Category: op-ed

FTC doesn’t realize who Kroger and Albertsons are really competing against

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March 4, Michael L. Davis, economics professor at the Cox School of Business, SMU Dallas, for a piece critical of the Federal Trade Commission for attempting to stop the merger of grocery giants Kroger and Albertsons. Published in the Orange County Register under the heading FTC doesn’t realize who Kroger and Albertsons are really competing against: https://tinyurl.com/46vn6ndr 

Kroger wants to acquire Albertson’s. The Federal Trade Commission wants to stop them. Reasonable people can disagree about whether Kroger is making a good business decision— the price they’ll pay, about $25 billion, is a lot of money. But everybody who’s been paying attention to the way Americans eat should agree that the FTC’s lawsuit to block the deal is ridiculous.

If this was nothing more than a story of a risky, complicated merger and a clueless, bumbling bureaucracy, there wouldn’t be much more to say. Cincinnati-based Kroger is trying to make a living in a low margin/high competition business. Mergers and acquisitions are just part of their life. Everybody knows that. The FTC has been filing silly cases since 1914. Everybody knows that, too.

But let’s think for a moment about what this soap opera on the business page reveals about the stunning transformation in the way we live our lives.

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Yulia Navalnaya, Seen in a New Light

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Feb. 27, Rhonda Garelick, distinguished professor of English and journalism at SMU Dallas, for a commentary about how Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Aleksei A. Navalny, is going to carry on the Russian opposition that was her husband’s life’s work. Published in Garelick’s New York Times ‘Face Forward’ column under the heading Yulia Navalnaya, Seen in a New Light: https://tinyurl.com/y8tscyvr 

Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Aleksei A. Navalny, the Russian opposition leader who died this month in an Arctic prison, has vowed to continue her husband’s work.

Ms. Navalnaya, 47, has been less public than Mr. Navalny, seen at his side and in his documentary, but mostly steering clear of the spotlight. She was, though, an important half of a global power couple: A telegenic duo who expressed unfaltering passion for each other and for their vision of a free and democratic future for Russia. “Everyone wanted a love like theirs,” wrote Julia Ioffe in a 2021 Vanity Fair profile.

Mr. Navalny galvanized millions with his combination of intellect, good looks and a breezy, ironic wit that, even in the grimmest of circumstances, offered a primer in resisting fear and intimidation. Although terrible things happened to him, Mr. Navalny somehow managed to survive, which lent him an aura of indestructibility.

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At 74, Miuccia Prada Makes an Unexpected Vogue Cover Model

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Feb. 21, Rhonda Garelick, distinguished professor of English and journalism at SMU Dallas, for a commentary on the occasion when fashion icon Miuccia Prada was the Vogue Magazine cover subject, striking a unique, timeless pose — straight ahead instead of facing the camera. Published in Garelick’s New York Times ‘Face Forward’ column under the heading At 74, Miuccia Prada Makes an Unexpected Vogue Cover Model: https://tinyurl.com/3tkyf5fs 

Throughout Vogue’s history, its typical cover stars have included a parade of youthful beauties: models, actresses, celebrities, the occasional stunning athlete and, once in a while, a politician or first lady — all glammed to the max.

Cover models serve as portals into a world of ideas about how women should look and dress, what Vogue represents and the magazine’s concept of the modern woman. Almost always, the models look at the camera, making contact with us, inviting us in. They are posed, buffed, polished and embellished to a level of poreless perfection well beyond the realm of regular mortals. The cover model embodies a glossy, aspirational and commercial glamour — the “lifestyle” that is Vogue’s stock in trade. However talented or interesting she may be, she is also, always, a commodity.

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A bigger, better children’s hospital in Dallas is worth celebrating

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Feb. 13, Michael L. Davis, economics professor at the Cox School of Business, SMU Dallas, for a commentary framing the proposed new Children’s Medical Center Dallas as more than a healthcare asset, but also an attractive sign of a healthy growing community. Published in the Dallas Morning News under the heading A bigger, better children’s hospital in Dallas is worth celebrating: http://tinyurl.com/4fybwsdr 

If you’re depressed about current events — and if you’re not, you haven’t been paying attention — let me try and cheer you up by telling you a story. It’s a story about chickens and eggs and children. Especially children.

I’ll start my story with the happy ending: Children’s Health System of Texas and UT Southwestern Medical Center just announced plans to build a brand-new hospital for kids. The new facility will be significantly bigger and more advanced than the current Children’s Medical Center Dallas. It will cost $5 billion and will not require taxpayer money.

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Capitalism may have a public relations problem, but it doesn’t have an inequality problem

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Feb. 5, Robert Lawson, Jerome M. Fullinwider chair in Economic Freedom, SMU Cox School of Business, for an op-ed challenging the perrception that capitalism inevitably leads to inequality. Published in the Orange County Register and the Southern California News Group under the heading Capitalism may have a public relations problem, but it doesn’t haves an inequality problem: http://tinyurl.com/yc2cmtsp 

Capitalism has a public relations problem. While many will grudgingly admit that capitalism, the economic system based on private property and free trading, yields faster rates of economic growth, higher income levels, and even reduces poverty, they will complain  capitalism’s big problem is inequality.

