local-reporting

Every year, traffic accidents kill more than a million people and injure close to 50 million around the world. As tragic and needless as these deaths are, they’re expected to increase over time: By 2020, traffic crashes will be third in the world ranking of burden of disease, as measured in disability-adjusted life years.

Studies have shown that young people growing up in poorer neighborhoods experience multiple forms of deprivation, including resource-poor schools, elevated levels of crime and violence, and restricted labor markets. In 1994 a federal program called “Moving to Opportunity” (MTO) used vouchers to help a group of randomly assigned families move from “highly distressed” public housing projects to neighborhoods with less poverty.

Few issues in American politics prompt more partisan passions and conflicting points of view than tax policy. One would think that there would be a definitive historical record of successes and failures that could inform future policy, but since other macro economic trends are operating at the same time, it can be difficult for economists to isolate the impact of tax cuts and hikes independent of these confounding factors.

Plastic trash is a potential — and plentiful — fuel source, but up to the present many regions of the United States have been reluctant to adopt waste-to-energy technologies. Among the reasons are the availability of relatively cheap land for trash disposal, recyclers who viewed such programs as potential threats, and resistance by local homeowners.