The Conversation

How a government shutdown affects the economy

Written by Scott R. Baker, Assistant Professor of Finance, Northwestern University

Federal employees rally to call for an end to the partial government shutdown.AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

Parts of the federal government have been closed since midnight on Dec. 22, making it the second-longest shutdown on record. It’s also the third since President Donald Trump took office.

The immediate and most visible impact of a...

Hearing hate speech primes your brain for hateful actions

Written by Arthur Glenberg, Professor of Psychology, Arizona State University

Inflammatory words can prime a mind.Elijah O'Donnell/Unsplash, CC BY

A mark on a page, an online meme, a fleeting sound. How can these seemingly insignificant stimuli lead to acts as momentous as participation in a racist rally or the massacre of innocent worshippers? Psychologists, neuroscientists, linguists and philosophers are developing a new...

Renewed space rivalry between nations ignores a tradition of cooperation

Written by Scott Shackelford, Associate Professor of Business Law and Ethics; Director, Ostrom Workshop Program on Cybersecurity and Internet Governance; Cybersecurity Program Chair, IU-Bloomington, Indiana University

A composite image of a satellite firing an energy weapon at a target on Earth. Marc Ward/Shutterstock.com

The annals of science fiction are full of visions of the future. Some are techno-utopian like “Star Trek” in which humanity has joined together in peace to explore the cosmos. Others are dystopian, like the World State in...

Remembering American saint Elizabeth Seton's legacy and how it continues to inspire work with immigrants

Written by Catherine O'Donnell, Associate Professor of History, Arizona State University

Elizabeth Ann Seton shrine.Pam Broviak, CC BY-NC-ND

January marks the feast of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. Born in New York City in 1774, Seton became the first person born in what would soon become the United States to be canonized as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. Since then, she has been celebrated as an “American saint.”

As...

With the right guiding principles, carbon taxes can work

Written by Gilbert E. Metcalf, John DiBiaggio Professor of Citizenship and Public Service; Professor of Economics, Tufts University

Wind power can create jobs for workers like these while cutting carbon pollution.AP Photo/Steven Senne

Like most economists, I favor taxing carbon dioxide to cut carbon pollution.

A carbon tax makes fossil fuels like oil and coal more expensive. That, in turn, leads consumers and industries to use less of them. At the same time, it boosts demand...

With foreign bureaus slashed, freelancers are filling the void – at their own risk

Written by Bill Gentile, Journalist in Residence, American University School of Communication

Documentary filmmaker Janet Jarman works on her film about midwives in Mexico.Matt Cipollone, CC BY

When Time magazine named journalists who faced persecution, arrest or murder as their 2018 Person of the Year, it described them as “The Guardians” in the “War on Truth.”

It was a forceful rebuke to those who demean journalists...

Who's more compassionate, Republicans or Democrats?

Written by Meri T. Long, Lecturer, American Politics, University of Pittsburgh

An anti-abortion advocate in Jackson, Mississippi, March 2018.AP/Rogelio V. Solis

It’s a common refrain of American voters: How can your party be so heartless?

Democrats want to know how Republicans can support President Trump’s policy of separating babies from refugee families. Republicans want to know how Democrats can sanction...

The downside of doing good with a market mindset

Written by David Campbell, Associate Professor of Public Administration, Binghamton University, State University of New York

Michael Bloomberg gave Johns Hopkins $1.8 billion in 2018.AP Photo/Patrick Semansky

Billionaires made some eye-popping donations in 2018.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced plans to spend US$2 billion to help the homeless and create a network of free preschools. Media mogul and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg pledged $1.8 billion to...

Tumor-free flounder are just 1 dividend from the cleanup of Boston Harbor

Written by Michael Moore, Senior Scientist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Hull Peninsula and part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. Eric Kilby/Flickr, CC BY-SA

Thirty years ago, during the 1988 presidential campaign, then-Vice President George H.W. Bush took a boat ride across Boston Harbor and derided the environmental record of his rival, Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, calling the polluted...

The science of the deal: A negotiation expert explains how Trump and the Democrats could both end the shutdown with a win

Written by Parker Ellen, Assistant Professor of Management, D'Amore-McKim School of Business, Northeastern University

Donald Trump and congressional Democrats are stuck in a negotiation stalemate that is preventing an end to the government shutdown.

Trump wants a wall, but Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer refuse to support funding for a physical barrier – positions they recently reiterated while addressing the nation in primetime....