Breaking News

Columns

The ‘debate’ over global poverty continues

The new “Global Justice Report” by the World Inequality Lab in France — which calls for caps on economic growth in rich countries, top income-tax rates of 90% and a World Sovereign Fund to redistribute wealth to the Global South — has reignited one of the oldest debates in economics: How do we actually lift people out of poverty? The data have never left much question. The answer is economic growth. Nonetheless, many development economists have spent decades arguing that growth isn’t enough or as important as development aid. The French report is simply a radical expression ...

Elon Musk’s new ‘trillionaire’ status is a good thing, actually

I am not a huge fan of Elon Musk as a political activist or commentator. I think he’s made Twitter — sorry, X — worse. His support for the nationalist right in Europe has been ugly. His tenure leading the Department of Government Efficiency mostly amounted to a missed opportunity and often descended into little more than performative vandalism. His personal life is not exactly consonant with my preference for bourgeois family values. Though, one can hardly accuse him of being a deadbeat dad. On the other hand, I am a huge fan of his accomplishments in business and engineering. He ...

Dear Annie: Grandma’s jewelry may be lost, but her love isn’t

Dear Annie: My 15-year-old daughter was given a piece of sentimental jewelry on the day of her grandmother’s funeral. It had belonged to her grandmother, and the gesture was meant to be a beautiful way for my daughter to carry a piece of her with her. At the time, my daughter seemed touched. She wore it a few times, and I remember feeling comforted seeing it on her, as if this small object helped connect the generations during a very sad time. Now, only a few months later, I fear the jewelry has been lost. We have searched drawers, jewelry boxes, backpacks, coat pockets, bathroom ...

‘Tumor seeding’ very rarely occurs during biopsies

DEAR DR. ROACH: I read your recent column on prostate biopsies. I’m no doctor, but I’d advise against them. My boyfriend got a biopsy in 2012, which I believe caused his cancer to spread beyond his prostate into his bones. He died three years later in 2015. Think about this: A needle is inserted to extract cells so that they can be tested. When the needle is pulled out with its open end, and cancer is present, cells in the needle can then come out of the open end, causing cancer to spread throughout the prostate. It may be rare, but this is documented (tumor seeding). — ...

‘Childhood Interrupted’: What enslaved children teach us about America today

An elementary school in Louisville, Kentucky, sits on land that was once the Farmington hemp plantation. That fact gutted me as I stood before “Childhood Interrupted,” an art installation depicting enslaved children on the lawn of the historic home. My son attends this elementary school which is now embedded in a neighborhood just one long driveway away from the truth of its plantation past. He learns, thrives and feels like he belongs in a space where enslaved children were once forced to work — enslaved children who would have certainly preferred my son’s experience of this ...

How to keep loving America — even when it hurts

The approach of July 4 is making my heart hurt. Love of this country is deep-dyed in my soul, but pondering how or even whether to celebrate the semiquincentennial provokes a riot of mixed feelings. The right — and not just the MAGA right — responds to any queasiness about this particular anniversary with knee-jerk vituperation. Matthew Hennessey, writing in the Wall Street Journal, offered a typical example of this Pavlovian response this week when he accused Robert De Niro of “hating America.” What had the actor done to deserve this verdict? Well, he attempted to provide ...