Commentary / World Jul 23, 2021
Is air rage caused by class warfare?
In a typical year, the Federal Aviation Administration logs between 100 and 200 incidents. In the first three months of 2021, it reported a whopping 1300 despite few fliers.
Stephen Mihm
For Stephen Mihm's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Commentary / World Apr 14, 2021
How pandemics change the course of history
When COVID-19 first arrived last year, everyone’s go-to historical parallel was the 1918 influenza pandemic. Precisely because it was so fleeting, it’s hard to find evidence that it caused a sweeping reorientation of everyday life. In its wake, most people simply forgot what happened. ...
Commentary / World Aug 5, 2020
How to fight disease in the 1880s: Fresh air
People learned the health advantages of open windows — and then closed them for air conditioners.
Commentary / World May 23, 2020
The Great Depression paradox: children survived, then thrived
National crises can actually have positive effects on the young, building character as much as destroying it.
Commentary / World Apr 25, 2020
Dangers of age segregation exposed
For most of America’s history, the idea that people over the age of 65 would voluntarily herd themselves into special communities built around their needs would have seemed absurd, even dystopian. Yet a largely voluntary movement toward segregating people by age has reached extreme ...
Commentary / World Apr 24, 2020
Coronavirus exposes dangers of age segregation
America’s embrace of retirement communities and nursing homes has led to a unique vulnerability.
World / Social Issues | Commentary Feb 20, 2020
The ugly history of blaming ethnic groups for disease outbreaks
As the coronavirus outbreak grows in scale and scope, a nasty side effect spreads: discrimination. Inside China, people from Wuhan have been treated like lepers. Outside, we're seeing numerous reports of verbal and physical abuse aimed at ethnic Chinese, and an aversion to Chinese ...
Commentary / World Feb 18, 2019
Sleazy journalism can serve the public good
Long before Bezos's battle with the National Enquirer, a fight involving a scabrous newspaper led to a U.S. Supreme Court decision expanding freedom of the press.
Commentary / World Sep 2, 2018
Does corruption matter to voters? It depends
Democrats' main target should be the Republican Party, not the president.
Commentary / World Mar 9, 2018
FDR's gun-control strategy was based on taxes
His administration gave gangsters 3,700 reasons to stop buying machine guns.