Alex Marshall, a former reporter for the Virginian-Pilot who covered metropolitan growth issues and went on to write, “How Cities Work: Suburbs, Sprawl and the Roads Not Taken,” has raised some interesting issues regarding peoples’ choices of transportation modes. The length of time it takes to complete the trip is a factor (and so, I…

Since bashing deficit spending is now de rigueur for some on this blog, especially the Baconator himself, I thought it might be interesting to note what the Huffington Post and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities have to offer on the topic. True, they are from the left side of the aisle, but I…

Virginia’s prison system is one of the biggest budget-busters in state government. Expenditures have doubled over the past eight years to about $1.25 billion. I’m all in favor of putting the crooks in jail — and keeping them there. But that doesn’t mean we can’t do a better job of running the system. One very…

Flash back 30 years and review the mood about nuclear power. Hollywood had just come out with its prescient anti-nuke film “The China Syndrome” with such A-list actors as Jack Lemmon, Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas. Just a few months later, a real meltdown did occur at the Three Mile Island commercial plant in Pennsylvania.…

Being a “pro-business” state, Virginia typically follows trends in business. So, it will be interesting indeed if the Old Dominion follows this new trend. This morning’s Wall Street Journal has an intriguing front page story about how big businesses are retreating from the decentralized, outsourcing model that had been in vogue for a few decades.…

Back in early 2008, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine launched a commission to study the impact of Global Warming on Virginia. “Gone are the days of debating whether man-made effects exist,” he said. “Those days are gone.” Well, it turns out those days are back. And one of the central figures in reopening the debate is…

When you think about the “jobless recovery,” think about just how U.S. labor laws favor management and hurt workers. I couldn’t ask for a more clear example than that of my old employer, Business Week. I worked there about 15 years and for a total of 18 at its owner, McGraw-Hill. The venerable, New York-based…

The typical American hospital charges between $20,000 and $100,000 to perform open-heart surgery. The 1,000-bed Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospital in Bangalore, India, charges $2,000 on average — and, arguably, provides better quality outcomes. The factory model of medical care, in which hospitals, physicians, nurses and other staff focus with unremitting attention to efficiency and quality on…

Conservative sources are suddenly abuzz with the story of “phantom” congressional districts in the Recovery.gov website that tracks where the 2009 stimulus money (more properly known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) goes. Embarrassingly, the website lists way too many congressional districts. Virginia, for instance, supposedly has a 36th, 26th and 79th districts. Those…

Peter G. wonders how EMR can stand to read WaPo, the flagship of Enterprise-owned MainStream Media in the Washington-Baltimore NUR. Well, today’s edition provides plenty of reasons. Start with the front page: “Federal oversight of subways proposed, Federal safety oversight of subways, light-rial systems proposed, METRO CRASH HELPED SPUR SAFETY PLAN, Obama administration to push…

As Congress lurches forward in its campaign to “reform” a deeply flawed health care system by making it a grievously flawed system, moderate “blue dog” Democrats are emerging as a key swing constituency that can make or break any deal. In the Senate, that puts the spotlight on Mark Warner and Jim Webb. While Virginia’s…

For years, Marleen Durfee, a peppy Pennsylvanian who talks a mile a minute, has been the point woman in Chesterfield County when it comes to Smart Growth. For years, she was the lone voice in the desert crying for a stop to the wild, thoughtless development that Chesterfield’s Good Ole Boys and Girls Board of…

MARYLAND IS PLANNING A NEW SETTLEMENT PATTERN STRATEGY — OR NOT The AntiSmart Growthers (those who have consistently supported Business-As-Usual / dumb growth) are turning hand-springs of joy over the ‘news’ that, in spite of best intentions, the much ballyhooed Maryland ‘Smart Growth’ program has not panned out. As noted in an earlier post, this…

The Fall of the Berlin Wall on Nov. 9, 1989 is an enormous happening worthy of celebration. Last night, I marked the event in New York by attending a special discussion by four U.S. foreign correspondents and a photographer who recorded the historic day in person. The reporters, including those from The New York Times,…

In comments on Jim Bacon’s 7 November post “ Stupid Growth in Maryland” a frequent commentor makes a common error concerning the fundamental causes of human settlement pattern dysfunction. In the US of A, states are constrained by the federal constitution, however, within that framework states are free to ‘centrally plan’ or ‘delegate’ most powers…