Tag Archives: public opinion

“Remedy and Reaction”: Reactions

Posted on May 10, 2012 by

Generals are always fighting the last war is a standard political cliché, meaning that politicians have a tendency to overgeneralize from previous experience. Democrats who lost the 1993 health care reform fight vowed not to repeat the same apparent mistakes … Continue reading →

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After Trayvon: Everyday Discrimination in the Lives of Young Black Men

Posted on April 4, 2012 by

The Florida shooting of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teen, by a suspicious neighbor has been one of the top stories in the headlines for the last two weeks. It won’t always be. In days or weeks, perhaps, the media will have … Continue reading →

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An Emotional Rollercoaster: Trends in Subjective Wellbeing During the Economic Downturn

Posted on March 26, 2012 by

Since 2008 Gallup has polled a random sample of 1,000 Americans daily (link here) about their subjective well-being. The data provide a rich basis for examining the short-run effects of the economic recession on self-reported happiness, life evaluation, and stress. … Continue reading →

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Does College Make You Liberal?

Posted on March 12, 2012 by

“President Obama once said he wants everybody in America to go to college. What a snob… There are good decent men and women who go out and work hard every day and put their skills to test that aren’t taught … Continue reading →

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Is Economic Fairness a Winning Message in 2012?

Posted on January 29, 2012 by

In the 2012 reelection campaign, President Obama is defining himself in terms of economic fairness. The word “fair” was used nine times in the State of the Union Address, and symbols of economic inequality were on full display (including Warren … Continue reading →

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Blog Infidelity: Labour’s failings on disability

Posted on January 18, 2012 by

This article was posted on Left Foot Forward last Friday, and I thought I’d re-post it to the Inequalities community this week. [As this more political than usually, I'll also put up a separate, research-based post tomorrow on the blog]. … Continue reading →

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Conditionality and the deservingness of benefit claimants

Posted on December 13, 2011 by

In this, the final of three posts responding to John Humphrys’ Future State of Welfare, I consider whether the benefits system should be conditional on taking crap jobs or making people take steps back towards the labour market.  It’s relatively easy to sit … Continue reading →

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Straight Talk on Economic Mobility

Posted on December 8, 2011 by

Americans may be skeptical of some large welfare state programs, but a widely shared conviction is that children that are born to poor parents should have the chance to move upward. That’s why it was good to hear President Obama … Continue reading →

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The deservingness of benefit claimants (I)

Posted on November 23, 2011 by

This is the first of three linked posts on the ‘deservingness of benefit claimants’. In this post, I explain the title, speak about the BBC programme that prompted the posts, and suggest why the British public massively overestimate the levels … Continue reading →

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Beyond ‘Child Poverty’

Posted on November 16, 2011 by

It may seem perverse to start criticising the idea of ‘child poverty’. Looking back over Tony Blair’s years in office, there’s nothing more surprising or welcome than his call to ‘end child poverty, and it will take a generation’. New Labour … Continue reading →

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