The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of federal action in coordinating emergency public health response, according to a commentary in Fortune by Fanyin Zheng, an assistant professor of the Decision, Risk, and Operations Division of Columbia Business School. In the op-ed, titled “States cannot fight coronavirus alone. The federal government must […]
Author: Erik Sass
Individual responsibility now, or face illiberal regimes soon
“Private and state responsibility in pandemic times” By Dr. Peter Grünenfelder, courtesy of Avenir Suisse Anarchists and libertarians have one mistake in common: both believe that a community can function without sovereign institutions. Classic liberals have never had anything to do with such enthusiasms. Whether Immanuel Kant, John Locke or Montesquieu, they were […]
New Yorkers Wage Quiet Battle Against Invisible Foe
In the end, it all happened quickly: In the space of a few days, life has shut down in a city that’s famous for never sleeping. A week ago, there was still dancing in the city’s clubs, dining in its gourmet restaurants and learning in its schools. Now all that has stopped. New York City’s […]
Time to Bring Back Copper in Public Spaces?
By Sandra Wirtz, courtesy of American Resources Policy Network Rock beats scissors. Scissors beat paper. Copper beats coronavirus. It sounds flippant, but at this moment of utmost seriousness, there’s a truth to it. In a new piece, senior writer for Fast Company Mark Wilson discusses the thesis of Bill Keevil, […]
Towards a European Defense Union
“Four steps towards a European defence union” By Steven Blockmans and Dylan Macchiarini Crosson, courtesy of CEPS Given that membership of PESCO (Permanent Structured Cooperation), the central cog in the EU’s emerging EDU, is virtually identical to membership of the European Defence Agency (EDA) and that the first 47 projects have so far […]
Steve Forbes: To Shore Up The U.S. Economy, Do These 3 Things — Now!
Writing for his favorite eponymous publication, media mogul and informal advisor to the Trump Administration Steve Forbes published a short list of actions the government should urgently take to keep capital flowing to a corona-battered U.S. economy. In a nutshell, here’s what Forbes […]
What We Learned From HIV/AIDS: Panic Will Make It Worse
By Mark Chataway, Co-Founder of Bairds CMC and Hyderus I was in charge of communications for the largest HIV services group in the USA in 1983. I started work just after most Americans first heard about AIDS. The novel Coronavirus is not HIV, but I have noticed similarities in the panic surrounding […]
EU Green Deal: Avoid emissions whackamole
“Financing Europe’s Green Deal: Beware of the Waterbed Effect” By Daniel Gros and Milan Elkerbout, courtesy of CEPS Big numbers are always a good way to attract attention. 1 thousand billion euros of investment is the headline figure of the ‘Sustainable Europe Investment Plan’ the European Commission recently presented to the European Parliament. […]
Say no to EU carbon border tax
“A European carbon border tax: much pain, little gain” By Ben McWilliams and Georg Zachmann, courtesy of the Bruegel Institute The European Green Deal has set a target of reducing European Union carbon emissions by about 40 per cent over the next ten years. Reaching this target is likely to involve a significant […]
Goerlach: Turkey-EU Strife and the Rise of Refugee Power Politics
By Dr. Alexander Goerlach, Senior Fellow, Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs The strife on the Turkish-Greek border is escalating, with refugees being targeted by tear gas on the Greek side. The intent is to stop the refugees from illegally crossing the border to Europe. Images of such scenes – with […]