Contrary to what you might think, China's economy is relatively less efficient, and more polluting, than those of rich countries.

The air that people breathe in many Chinese cities has become dangerously polluted. Their food supply is subject to constant contamination scandals. Now it appears that not merely stagnant ponds but the water people draw from deep underground is already tainted.

A rigid America is also weak and vulnerable, because it sacrifices its unique strength: the energy of people who think they can always make something new of their lives.

We're now in one of those periods when the reality of intense pressure on the middle class diverges from long-held assumptions of how the American bargain should work

Up or out" greatly magnified the careerist emphasis on holding a position rather than doing a job.

Make the important interesting.

Every previous era looks innocent.