This book taught me about the history of the regulation of abortion in the United States from the 19th century to the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, assuring women’s right to abortion, and its recent Dobbs v. Jackson decision overturning it.
The book also helped me understand why the issue of abortion is never settled in the United States, whereas it is settled in many other countries, including Israel, where I grew up. The book tells the stories of many women who were and continue to be among the leaders in the movement to restrict abortion rights, but it left me wondering why.
The leading U.S. expert on abortion law charts the many meanings associated with Roe v. Wade during its fifty-year history
"Ziegler sets a brisk pace but delivers substantial depth. . . . A must-read for those seeking to understand what comes next."-Publishers Weekly
What explains the insistent pull of Roe v. Wade? Abortion law expert Mary Ziegler argues that the U.S. Supreme Court decision, which decriminalized abortion in 1973 and was overturned in 2022, had a hold on us that was not simply the result of polarized abortion politics. Rather, Roe took on meanings far beyond its original purpose of…
This book overturned many myths about immigrants to the United States. It taught me that few immigrants from poor countries followed a path from rags to riches, but their children are more upwardly mobile than children of US-born residents raised in families with similar incomes.
It also taught me that today’s immigrants who come from around the globe are as successful as past immigrants who came mostly from Europe. Yet many Americans want to shut America’s gates.
Immigration is one of the most fraught, and possibly most misunderstood, topics in American social discourse-yet, in most cases, the things we believe about immigration are based largely on myth, not facts. Using the tools of modern data analysis and ten years of pioneering research, new evidence is provided about the past and present of the American Dream, debunking myths fostered by political opportunism and sentimentalized in family histories, and draw counterintuitive conclusions, including:
* Upward Mobility: Children of immigrants from nearly every country, especially those of poor immigrants, do better economically than children of U.S.-born residents - a pattern…
This book persuaded me that we should tear down the American healthcare system and replace it with one guaranteeing basic healthcare to everyone, paid for by taxes, and let those who can afford better care pay for it.
It also surprised me with some of its prescriptions. Yes, co-pays reduce visits to physicians, saving some money, but administering the co-pay system costs more than it saves.
From a MacArthur Genius MIT economist and pre-eminent Stanford economist comes a lively and provocative proposal for American health insurance reform
Few of us need convincing that the American health insurance system needs reform. But many of the existing proposals focus on expanding one relatively successful piece of the system or building in piecemeal additions. These proposals miss the point.
As the Stanford health economist Liran Einav and the MIT economist and MacArthur Genius Amy Finkelstein argue, our health care system was never deliberately designed, but rather pieced together to deal with issues as they became politically relevant. The result…
I often note that the biggest risks in life are not in the stock market. If you want real risk, I say, get married. And if you want more risk, have children. People laugh because the point is obvious, yet that point is regularly lost.
I was motivated to write my book by reflecting on my own financial and life well-being and those of others.
Financial well-being comes when we can meet current and future financial obligations, absorb financial setbacks, and keep driving toward financial goals, such as adequate retirement income. Life well-being comes when we live satisfying lives full of meaning and purpose. We need financial well-being to enjoy life well-being, but it is life well-being that we seek.
