Culture & Religion — February 11, 2009

To Green Or Not To Green The Stimulus

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Claiming a truly green stimulus package would save the US economy $450 million for every $1 billion spent, the World Resources Institute and the Peterson Institute for International Economics released a persuasive report outlining the benefits that environmental provisions in the stimulus bill would have on the job market and taxpayers.

But with Republicans and Democrats both gutting the stimulus of “extras” before its final vote, green measures have been some of the first to the chopping block. How would big thinkers include green measures in the stimulus? Are they inextricable from economic recovery in the US or part of Obama’s progressive agenda we should tackle when the economy is back on its feet?

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

The Learning Curve

The world must learn from “karoshi,” Japan’s overwork epidemic — before it’s too late

It is estimated that as many as 488 million people worldwide were exposed to dangerously long working hours in 2016.

Progress

What are the easiest opportunities for progress in your opinion? What are the areas in which a few critical interventions or changes could unlock a disproportionate amount of progress?

About the project The goal of driving more progress across the world—scientifically, politically, economically, socially, etc—is one shared by many. And yet, debates about the best way to maximize progress […]

Progress

And conversely, what do you see as the most important places we need to make progress (even if it’s going to be more difficult)?

Progress

What would a “progress agenda” look like?

If our goal is to effect the greatest possible progress, what would it look like to approach this holistically? What might need to dispositionaly in how we approach solving our most important problems—at an individual level, a community level, or at a civilizational or global one? We asked our experts to think big picture about how what new thinking would be required to create a larger pro-progress framework.

High Culture

Ready to tackle MIT’s recommended reading list for summer 2021?

All the latest titles from the experts at MIT.

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