Philanthropy and America’s “Social Capital” Divide
Ask a sociologist or a political scientist what tasks foundations ought to be doing, and they’ll likely answer that one would be building up “social capital”—the ties that link neighbors…
Philanthropy
Are the Programs You Support Building Trust—Or Destroying It?
This article originally appeared in Philanthropy Daily, June 5, 2018. Megan McArdle, to my mind, is one of America’s more thoughtful and intelligent commentators on public policy and economics.
Joel Fleishman Muddies the Waters of Philanthropic History
This article originally appeared in Philanthropy Daily, May 30, 2018. It’s one of the critical moments in the history of philanthropy. In 1976 Henry Ford II resigned as a…
The Spectacular Failure of One Laptop Per Child
This article originally appeared in Philanthropy Daily, May 24, 2018. It’s a problem that continually recurs in development. Every few years someone comes up with a device that will…
Whatever happened to compassionate conservatism?
This article originally appeared in Philanthropy Daily, May 16, 2018. Remember “compassionate conservatism?” That was the movement in the 1990s that was supposed to transform conservatism by making it…
Bill and Melinda Gates’ “Ten Tough Questions” Letter is Worth Emulating
This article originally appeared in Philanthropy Daily, May 10, 2018. In February, the Gates Foundation issued the tenth annual letter by Bill and Melinda Gates. This year Bill and…
Humbling the Bumbling, Encumbering Numbering
One senses some pent-up frustration early in Catholic University of America (CUA) history professor Jerry Z. Muller’s new book, The Tyranny of Metrics. As chair of CUA’s history department,…
Berkshire Fire Sale Degrades Donor Intent
The Berkshire Museum’s trustees just won court approval to sell 40 artworks from the museum’s collection—including an iconic Norman Rockwell painting donated by the artist himself—to stabilize its…
This Multi-Million-Dollar Company Built its Success by Hiring Ex-Convicts
This piece originally appeared in Philanthropy Daily on April 26, 2018. In the continuing debate over criminal justice reform, it’s clear that former prisoners need jobs if they are…
Ideas Cost More Than They Used To. How Will Policy Donors React?
This article originally appeared in RealClearPolicy, April 20, 2018. I recently saw a billboard in Milwaukee that asked, “What idea is worth $10,000?” It urged its viewers to watch…