In the Public Interest

What fundamental goals and ethics should an economic system serve in a democratic society? This is not a question posed and considered by a group of leading economists. Nor is it being raised by a group of leading political figures. Instead, it is the theme of the “Pastoral Letter on Catholic Social Teaching and the…

For Ronald Reagan these must be times of quiet amazement. Rarely in American history has a President’s rhetoric and symbolism so overpowered his record and promises. In nearly four years this “controlled access” President has befuddled and frustrated the media and kept off balance a Democratic Party that seems unable to find its identity. Citizens…

The first issue of “Thought and Action” — the National Education Association’s (NEA) higher education journal — is devoted the growing involvement and control by commercial companies over University research and priorities. This trend is troubling and enriching different members of faculties at these institutions. But too little public attention is being focused on the…

The Reagan group is claiming a thunderous mandate. Judging by the way their campaign of fluff, flattery and facade replaced pressing matters of substance, not to mention any specifics of what they planned in a second term, the Reaganites ran a personality parade. Political observers kept reminding us of the gap between voters opposition to…

Mankato, Minnesota — He was a third year student in college and interested in housing issues. I asked him whom he favored in the Presidential campaign. He replied: “Are you kidding?” I said: “What do you mean?” He replied “Ronald Reagan, of course.” So I started inquiring about which candidate he thought was superior on…

There is an outfit in England that sets odds and takes bets on the outcome of the Presidential race in the United States. If this firm wants to expand its business, it could propose ten-to-one odds that the following predictions will materialize President Reagan gains a second term: President Reagan, despite his pre-election promises, will…

The question for millions of college students is whether they plan to spend several special hours, as they would do for an average mid-term exam, studying the records of the Presidential candidates before election on November 6. They need to do this if they want to cast their ballot on facts and judgments rather than…

In the sixties, a book with the title “The Poor Pay More” was published documenting the not surprising point that consumer fraud and injustice bear down disproportionately on low income Americans. Now comes a new report describing how the poor suffer more -from environmental pollution where they work, where they live and where their children…

I wonder what children are thinking about the Presidential race between Ronald Reagan and Walter Mondale. Not much, you may say. But the ten and eleven year olds who interviewed politicians at the Democratic and Republican Conventions this summer for their newspaper, “Children’s Express,” told me that maybe grown-ups should start asking. It would be…

Maybe someone can explain the luck of the insurance industry. It receives 12% of the consumer’s disposable income, making that bill the fourth leading expenditure for Americans after food, housing and personal income taxes. Since 1944, it has been exempted from the federal antitrust laws and state regulation continues to he weak and indentured. Numerous,…