Bureaucracy’s Gentle Yoke
Times have changed: The traffic flow and the mores of the DMV have undergone improvement. But in a city of 8 million, choke points remain.
Magazine: Culture
Can Well-Designed Experiments Make the Case for Government Intervention?
A review of Good Economics for Hard Times, by Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo.
At the Margins
On writing in, and appreciating, books.
Apartment: A Novel of Class-Based Anxieties
A review of Apartment, by Teddy Wayne.
The Blind Spots of the ‘Bootstraps’ Debate
A review of Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope, by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.
George Washington’s Twilight Years
A review of Washington’s End: The Final Years and Forgotten Struggle, by Jonathan Horn.
The Invisible Man and the Secret to Elisabeth Moss’s Stardom
Watching Moss’s character move from terror to relief to greater terror, and then fight back, you can see what made her an icon on TV.
Innovation and ‘New Energy’
Batteries are great, but we still need petroleum.
Oscar Charleston: Baseball History’s Invisible Man
A review of Oscar Charleston: The Life and Legend of Baseball’s Greatest Forgotten Player, by Jeremy Beer.
Dime-Store Genomics
Genetic testing will soon be cheap, routine, and ubiquitous.