‘Cultural shifts alone won’t persuade people to have kids’
Stephanie H. Murray at The Atlantic
There is “no problem believing that culture plays a role in young people’s growing hesitation to have kids,” but it “would be a mistake to assume that a society’s culture and economy are quite so unrelated,” says Stephanie H. Murray. People “who would like to see a shift in cultural attitudes toward child-rearing cannot ignore the economic barriers to such a transformation.” The “notion that falling fertility has little to do with economics is hardly a settled matter.”
‘The real lesson of Springfield, Ohio’
Julian E. Zelizer at Foreign Policy
The narrative about Springfield, Ohio, “erases the city’s real lesson for the United States: how immigrants are revitalizing decaying economic areas that have been left behind for decades,” says Julian E. Zelizer. The “recent history of the city shows not why immigrants are a threat to existing populations, but why they are part of the solution to economic decline and malaise.” Immigrants “didn’t only provide labor in Springfield, but also boosted the vitality of downtown.”
‘The US dollar’s winning streak is ending. What does that mean for you?’
Zach Pandl at USA Today
The “dollar has risen in value for most of the past 10 years, but its winning streak has likely come to an end,” says Zach Pandl. The “dollar is not going anywhere, and it will likely remain the world’s dominant currency for a long time to come,” but it is “realistic to think that the dollar is much more likely to decline over the coming years after its long stretch of gains.” Dollar-based assets “will remain competitive with overseas alternatives.”
‘Water is not the problem with artificial intelligence’
Ryan Cooper at The American Prospect
Some argue that “water consumption of all the data centers powering AI systems are a threat to the environment,” but there is a “great deal of missing context,” says Ryan Cooper. All “data centers combined are a rounding error compared to the real water wasters: farmers.” It is “possible for data centers to stress municipal water systems,” but this is “downstream of the fact that it is legally very hard for cities to buy up water rights from farmers.”