Up For Discussion

A Silver Tsunami Is About to Hit U.S. Health Care

Retiring Baby Boomers Will Drown a Stressed System—or Save It

Every day between 2010 and 2029, 10,000 Baby Boomers retire. Some say that the aging of this massive generation—which makes up slightly more than a quarter of the U.S. population—threatens to break the health care system. As more people live longer, they will seek more treatment from a system already beset by critical professional shortages. In addition, Baby Boomers face epidemics of obesity and diabetes. The trustees of Medicare estimate the program will run out of money by 2030. Is it possible to build our health care infrastructure to accommodate …

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What Constant Screen Time Does to Kids’ Brains

Internet Exposure Can Improve Children's Learning—but It's Still No Substitute for Real-World Experience

An 8-year-old American child has never known a world without an iPhone. For today’s kids, smartwatches, video chats, and virtual reality aren’t harbingers of the high-tech future that adults have …

Is Universal Health Care an Impossible Fantasy?

It’s Difficult to Imagine a Single-Payer System That’s Both Politically and Practically Viable in America

For more than a century, America has argued about how to share the costs of health care. Drawing from new government-sponsored insurance programs in Germany and England, Progressive reformers made …

Smartphones Make Us Sick, No Matter How Many Health Apps We Download

While Our Favorite Handheld Companions Count Our Steps, They’re Also Triggering Obesity, Addiction, and Car Accidents

Last November, a national survey by New York University’s Langone Medical Center found that 58 percent of adult respondents have downloaded health apps on their smartphones—and that almost half these …

‘Brexit’ Is a Losing Game

Beyond Global Influence, National Security, and Economic Opportunity, the United Kingdom Would Lose Its Ability to Look Beyond Itself

In 1975, the United Kingdom voted on quitting Europe for the first time—just two years after it had joined the European Economic Community. A flip in power from the pro-European …

Does the British Empire Still Have a Grip on America?

From the Coins We Count to the Democracy We Practice, the Mother Country’s Influence Is Holding Strong in Our Demographic Whirlpool

In 1776, on the brink of his first battle with British troops after America declared independence, George Washington gave a spirited defense of breaking from British rule. “The fate of …


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