The Vital Center
Dear Gene
TO: GENE SPERLING FROM: BILL GALSTON SUBJ: INFRASTRUCTURE DATE: FEBRUARY 3, 2011 It feels like a lifetime ago that you and I shared a windowless broomcloset in the West Wing. I assume your digs are more spacious and better illuminated now. In any event, congratulations on returning to a position you occupied with such distinction in the Clinton administration. READ MORE >>
Dangerous Game
I’ve just spent a snowed-in day plowing through the Congressional Budget Office’s latest ten-year budget and economic outlook. The short-term outlook is grim enough, with an estimated deficit of $1.5 trillion—a new record, and the third consecutive 13-figure result. As for the long-term outlook, it’s not as bad as you’ve read; it’s worse. READ MORE >>
Five Keys to Obama's State of the Union
Future Shock
On Tuesday, Intel CEO Paul Otellini delivered a speech at Brookings on long-term economic competitiveness. While there were some points with which I disagreed—specifically, his critique of the stimulus plan and his advocacy of wide-ranging corporate tax cuts—I agreed with his core thesis: We’re not investing adequately or strategically in our nation’s future, and we’ll pay a huge price if we don’t change course. READ MORE >>
Freedom Agenda
Our political debates, our public discourse—on current economic and domestic issues—too often bear little or no relation to the actual problems the United States faces. READ MORE >>
Talk Amongst Yourselves
As health care reform enters the phase of serious legislation, it becomes vital to understand what the American people expect and believe ... and how the forthcoming debate is likely to affect their views. Because no one has tracked these matters more carefully and professionally than the Kaiser Family Foundation, I reviewed a number of documents they've published during the past eight months and supplemented their findings with other credible sources. READ MORE >>
Driven Up the Rawls
It had been known for some time that during his last two undergraduate years at Princeton, John Rawls had immersed himself in Christian theology and considered studying for the Episcopal priesthood. READ MORE >>
