Can we predict turning points
There are many issues like transportation, healthcare, housing and growth affecting North Carolina. Can we predict the turning points that resolves them? Read More
NC Spin Articles
Uncertain policy has economic cost.
When people can’t predict with at least some degree of confidence what economic policies their government will follow, they often delay consequential decisions and park their resources in safer, lower-yielding investments. Lawmakers should seek consensus, simplicity and predictability in making economic policy changes Read More
UNC Board steps up to defend civil discourse on campus
Jay Schalin, director of policy analysis at the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, writes that a new program on civic virtues and civil discourse is generating unnecessary controversy. Read More
State leaders to debate healthcare.
Our political process is under tremendous pressure, no question. In North Carolina and beyond, politics has been overly coarsened, polarized, and trivialized. But the system isn’t irreparably broken. Read More
North Carolina as a peacemaker at the Constitutional Convention.
This is Constitution Week and Brenee Goforth, with the John Locke Foundation, tells how our delegation played a big role in compromises that ensured the passage of the Constitution that has guided us for 200 years. Read More
Will Governor Cooper's club beat Speaker Moore's gavel?
Political consultant Carter Wrenn told columnist Gary Pearce there are "two worlds in politics - the inside world and the outside world." The inside world is about 2,000 people who are deeply invested and pay attention to North Carolina politics. Then there are the 7 million registered voters who usually pay little attention. Read More
An analysis of the newly drawn legislative maps.
Legislators couldn't use political data to determine legislative districts but Professor Michael Bitzer can and his analysis produces interesting conclusions. Read More
NC's late summer political turmoil undermines democracy
Ours may be a divided state with respect to many ideological issues, but when it comes to how we choose the people who represent us and the rules those people employ to pass the laws that govern our society we pose great risk to our democracy with continued "ends-justifies-the-means" politics . Read More
Losing something special
If you are lamenting the loss of many favorite barbecue joints you aren't alone. Is there hope for the future? Read More
How bad will be the next recession?
Economists are better at predicting the past than the future, but if a recession is to occur in the next three years Walden speculates on its severity. Read More
