes that I don’t get a call from the media asking me to compare Bernie Sanders’s and Hillary Clinton’s tax plans, or bank plans, or health-care plans. I don’t mind. I’ve been teaching public policy for much of the last 35 years. I’m a policy wonk. But detailed policy proposals are as … Continue reading »
‘The Big Short’ and Bernie’s plan to bust up Wall Street
If you haven’t yet seen “The Big Short” – directed and co-written by Adam McKay, based on the non-fiction prize-winning book by Michael Lewis about the housing and credit bubble that triggered the Great Recession — I recommend you do so. Not only is the movie an enjoyable (if that’s the right word) way to understand … Continue reading »