Economics Archives - Strategian: Science Magazine

The US really is unlike other rich countries when it comes to job insecurity – and AI could make it even more ‘exceptional’

September 1, 2025 Kevin Engel Intersections

Jeffrey C. Dixon, College of the Holy Cross (from The Conversation) How will AI affect American workers? There are two major narratives floating around. The “techno-optimist” view is that AI will free humans from boring tasks and create new jobs, while the “techno-pessimist” view is that AI will lead to widespread unemployment. As a sociologist who studies job insecurity, I’m among the pessimists. And that’s…

Pharmaceuticals: corporations, markets, and manipulation?

January 13, 2023 Kevin Engel Intersections

Three books that examine the global pharmaceutical industry, the quest for profit, inequality and inequity, our own perceptions, the value of life itself, and more. *Petryna A. Lakoff A. & Kleinman A. (2006). Global pharmaceuticals: ethics, markets, practices. Duke University Press. [PDF] [Cited by] *Dumit J. (2012). Drugs for life: how pharmaceutical companies define our health. Duke University Press. [PDF] [Cited by] *Ecks S. (2022)….

Firearm violence in the United States

October 27, 2022 Kevin Engel Featured Article

“Firearm violence in the US is an unrelenting clinical, public health, societal, and political concern of major proportion. The morbidity and mortality attributed to firearms have continued to increase; have adversely and profoundly affected individuals, families, and communities; and have exceedingly important consequences for all of society. The frequent occurrence of firearm violence and the repetitive episodes of mass shootings highlight the pervasiveness of firearms…

Meet the power plant of the future: Solar + battery hybrids are poised for explosive growth

April 29, 2022 Kevin Engel Intersections

Joachim Seel, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Bentham Paulos, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Will Gorman, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (from The Conversation) America’s electric power system is undergoing radical change as it transitions from fossil fuels to renewable energy. While the first decade of the 2000s saw huge growth in natural gas generation, and the 2010s were the decade of wind and solar, early signs…

The consequences and costs of climate risks

September 10, 2021 Kevin Engel Featured Article

Climate risks are increasing in the United States and in many other parts of the world. Yet, some areas that are particular climate “hot spots”–increasingly prone to excessive heat or drought or powerful hurricanes or floods or sea level rise or destructive wildfires, etc. and sometimes more than just one risk–are currently seeing more population growth and development than areas with lesser risks. Why is…

Sea level rise and climate change: impact on the economy and migration

January 20, 2021 Kevin Engel Featured Article

Update to the Sea level rise and climate change bibliography; these articles have been added to the Science Primary Literature database — Feature articles: *Robinson, C., Dilkina, B., & Moreno-Cruz, J. (2020). Modeling migration patterns in the USA under sea level rise. PLoS One, 15(1), e0227436. [PDF] [Cited by] “Climate change is already affecting millions of people around the world. Human migration is a natural…

Electric vehicles: benefits, technology, obstacles

October 7, 2020 Kevin Engel Quick bibliographies

Vehicles (cars and trucks) can be powered partially or wholly by electricity. “All-electric vehicles (EVs) have an electric motor instead of an internal combustion engine. The vehicle uses a large traction battery pack to power the electric motor and must be plugged in to a charging station or wall outlet to charge. Because it runs on electricity, the vehicle emits no exhaust from a tailpipe and does…

Trends in treating industrial textile wastewater and other effluents using electrocoagulation

July 18, 2020 Kevin Engel Featured Article

Featured article: Gafoor, A., Ali, N., Kumar, S., Begum, S., & Rahman, Z. (2020). Applicability and new trends of different electrode materials and its combinations in electro coagulation process: A brief review. Materials Today: Proceedings. Available online 7 June 2020. The content of textile wastewater “broadly depends on the composition of scum in fibers and the chemicals used in various stages.” A large quantity of…

Essential workers: economic and health vulnerability

June 20, 2020 Kevin Engel News

We live in a very unequal society in the United States. Many have pointed this out for years and the COVID-19 pandemic has starkly illustrated this inequality. The poor, the sick, the old, the young, those who are “different”, those with little political power, and on and on … these people have borne the brunt for decades. These people have seen little benefit from economic…