French economist Thomas Piketty has made his professional career by arguing precisely that capitalism engenders more economic inequality. His argument, in a nutshell, is that profits and rents will grow faster than wages and that over time there will be a growing gap between the owners of capital and wage earners. Piketty’s concerns have animated a growing academic debate about capitalism and inequality. Much of this conversation gets deep into the statistical weeds about how we measure inequality and will likely go on for a long time without a resolution.

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Can a U.S.-led coalition help to rebuild Gaza?

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Jan. 26, Erik “EJ” Rorem, an SMU senior studying political science who works as a research assistant at the SMU Center for Presidential History, for a piece proposing the U.S. should facilitate a coaliiton that could rebuild Gaza. Published in the Dallas Morning News under the heading Can a U.S.-led coalition help to rebuild Gaza? http://tinyurl.com/4r4sban6

The end of the war in Gaza is unforeseeable, but some form of Israeli victory seems plausible. Suppose Israel eventually dismantles — if not totally destroys — Hamas’ administrative and military power over Gaza. What comes next?

Unfortunately, Israel may soon become the dog that caught the car. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated publicly that Israel has no intention of occupying or governing Gaza, raising the question, “Who will?”

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The Inscrutable Glamour of Melania Trump’s Mother

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 Jan. 11, Rhonda Garelick, distinguished professor of English and journalism at SMU Dallas, for a piece about the late Amalija Knavs, the mother of Melania Trump, and her quiet but certain influences on members of the First Family. Published in Garelick’s New York Times ‘Face Forward’ column under the heading:  The Inscrutable Glamour of Melania Trump’s Mother: http://tinyurl.com/4t87ucs2 

Throughout the Trump presidency, Amalija Knavs — mother to first lady Melania Trump — was something of a mysterious figure. Mrs. Knavs, who died earlier this week, rarely made public comments or gave interviews. Striking and perfectly coifed, Mrs. Knavs was a recurring but almost entirely silent presence during the Trump presidency, much like her daughter.

Mrs. Knavs and her husband Victor appeared often in the background of photos of the first family, accompanying them on trips to places like Camp David or Mar-a-Lago, and attending special events. And there’s something startling, even uncanny about photos containing both the Trumps and the Knavses: The two couples look like mirror images of each other. Mr. Trump and Mr. Knavs, just two years apart in age, have similar physiques and stature — even hair styles.

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1948 U.N. declaration is the sanity we need now

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Dec. 11, Rick Halperin, the director of the SMU Dallas Human Rights Program, along with John Vernon, law professor SMU Dallas Dedman School of Law, for a commentary advocating that world leaders reconsider and recommit to the tenets and spirit considered 75 years ago when the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights was drafted.  Published in the Dallas Morning news under the heading 1948 U.N. declaration is the sanity we need now: https://tinyurl.com/37u87eay 

It is hard for most Americans to fathom the wounded state of the world as it was in October 1945.

The Northern Hemisphere was in ruins. Europe, the Soviet Union, much of Asia and particularly Japan were coming to grips with the utter devastation wreaked by World War II during which 70 million people, mostly civilians, were killed.

In 1945, there was no understanding of the Holocaust, which had claimed the lives of 17 million people, 6 million of whom were Jewish. Two atomic bombs had been dropped late in the war on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, unleashing the atomic age. All of this had come on the deadly heels of World War I, which had claimed at least 20 million lives, half of whom were civilians.

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The quiet feminism of Norman Lear’s middle-aged women

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Dec. 7, Rhonda Garelick, distinguished professor of English and journalism at SMU Dallas, for a column about the shows created by the late Norman Lear that celebrated everyday women. Published in Garelick’s Face Forward column in the  New York Times under the heading The Quiet Feminism of Norman Lear’s Middle-Aged Women: https://tinyurl.com/3crjzy7f 

Amid the 1970s television landscape selling obvious sex and youth, Norman Lear understood the magnetism of older everyday women.

Mr. Lear, who died on Tuesday at 101, has long gotten credit for being the first to train the television spotlight on issues of racism and class, war and poverty, to create plots centered on hot-button feminist issues such as equal pay or abortion. He deserves all of those accolades. But little has been said about the much quieter feminism expressed simply through his choice of leading ladies and the characters they portrayed.

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Does the Second Amendment protect the right of abusers to own a gun? We’re about to find out.

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Nov. 15, Natalie Nanasi, an associate professor at SMU Dallas Dedman School of Law, for a commentary evaluating the arguments brought before the U.S. Supreme Court as they consider a petition to strike laws that presently prevent domestic violence abusers from possessing guns. Published in The Hill under the heading Does the Second Amendment protect the right of abusers to own a gun? We’re about to find out: https://tinyurl.com/y5p8kyfj 

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments last week in U.S. v. Rahimi, a case that will determine whether a federal law that keeps guns out of the hands of domestic violence offenders is constitutional. In a country where an average of 70 women are shot and killed by an intimate partner every month, the outcome is a matter of life and death.

Before we begin, however, we must better understand how Zackey Rahimi became the focus of the case, and how and why it advanced to the Supreme Court.

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