A note from...
Bryan Keogh
Senior Editor, Economy + Business
One of the biggest running themes in the Democratic presidential primary is how the leading contenders want to tax the wealthy. Nearly all of the top eight candidates want to increase how much the rich pay in income taxes, while at least three support an additional wealth tax. Most also favor a carbon tax and making corporations pay a higher share of their profits.
As seven of those Democrats take the stage for their first debate following the Iowa caucus, Colorado State’s Steven Pressman examined their tax proposals and explained how economists like him think about tax policy.
A new Human Rights Watch report finds many Salvadoran deportees are killed once home, often by the gangs they fled. Rampant impunity means El Salvador can't protect vulnerable people from violence.
The coronavirus is still spreading in China, and the doctor who warned Chinese officials early on about a possible outbreak is now dead. But in the US, some think the outbreak is exaggerated. Is it?
Diane Winston, University of Southern California, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
The National Prayer Breakfast has been a time to forge friendships. But, as a scholar says, Trump used it to praise his accomplishments, malign his enemies, and thank God for being on his side.
Karuna Pande Joshi, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Data privacy regulations are being adopted to protect internet users. Today, humans need to read those rules to ensure compliance. New research suggests machines could interpret them in real time.
Glenn Davis Stone, Washington University in St Louis; Dominic Glover, Institute of Development Studies
Golden Rice – a controversial genetically modified product designed to combat malnutrition – has been approved as safe in the Philippines. But many questions remain unanswered.
Skiing in a mall is bizarre enough. But a mall dubbed the 'American Dream' – when malls are vanishing, along with the postwar vision of the American Dream – is its own brand of eerie dissonance.
Moi’s financial generosity, skills in the vernacular, frequent tours of the countryside, and excellent memory for names and faces kept him popular with many.