Tomorrow marks the debut of a new journal: The Harvard Law and Policy Review. I am pleased as punch because some of my students founded the journal–and I (nearly always) love what my students do. Long-time readers of Warren Reports will recognize not only the co-founders (Michael Negron and James Weingarten), but some key staffers (Jason Spitalnick, Derek Lindblom, Dan Geldon). These folks are out to change the world. They have a vision to integrate policy and academic debates on critical issues, and they have created a new vehicle for those debates.
For me, the most exciting part of the journal is that it features middle class economic issues front-and-center. Grouped together as part of a discussion on reducing the price of opportunity, the journal has pulled in Jacob Hacker for a piece on the new economic insecurity, Michael Lind on the smallholder society, Michael Barr focusing on savings, and a piece from my co-blogger Ganesh Sitaramen, College Board economist Sandy Baum and me on paying for college.
Economic issues of the middle class have taken a backseat to too many other policy debates. This has been a mistake. The middle class is in real trouble. If we lose the opportunity and the cohesiveness represented by our middle class, then we lose our national identity. Thinking about access to the middle class and debating policies that will help hard-working, play by the rules families pulls us in the right direction. In their first issue of HLPR, the editors seem to agree.
So check it out. The articles are short (by academic standards) and readable (by any standards). The journal is off to a good start, with Charles Schumer weighing in on separation of powers and Patricia Wald responding, and scholars from political science, law, private foundations, and a variety of other experiences and backgrounds. There’s even room for online commentary from readers.
I don’t know what the journal will take on next, but focusing on economic opportunity in the first issue gives me hope.
