Opinion
Argument and analysis from our writers.
OpinionThe Arithmetic on Public Childcare Has Always Worked. The Politics Hides It.
Why the standard analyses keep finding the same result, and what a serious agenda would actually have to prioritize beyond the political fight.
By Diego Arroyo · Jun 15
OpinionDeficit-as-Crisis Rhetoric Produced Nothing in Twenty Years. Try Another Frame.
Why the crisis framing fails to produce either honest engagement or actual consolidation, and what a more useful conversation would emphasize instead.
By Diego Arroyo · Jun 5
OpinionLong-Form Journalism Lost Its Business Model. The Work Is Still Valuable.
Why the case for defending and funding the work has only grown stronger, and what the architecture that will keep it alive actually has to look like.
By Diego Arroyo · May 21
OpinionProfessional Licensing Portability Is the Quiet Reform That Is Actually Moving
Why the patchwork is changing through interstate compacts, what the early reforms have already achieved, and which professions the unfinished agenda still has to reach.
By Diego Arroyo · Mar 26
OpinionAlgorithmic Management Needs Worker Voice. Banning Algorithms Is Not the Fix.
Why the harms from badly designed systems are real, why bans would fail, and what meaningful worker voice in the design and operation actually looks like.
By Diego Arroyo · Dec 1
OpinionTransit Gets a Paragraph in Every Platform. Then Nobody Funds It.
Why the political economy rewards ribbon-cuttings over the boring operations work that actually produces transit people want to use.
By Diego Arroyo · Nov 29
OpinionTax Simplification Should Be the Easiest Bipartisan Win. Nobody Takes It.
Why the analytical case is overwhelming, where the politics keeps killing every attempt, and what a credible path forward would actually require.
By Diego Arroyo · Oct 24
OpinionGrade Inflation Is Real. The Conclusions People Draw From It Are Often Wrong.
Why the honest debate about what climbing grades reflect would produce better policy than the performance the current conversation settles for.
By Diego Arroyo · Aug 21
OpinionHigher Ed Unbundling Is Overdue. The Disruption Talk Is Where It Gets Dangerous.
Why the bundle produces value the most confident reformers underweight, and what thoughtful unbundling actually requires to avoid throwing the good parts away.
By Diego Arroyo · Jul 3
OpinionLand Value Taxes Are Not Fringe. The Moment to Take Them Seriously Is Here.
Why a policy economists across the spectrum endorse keeps getting dismissed, and what a serious agenda would actually look like in jurisdictions where it has been impossible.
By Diego Arroyo · Jun 22
OpinionThe Real Cost of Car-Centric Cities Is Bigger Than Policy Conversation Allows
Why the bill is paid across so many separate budget lines that the total rarely gets aggregated, and what a better conversation would have to acknowledge.
By Diego Arroyo · Apr 12
OpinionMass Timber Is Quietly Becoming a Real Answer to the Housing Supply Problem
Why the building technique has reached the maturity that makes it newly relevant, and what broader application of it in housing actually requires next.
By Diego Arroyo · Apr 5