The Conversation

Why the 'free market' for drugs doesn’t work and what we can do about it

Written by Marcelle Arak, CoBank Professor of Commodities and Editor of Global Commodity Issues, University of Colorado Denver

Why are drugs so pricey?Spilled pills via www.shutterstock.com

The United States faces a major problem with prescription drug prices. Even as the prices of most goods and services have barely budged in recent years, the cost of drugs has surged.

During the presidential campaign, both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump cited the high cost of...

Are third-party candidates spoilers? What voting data reveal

Written by Daniel P. Franklin, Associate Professor, Political Science, Georgia State University

Green Party candidate Jill Stein does not see herself as a spoiler in the 2016 presidential race.

Her voters, Stein claims, would not have come to the polls had she not been in the race.

But what if Stein were wrong and she didn’t bring new voters to the polls? The number of votes Stein got in Michigan and Wisconsin exceeded the gap between...

Many household products contain antimicrobial chemicals banned from soaps by the FDA

Written by Erica Hartmann, Assistant Professor, Northwestern University

Any antimicrobial chemicals in there?Home image via www.shutterstock.com.

This year marks 20 years since Hasbro was fined for false advertising, claiming their Playskool toys laden with the antimicrobial chemical triclosan would keep kids healthier. It is also the year when soap manufacturers will finally have to remove the chemical from their...

Why time seems to fly – or trickle – by

Written by Michael Flaherty, Professor of Sociology, Eckerd College

mikegi/pixabay

No one is born with an innate understanding of time, and babies must learn to synchronize and coordinate their behavior with the rest of the world. Until then, they demand attention at all hours of the day and night, completely upending their parents’ schedules. And for all of us, travel can be disorienting and disruptive,...

How can we predict the hottest year on record when weather forecasts are so uncertain?

Written by Michael A. Rawlins, Extension Associate Professor, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Sixteen of the 17 hottest years have occurred this century and we know it's because of a changing climate, not changes in weather.

NASA and NOAA jointly reported that 2016 was the warmest year on record. That’s no surprise, as the first six months of the year were all exceptionally warm.

Yet the news is significant for what it says about...

Rural America, already hurting, could be most harmed by Trump's promise to repeal Obamacare

Written by Margaret Greenwood-Ericksen, National Clinician Scholar, Clinical Lecturer, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, University of Michigan

A hospital worker removing a plaque from Sac-Osage Hospital, which closed its doors in 2015.Orlin Wagner/AP

The health of rural America is failing, and a repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) without adequate replacement could prove disastrous. A December, 2016 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that for the first...

Why the legacy of Shakers will endure

Written by Joanne M. Pierce, Professor of Religious Studies, College of the Holy Cross

Sister Frances Carr, left, and Brother Arnold Hadd of the Shaker Village sing during a rehearsal on Sept. 13, 1995. AP Photo/Adam Nadel

On Monday, Jan. 2, Shaker Sister Frances Carr died at the age of 89. She had been a Shaker for almost 80 years and passed away at the Shaker community at Sabbathday Lake in Maine.

Through my own research interest...

Using electricity, not molecules, to switch cells on and off

Written by William Bentley, Director, Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices, University of Maryland

Will your cellphone be able to communicate with bacteria in your body?Bacteria image via www.shutterstock.com.

Microelectronics has transformed our lives. Cellphones, earbuds, pacemakers, defibrillators – all these and more rely on microelectronics’ very small electronic designs and components. Microelectronics has changed the way we...

One way Trump is different from European nationalists

Written by Brian Porter-Szücs, Professor of History, University of Michigan

When comparing Europe and America, we frequently overlook differences that hide inside similarities.

There is no doubt that President-elect Donald Trump is surfing the same wave as European authoritarian nationalists like Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, France’s Marine Le Pen, Turkey’s Recep...

Trump snubs ethical norms because we've forgotten why they matter

Written by Elizabeth C. Tippett, Assistant Professor, School of Law, University of Oregon

Let’s be honest. Conflicts of interest are boring.

The president-elect knows this. In fact, he’s banking on it.

Instead of addressing his conflicts in a meaningful way at his press conference last week, Trump pointed to a stack of folders behind him. He then turned the press conference over to a lawyer, who talked about Trump’s...