As in the Medieval past, scarcity will likely define our present, facilitated by our “net zero” economy. This brave new world will support fewer people, juggling between them expensive resources, less food, and uncertain energy production. Perhaps the biggest struggle will be over electricity, the preferred energy solution of our ruling green hierarchy. Already electricity demand has become ever more precarious as western countries continue to place their hopes on “renewable” fuels while rejecting nuclear power and relatively low-carbon sources like natural gas, the dominant factor in reducing ..read more

While wind and solar do not emit carbon dioxide, there are substantial environmental degradation and humanity atrocities occurring in China, Africa, Turkey, Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile. The materials for EV batteries and to produce electricity from wind turbines and solar panels require large-scale mining of critical minerals and metals, many of which are mined and refined in countries like China and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where human rights violations against miners are common and environmental protections are limited. Environmentalists’ tunnel vision just toward the wealthier co ..read more

As America’s cities continue to decline, as even ardent boosters warn of “an urban doom loop”, how does London remain a global powerhouse? The straightforward answer is that it retains an old advantage: its origins as a former imperial capital. Unlike the high-rise “transactional” cities of New York, Chicago and San Francisco, all groaning under record levels of vacancy and massive investor losses, London never had an official “downtown”, with all major business clustered in dense formations. Rather, as one observer noted in 1843, London’s development occurred organically, surrounding “itself ..read more

Over a decade ago, I led a team of Singapore-based researchers to investigate why families were declining. Back then, we were experiencing a historic shift away from population growth and familial ties, towards individualism. Since then, the post-familial age has entered full swing. This situation would have been unthinkable in the 1960s, when ‘overpopulation’ was seen as inevitable. In his 1968 book, The Population Bomb, Paul Ehrlich predicted that the number of people on Earth would rocket to unsustainable levels, resulting in global famine. Yet the disaster Ehrlich predicted has not materia ..read more

In 2014, Tony Seba, an author and lecturer in “entrepreneurship, disruption, and clean energy” at Stanford University, declared, “By 2025, gasoline engine cars will be unable to compete with electric vehicles.” He continued, claiming that internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles “are toast.” In a 14-page presentation called “Clean Disruption of Energy and Transportation,” that was subtitled, “How Silicon Valley is making oil, nuclear, natural gas, coal, electric utilities and conventional cars obsolete — by 2030,” Seba claimed “solar, wind, electric vehicles, and autonomous (self-driving) car ..read more

The Two State Solution to end the Gaza/Israeli War is dead for a simple reason. There no longer is a “state” in Gaza. The tunnels have largely been destroyed with explosives. When the tunnels collapsed, the apartments, stores, schools, and hospitals above them were destroyed. As the Gaza residents fled their homes, IDF attacked Hamas, destroying apartments, stores, schools, and hospitals where Hamas hid. Israeli tanks and bombing turned the roads of Gaza into rubble. The infrastructure is demolished. There is nothing to return to; no homes, no jobs, no schools, no services. Israel has sent a m ..read more

Over the six decades that transit subsidies have been virtually universal, governments and media have urged people to give up driving and switch to transit. Yet transit’s share of total urban travel was near modern lows just before the pandemic. It is recovering more slowly than other modes of travel, as transit analyst Randal O’Toole has shown in New Geography. Indeed, city officials often portray transit as a readily available alternative to the car. But transit can quickly access only a small fraction of destinations compared to cars for most people. This article provides data for the large ..read more

Once the putative party of the people, the Democrats are increasingly the party of political “Mean Girls.” Epitomized by the congressional “Squad,” radicalized women are driving the party ever further to the leftist fringe on issues such as embracing Hamas, apocalyptic climate policies, mass illegal immigration, and transgenderism. Party organs including the New Republic and the New York Times hail these activists as the “future of the Democratic Party.” Unlike traditional Democrats who won over small business owners, members of industrial unions, and aspiring middle class minorities, the Mean ..read more

New York City, like many urban areas, has suffered vacant storefronts in recent years. The causes are likely many: online shopping, property crime, difficulty in hiring low-wage staff or paying the going rents. An article at politicsny.com this week notes that some city councilmembers are on the case and, as often, blaming landlords. Even a rare Republican on the council is threatening them with fines for, she says, “purposely” leaving space unrented. This is a frequent allegation in Gotham, both for commercial and residential space, based on suspected motivations growing out of the city’s tan ..read more

Colleges, universities, and academic medical centers play a vital role as engines of learning, innovation, prosperity, and opportunity in America’s cities. But they face growing tectonic stresses: declining public confidence in their programs and value propositions, weak completion rates, overly narrow and incremental research, threats to free inquiry, and unsustainable financial models. America needs thriving higher education and academic medical institutions – “eds and meds” institutions – in cities across the country, which means the eds and meds sector needs to change in significant ways ..read more