The Conversation

You're probably paying more for your car loan or mortgage than you should

Written by Christopher Palmer, Assistant Professor of Finance, MIT Sloan School of Management

A bad interest rate can make your new car a lot more costly.AP Photo/Carlos Osorio

The Federal Reserve makes headlines from New York to Hong Kong anytime it lifts its benchmark interest rate. Rightfully so, as any increase tends to drive up borrowing costs on everything from credit cards to auto loans and mortgages.

There’s a more important...

Sessions suing California is the latest battle in a centuries-old war for power over immigration

Written by Anthony Johnstone, Professor of Constitutional Law, The University of Montana

President Donald Trump reviews border wall prototypes in San Diego.AP Photo/Evan Vucci

President Donald Trump’s recent trip to California came days after Attorney General Jeff Sessions sued the state for violations of federal immigration law.

That case challenges recent California laws limiting cooperation with federal agents. Several cities...

A history of loneliness

Written by Amelia S. Worsley, Assistant Professor of English, Amherst College

Edward Hopper's 'Office in a Small City' (1953).Gandalf's Gallery, CC BY-NC-SA

Is loneliness our modern malaise?

Former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy says the most common pathology he saw during his years of service “was not heart disease or diabetes; it was loneliness.”

Chronic loneliness, some say, is like “smoking 15...

My Lai: 50 years after, American soldiers' shocking crimes must be remembered

Written by Robert Hodierne, Chair and Professor of Journalism, University of Richmond

Dead from the My Lai massacrePeers Inquiry, v.3/Ron Haeberle

Sa Thi Quy was 43 years old on the morning of March 16, 1968, when Americans came to her hamlet near the coast of the South China Sea in what was then South Vietnam.

“The first time the Americans came, the children followed them. They gave the children sweets to eat. Then they...

Black holes aren't totally black, and other insights from Stephen Hawking's groundbreaking work

Written by Christoph Adami, Professor of Physics and Astronomy & Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Michigan State University

What goes in doesn't go out?NASA Goddard, CC BY

Mathematical physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking was best known for his work exploring the relationship between black holes and quantum physics. A black hole is the remnant of a dying supermassive star that’s fallen into itself; these remnants contract to such a small size that gravity is...

Xi's indefinite grasp on power has finally captured the West's attention – now what?

Written by Stanley Rosen, Professor of Political Science, University of Southern California – Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

When China’s Congress voted to repeal constitutional limits on the length of time a Chinese president can stay in office, there were only two “no” votes out of the 2,964 cast on March 10.

Leaders and analysts in the West are now stepping forward to acknowledge that they have misunderstood China. As a journalist at The Economist put...

Thomas Eakins: Brilliant painter, gifted photographer ... sexual predator?

Written by Henry Adams, Ruth Coulter Heede Professor of Art History, Case Western Reserve University

A self-portrait of the artist Thomas Eakins, one of the most celebrated painters in American history. National Academy Museum, New York

The recent toppling of a string of powerful figures for sexual abuse and harassment raises the question of how these people managed to conceal their behavior so long, in some instances after abusing hundreds of...

Just competing in March Madness is a fundraising win for the schools

Written by Brad Humphreys, Professor of Economics, West Virginia University

University of Pennsylvania players celebrate winning the 2018 Ivy League title as fans storm the court. AP Photo/Chris Szagola

The NCAA men’s basketball championship, better known as March Madness, raises big bucks even if the players aren’t paid.

In 2018, CBS is paying the National Collegiate Athletic Association more than US$800 million...

Americans should welcome the age of unexceptionalism

Written by Alasdair S. Roberts, Director, School of Public Policy, University of Massachusetts Amherst

July 4th in a Dallas suburb. AP/Michael Prengler

Exceptionalism – the idea that the United States has a mission and character that separates it from other nations – is ingrained in everyday talk about American politics.

It shapes high-level discussions about foreign policy – for example, in a recent argument by a foreign affairs...

Why Wikipedia often overlooks stories of women in history

Written by Tamar Carroll, Associate Professor of History, Rochester Institute of Technology

Less than a third of biographical entries on Wikipedia are about women. aradaphotography/shutterstock.com

Movements like #MeToo are drawing increased attention to the systemic discrimination facing women in a range of professional fields, from Hollywood and journalism to banking and government.

Discrimination is also a problem on user-driven sites...