The Wilson Quarterly

Revisiting the Great Depression by Robert J. Samuelson The role of the welfare state in today’s economic crisis recalls the part played by the gold standard in the calamitous 1930s.

College for All? by Kevin Carey The college-educated share of America’s population has barely increased in years. The key to reviving mass higher education may be to rethink the divide between high school and college.
Teach to the Test? by Richard P. Phelps Most of the problems with testing have one surprising source: cheating by school administrators and teachers.
In the Footsteps of Giants by Michael McDonald The acclaimed biographer Michael Scammell discusses the peculiar challenges and delights of his craft.
The WikiLeaks Illusion by Alasdair Roberts WikiLeaks’ tsunami of revelations from U.S. government sources last year did not change the world, but it did change WikiLeaks.

Winter 2012
Full Table of Contents

In Essence

Staying Put

Americans like to think of themselves as a restless people, always ready to pack up and move in search of opportunity. But in the past 30 years, they have been increasingly stuck in place.

The Empty Threat of Cyberwar

There are plenty of dark doings online, but they fall far short of cyberwar.

For Love or Money

A mid-century request provoked debate about literary magazines' use to literature.

The Budget’s Next Battlefront

Health care and education are on track to become “the heart of the economy."

Papa's Beginnings

Fifty years after he ended his life, the writer Ernest Hemingway resides in the American consciousness mostly in caricature.

The Uncontainable Diplomat

George F. Kennan was a national treasure, but a difficult and often wayward subordinate, who nurtured some very odd views about his own country.

Rushing to Judgment

An eminent psychologist surveys the many ways that supposedly rational human beings make illogical decisions.

Hunting Vaucanson’s Duck

A few questions with WQ contributor Max Byrd.

Of More Than One Mind

Editor Steven Lagerfeld introduces the Winter 2012 issue, "Lessons of the Great Depression."

The Arabic Hurdle

To change the conversation between America and the Middle East, we need to learn the language.

A Man of Parts

Remembering Christopher Hitchens.

The WQ’s Top 10 Books of 2011

The best books reviewed in the WQ this year.

Economists Got This One Right

You read it first in the WQ.

What We're Reading

WQ editors share the reads they're curling up with as autumn deepens.

Paterno and the Poet

An emeritus professor recalls Penn State’s insular culture and Joe Paterno’s unusual role within it.

Last Chance on Death Row by William Baude What if a man who is sentenced to die claims to have evidence of his innocence? Common sense cries out for the case to be tried again, but important legal principles say otherwise.
What Is Hugo Chávez Up To? by Joshua Kucera Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez has set alarms ringing with his efforts to create a global anti-American coalition.
Long Live the Industrial City by Tom Vanderbilt New York City’s garment district illustrates that manufacturing can still be vital to the innovation that cities foster.
What Is a Tree Worth? by Jill Jonnes Trees brighten city streets and delight nature-starved urbanites. Now scientists are learning that they also play a crucial role in the green infrastructure of America’s cities.
Nuclear Is Not the Way by Brice Smith and Arjun Makhijani Relying upon nuclear power to combat global warming poses risks that are too severe, given that safer alternatives are available.
Nuclear Power Is the Future by Max Schulz Nuclear power alone is positioned to help meet the world's burgeoning energy demand and supply electricity to power-starved areas of the world.
America: Land of Loners? by Daniel Akst Americans, plugged in and on the move, are confiding in their pets, their computers, and their spouses. What they need is to rediscover the value of friendship.
The Bounty Hunter's Pursuit of Justice by Alex Tabarrok When felony defendants jump bail, bounty hunters spring into action. It’s a uniquely American system, and it works.
The Arab Tomorrow by David B. Ottaway The Arab world today is ruled by contradiction. Turmoil and stagnation prevail, as colossal wealth and hypermodern cities collide with mass illiteracy and rage-filled imams. In this new diversity may lie disaster, or the makings of a better Arab future.
Rethinking the Great Recession by Robert J. Samuelson In embracing a victims-and-villains explanation of the recession, Americans are missing important lessons about the future of the U.S. economy.
A History of the Past:
'Life Reeked With Joy' by Anders Henriksson Possibly as an act of vengeance, a history professor--compiling, verbatim, several decades' worth of freshman papers--offers some of his students’ more striking insights into European history from the Middle Ages to the present.