Yale Bulletin and Calendar

February 22, 2008|Volume 36, Number 19

In the News

“It is not at all remarkable that economic difficulties cause political repercussions in the U.S. That happens in all democracies. But in Europe, voters are more concerned to preserve what they have: They want not to create jobs, but to save the ones they have. Worried about the future, they focus on distributing wealth, not creating it, and on using the government to ensure fairness, not opportunity. The U.S. is more accustomed than Europe to believing that growth is both desirable and possible. This belief is in fact the best guarantee of both genuinely liberal politics and that growth will resume after the current credit crunch: Nothing does more to encourage Americans to accept the risk of change than the belief that they are likely to be rewarded as a result.”

— Ted Bromund, associate director of International Security Studies and lecturer in history, in his article, “The U.S. Looks Homeward ... and Doesn’t Like What It Sees,” Yorkshire Post (U.K.), Jan. 31, 2008.

“All animal models are abstractions: You’re not studying humans but a process in animals that is relevant to humans.”

— Richard Flavell, Sterling Professor of Immunobiology, chair of the Department of Immunobiology, and professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology, “Of Mice, Molecules and Music,” Jerusalem Post (Israel), Feb. 2, 2008.

“The anti-immigration camp makes at least two critical mistakes. First, it neglects the indispensable role that immigrants have played in building American wealth and power. In the 19th century, the United States would never have become an industrial and agricultural powerhouse without the millions of poor Irish, Polish, Italian and other newcomers who mined coal, laid rail and milled steel. European immigrants led to the United States’ winning the race for the atomic bomb. ... Second, anti-immigration talking heads forget that their own scapegoating vitriol will, if anything, drive immigrants further from the U.S. mainstream. One reason we don’t have Europe’s enclaves is our unique success in forging an ethnically and religiously neutral national identity, uniting individuals of all backgrounds. This is America’s glue, and [those who speak out against immigration] unwittingly imperil it.”

— Amy Chua, the John M. Duff Jr. Professor of Law, in her article, “Immigrate Assimilate,” Seattle Times, Feb. 3, 2008.

“It is impossible to define the boundaries of a race. Human races do not exist. No subset of humans differs genetically from the rest in a substantial, qualitative way. [Genetic] variation tends to be distributed in a continuous manner among populations so it is not possible to divide populations into distinct subgroups. Thus, race is a social construct, not a scientific, biologic classification of humans.”

— Kenneth Kidd, professor of genetics, psychiatry, and ecology and evolutionary biology, “A View of the Interior,” Malaysia Star, Feb. 9, 2008.

“Reality always trumps theory. We saw this when aftershocks from the American stockmarket tremors put to rest the theory of ‘decoupling,’ which held that the rise of China and India has created an Asian sphere independent of global demand trends. ... [I]ntra-Asian investments have flowed to companies that are part of global production networks. Any number of products appearing in western shopping malls with ‘Made in China’ labels — from DVD players to electric toothbrushes — are actually made in Asia (a simple electric toothbrush may be made from components from 10 countries). And if recession in the U.S. and Europe dampens demand for such goods, the ripple effect will be felt in China and across all of its suppliers whose booming trade with Beijing was seen as proof of decoupling. With factories losing orders, foreign investors, too, could start heading for the door. In a globalized world you can run, but you can’t hide.”

— Nayan Chanda, editor of YaleGlobal Online and director of publications at the Center for the Study of Globalization, in his article, “Decoupling Demystified; The U.S.’s Stock Market Woes Put Paid to the Theory that Asian Economies Would Not Be Influenced by Global Events,” Business World (New Delhi), Feb. 1, 2008.

“There’s no case in history in which we’ve had a bad recession and the incumbent party has won. Never.”

— Ray C. Fair, the John M. Musser Professor of Economics, “Decline in U.S. Jobs Could Prove Costly to GOP Nominee,” The Washington Post, Feb. 2, 2008.

“Many philosophers, for example, argue that doing good, and living a good life, consists of possessing virtues like honesty and kindness, and that a good society should aspire to cultivate these virtues in its citizens. But a large body of evidence suggests that these enduring character traits, to the extent that they even exist, may not play much of a role in moral action. Instead, our behavior is determined to a surprising extent by the situation. ... Social psychologists argue, for instance, that the atrocities of wartime are usually not the acts of terrible people, but are instead what normal people do when put in a terrible situation.”

— Paul Bloom, professor of psychology, in his review of Kwame Anthony Appiah’s book, “Experiments in Ethics,” “Morality Studies,” The New York Times, Feb. 3, 2008.

“When poets or novelists write the story of their youth, the plot turns in a circle: They tell the story of the making of the mind of the writer who wrote the book. But this means that, while the writer’s memoir involves remembrance and return, it also involves development and departure. The story is about getting away from the past as well as going back to it.”

— Langdon Hammer, professor of English, chair of the Department of English and professor of American studies, in his review of Andrew Motion’s book, “In the Blood,” “Childhood, Interrupted,” The New York Times, Feb. 3, 2008.

“The utilities, which are very heavily coal-dependent, in particular, might really become less economically viable [if federal limits on carbon emissions are enacted]. And I think the banks are saying ‘Gee, we want to really think hard before that’s where our money is going.’”

— Daniel Esty, the Hillhouse Professor of Environmental Law and Policy, director of the Center for Environmental Law and Policy, director of the World Fellows Program, and director of the Center for Business and Environment, “Emissions May Cost Power Plants,” American Public Media/Marketplace, Feb. 4, 2008.

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