Editor’s Note

You’re in luck! Not only do we have a surfeit of nifty pieces in this issue, but no space for yours truly to add bad jokes. Check it out.

David Dollar of Brookings assesses China’s problematic economic prospects. “China still has a lot of catch-up potential,” he acknowledges. But its challenges — mostly demographic and political — will not be overcome easily.

Jeffrey Miron (Harvard) and Pedro Soares (Pontifical Catholic University) assess the consequences of bringing marijuana into the mainstream. “Legalization,” they conclude, “should be regarded as the default policy in a free society — it is prohibition that requires justification. And there is simply no good reason to believe that legalization has a significant negative impact.”

Severin Borenstein of UC Berkeley unravels the knotty issue of decarbonizing households. “We really do know how to reduce household emissions at reasonable cost,” he writes. “But the current halting pace makes clear that the barriers are formidable.”

Barry Ickes of Penn State casts a gimlet eye on the Russian economy in the post-invasion world. “Russia,” he concludes, “will most likely become a hungrier bear. But still a bear with a vast nuclear arsenal and an enduring sense of grievance against the West.”

Alex Gilbert of Zeno Power Systems urges an open mind on nuclear power. “New designs do not rely upon ‘active safety’ systems. They lean on ‘inherent safety,’ designed from the get-go to avoid accidents and reduce the impact if they do occur.”

Daniel Raimi of Resources for the Future dismisses self-sufficiency as a legitimate goal of energy policy. “Seeking independence would amount to shooting ourselves in the foot,” he concludes.

Dani Rodrik of Harvard explains why the rationale for expanding trade is growing thin. “This is not a time for revisionism in which we blame most of Americans’ economic woes on globalization,” he concludes. “But in an era in which the rising tide has plainly left many boats stranded, a more nuanced view is overdue.”

Charles Castaldi, a former NPR correspondent, offers a snapshot of contemporary Spain. “The country can’t, of course, escape the shadows darkening all Western democracies,” he writes. “That said, Spain is in far better shape than most.”

Last but hardly least, this excerpt from R. Douglas Arnold’s new book, Fixing Social Security, games out the unpalatable choices Congress will face in delivering on Social Security’s promises.

Happy perusing. — Peter Passell