July 2—Amid a political campaign where the lies and outrages of one candidate, and the declining fitness of the other suck all serious discussion of policy out of the atmosphere, there is little awareness of a crisis unfolding in the housing market. With home prices up 50 percent nationally in just the last five years, and rents up 35 percent, working Americans are finding it increasingly difficult to find a place to live. Rents in six of the seven swing states are up an average of 44 percent in the last five years. Reuters examines the crisis and its impact on swing-state voters.

June 12—This article from Reuters surveys lawsuits now pending across the U.S. in the wake of the Supreme Court's ruling in Dobb's v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade. 

June 12—As of next month the European Union will require all new cars to include a system providing audio and visual warnings when drivers exceed posted speed limits. With speed a significant factor in a high proportion of the tens of thousands of deaths occurring each year on American roads (40,990 deaths in 2023 and millions more injured), a new survey conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety finds that 60% of U.S. drivers would support the introduction of such a system in the U.S. (the other 40%, presumably, have no interest in following the law nor in ensuring the safety of themselves or their fellow motorists). TSD advocates for future systems that will track posted speed limits electronically and prevent vehicles from exceeding them.

June 1—In this AP article, Jason Lange and James Oliphant write that Joe Biden is "hemorrhaging support among voters without college degrees—a large group that includes Black people, Hispanic women, young voters and suburban women—producing a far tighter rematch against his Republican predecessor Donald Trump than seen in 2020." TSD's take: the Democratic Party must shift its emphasis from grievance groups and avant garde culture war issues dear to the graduate seminar set and address the "kitchen table" needs of the average worker: jobs at living wages, safe communities and affordable health, child and elder care.

May 10—With Trump-era tax cuts totaling nearly $4 billion set to expire in 2025, the White House is preparing the ground for the congressional battle certain to ensue over their extension. Lael Brainard, director of the White House National Economic Council, told an audience at the Brookings Institution that the expiration of the cuts will "put tax fairness front and center," adding that the administration will cut taxes for workers while "asking corporations and those at the top to contribute more."

March 21—This AP Press article looks at American citizens killed by police tactics, such as that used by Derek Chauvin against George Floyd, which are not expressly intended to be lethal. Contraty to popular conceptions, the problem is not confined to "White" on "Black" policing but affects every racilaized demographic. As a token of just how violent policing is in the United States, a Wikipedia article listing citizens killed by police in the United Kingdom from 2010 - 2019 lists 26 total victims (yes, that isn't a typo).

March 21—The Economic Policy Institute reports that workers at the low end of the income scale experienced post-pandemic wage growth not seen in the U.S. for decades. The think tank notes, however, that millions still work for less than a living wage and points to the need for worker-centered policy to assure continued progress in this major social democratic priority.

March 7—This AP article look at problems in the UK's single-payer healthcare system reminds us that for social democracy to really work, it must be implemented efficiently.

March 5—Though TSD would never question but that the United States is a working democracy, there are several respects in which our democracy could be improved. One of these is the primary system, which gives outsized influence to voters living in early primary states. This AP articles looks at the issue on the eve of Super Tuesday.

January 3—This Reuters article looks at the state of play with the green energy transition in the United States since the passage of the Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act. Though high interest rates, inflation and supply chain bottlenecks have fostered delays, informed observers still see steady progress.

January 3—While Republican presidential candidates denigrate the Biden administration's push for electric vehicles, the economies of important swing states are benefiting significantly from the $128 billion in EV investment spawned by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

December 29—Significant strides were made around the world over the last year in moving away from a carbon-based energy economy to one based on non-polluting, renewable resources. This AP article evaluates the state of play at the end of 2023.

December 28—This Reuters article describes how, with frontal court challenges to restrictive abortion laws having largely played out, abortion-rights advocates are focusing on exceptions for medical emergencies and the right, now challenged in some anti-abortion states, to travel to other states for the procedure.

December 28—Two articles, one from Reuters and the other from AP News, look at the record of the 117th Congress in 2023. In a year marked by divided government and intra-party chaos among Republicans in the House, little of substance was accomplished.

December 01—In this article, AP News offers a primer on how delegates are selected to attend the major parties' nominating conventions.