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Opinion | No coincidence that redlined areas are now heat islands

STREET SMART ECONOMICS | Efforts to confront racism should extend to the fight for climate justice Outrage over the recent police killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd has sparked ever larger street protests with participants demandin ...

30 Jun 2020 - Martin Hart-Lan...
Economic devastation from COVID-19 did not have to be this bad

COMMENTARY | The feds should pay people to stay home while investing in a long-term recovery plan The death toll and suffering due to the coronavirus pandemic has been much worse in the U.S. than elsewhere. It didn’t have to be. Fortunately, we can still ...

27 May 2020 - Mary King
Back to normal is not good enough; we need a new economy

COMMENTARY | The failings of our current system are only accentuated by the coronavirus crisis We shouldn’t be satisfied with a return to normalcy. We need a “new normal.” We are now in a recession, one triggered by government-ordered closures of business ...

21 Apr 2020 - Martin Hart-Lan...
Business interests fighting Metro tax for homeless services are short on the facts

COMMENTARY | Their real goal may be to stop us from making them pay their fair share Two business associations have filed a legal challenge to Metro’s proposed May 2020 ballot measure to prevent and reduce homelessness. The grocers and manufacturers group ...

21 Mar 2020 - Mary King
U.S. military depends on fuel – and has the carbon footprint to prove it

COMMENTARY | As the largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world, America’s military must be reined in Climate change is happening, highlighted by dramatically shifting weather patterns and ever more deadly storms, floods, droughts and wildfires. And the e ...

14 Feb 2020 - Martin Hart-Lan...
Opinion | The real impact of universal preschool and a tax on the 5%

STREET SMART ECONOMICS | Pre-K education should be the right of all of our children This fall, we could vote for free, year-round, high quality preschool for all 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds in Multnomah County, paid for with a county income tax on households w ...

24 Jan 2020 - Mary King
A wealth tax? It could work in the U.S.

COMMENTARY | We need more funding for public programs; we also need to address the obscene concentration of wealth The bank robber Willie Sutton, when asked by a reporter why he robbed banks, is reputed to have answered, “Because that’s where the money is ...

20 Dec 2019 - Martin Hart-Lan...
Baby boomers are ready to retire – if only they could afford to

COMMENTARY | With big businesses unwilling to bring back pensions or raise wages, seniors are left with tough decisions, and younger generations are left behind Despite its reputation as the wealthiest generation, baby boomers (generally considered to be ...

11 Oct 2019 - Martin Hart-Lan...
Wall Street speculators and the loss of affordable housing

COMMENTARY | Investment giants are inflating Portland housing prices, a local expert argues Local systems analyst M.K. Hanson is speaking out about massive financial firms speculating in Portland housing. She persuasively makes the case that Portland hous ...

13 Sep 2019 - Mary King
Like NAFTA, USMCA trade deal is about corporate globalization

COMMENTARY | Beware of biased methodology and bogus assumptions about the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement Now that President Donald Trump has backed off his threat to impose tariffs on all imports from Mexico, serious talks have begun in Washington, D.C., on ...

21 Jun 2019 - Martin Hart-Lan...