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Robert de Neufville
Contributor, Big Think
I lecture and write about politics and philosophy. I hold degrees in politics from Harvard and Berkeley, and have studied complex systems at the Santa Fe Institute. Other interests include theoretical physics, cognitive science, evolutionary biology, and the game of Go. You can find me on Twitter at @rdeneufville.
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The gap between the rich and the poor has been growing in the United States. The richest 1% of the American population now controls close to 40% of the country’s […]
When pressed, Rand Paul now says that he would have voted for the Civil Rights Act. But Paul, who just won the Republican nomination for Senate in Kentucky, does have […]
Don’t look now, but John McCain is in trouble. The latest Rasmussen poll finds that 52% of Arizona Republicans support Sen. McCain (R-AZ), while 40% prefer former Republican Congressman J.D. […]
The results from yesterday’s “Little Tuesday” collection of primaries and special elections around the country are in. They were bad news for many established political figures. But they may nevertheless […]
The country’s six largest banks have hired more than 240 former government officials to lobby Congress as it debates regulating the financial industry. That’s according to a new report (pdf) […]
Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) is in trouble. She is struggling to survive a primary challenge from Lt. Gov. Bill Halter. Now it looks like she may be headed to a […]
Elena Kagan’s friends assure us that she’s not gay. “I’ve known her for most of her adult life and I know she’s straight,” Kagan’s roommate in law school told Politico. […]
Solicitor General Elena Kagan, President Obama’s new nominee for the Supreme Court, is by all accounts spectacularly brilliant. She was also, by all accounts, did a fantastic Dean of Harvard […]
Although federal law prohibits discrimination in the workplace on the basis of race, national origin, age, sex, and disability, there are no federal laws protecting people from discrimination on the […]
The devil is in the details. In the modern world, that’s more true than ever. No one can realistically hope to keep track of or understand all the legal and […]
The election of Barack Obama was a watershed moment in American history. Just twenty years before it was hard to imagine that a majority of Americans would vote for a […]
Arizona is facing a backlash after Governor Jan Brewer signed a law making it a crime not to carry immigration papers and authorizing the police to detain anyone suspected of […]
Maybe the Tea Party isn’t the real threat to the Democrats after all. The greatest threat to the Democratic majorities in Congress just may be old people. Margaret Talev points […]
Matt Yglesias makes a good point. The Tea Party activists talk a lot about the government taking away their freedom, whether by taxing them, byforcing them to buy health insurance, […]
On Monday, Republicans voted to prevent financial reform legislation from moving to the Senate floor for debate. The Democrats’ motion to bring about cloture—which would end the Republicans filibuster of […]
Islam is not a monolithic religion or a single coherent ideology, any more than Christianity is. Yet many people—as I discovered in the comments on my last article—are willing to […]
When evangelist Franklin Graham—son of the better known Billy Graham—had his invitation to the Pentagon’s National Day of Prayer service rescinded after Muslim members of the military complained about comments […]
Sue Lowden thinks we should barter with doctors for our medical care. Lowden—currently the leading Republican candidate to challenge the very-much-in-trouble Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) in the fall—says […]
In his State of the Union address, President Obama said the Supreme Court had “reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests—including foreign […]
There’s no shame in making money. Making money is, after all, every company’s goal. And when our companies do well, that’s generally good for the country. Under normal circumstances Goldman […]