August 28, 2023
Here’s a Kind of Job-Training Program That Works
JOB-TRAINING AND WORKFORCE-DEVELOPMENT programs have long been plagued by weak wage and job-persistence outcomes. Since the United States spends markedly less on these types of programs than do other developed nations, it’s reasonable to ask whether the weak outcomes are a function of the programs or the funding. Likely, it is a combination of both. The good…
August 28, 2023
Where Does School Time Go?
As the new school year gets underway, there’s a lot of talk about programs, technology, and staffing challenges. But one opportunity for school improvement seems to consistently get overlooked: time. Three decades ago, the National Education Commission on Time and Learning observed, “Learning in America is a prisoner of time. For the past 150 years, American…
August 24, 2023
Want To End Apartment Warehousing? Ease Up On Rent-Control Laws
New York City’s Independent Budget Office this week reported that some 13,000 rent-regulated apartments in the city have been vacant for more than two years — fueling the charge that owners are deliberately “warehousing” apartments to pressure legislators to ease limits on rent increases. A group called the End Apartment Warehousing Coalition, comprising 22 tenant organizations, supports…
August 24, 2023
Baby Boom Or Bust
Salt Lake City’s lower Avenues neighborhood is a lovely change of pace after a morning walking through the central part of the city. Everything is on a more human scale up here. The streets are easier to cross, the blocks are shorter. As I study the homes and take in the neighborhood, I start to…
August 24, 2023
The Hill that Public Education Dies on: Transgender Policies’ Utter Contempt for Parents
An unmistakable fault line is emerging between much of public education and many of those it serves, particularly parents, on transgender issues. Put bluntly, a strong majority of Americans—57 percent in a recent poll conducted by the Washington Post and Kaiser Family Foundation—simply don’t buy the idea that a person can be a gender other than the one…
August 23, 2023
Solve Two Crises At Once: Put Migrants In NYCHA
As New York City gives over soccer fields and recreation centers to housing for a wave of migrants, and Gov. Hochul feuds with Mayor Adams, one public housing resident on the Lower East Side has a better way. The New York Times reports that Camille Napoleon “has hosted as many as 12 migrants at a time in…
August 21, 2023
Four Shocking Truths about the American Economy! (Well, Shocking to Some.)
I recently wrote a brief essay, “Generative AI and Economic Growth,” for Exponential View, the great newsletter by Azeem Azhar. And I knew one particular passage would be sure to raise eyebrows: A lengthy and fundamentally solid expansion would allow the economic progress of the pre-pandemic period — falling inequality, rising real wages across the income…
August 17, 2023
The ‘Utah Family Miracle’ and Why It Matters
Utah ranks at the top of many rankings of state performance across America. But perhaps the Beehive State is best known for its top rankings on the economic front. The “Utah economic miracle” — marked by exceptional economic growth, a favorable business climate and high rates of economic mobility — has garnered attention across the…
August 16, 2023
How to Strengthen the ‘Success Sequence’ in Utah
Growing numbers of young adults across America — including here in Utah — are moving into adulthood without a durable connection to two benchmarks strongly connected to human well-being: work and marriage. Taking the second benchmark first, a record-high 25% of 40-year-olds in the United States were never married as of 2021, according to new data…
August 14, 2023
What ‘Earth Mama’ Doesn’t Tell Us About Foster Care
There are plenty of movies that start in the middle of the story. But typically the director will eventually go back and tell you what happened at the beginning. This is not true of “Earth Mama,” a recently released film by first-time director Savanah Leaf. The story is about a pregnant woman, Gia, whose two…