Justin Fox

Speed cameras made their US debut in 1986 in Galveston County, Texas. The Swiss-made devices, dubbed “PhotoCops” by the local company that lent them to police departments in exchange for a cut of the ticket revenue, seem to have been successful at reducing speeding. But law enforcement officials…

June was another big month for job growth as employers called back workers from coronavirus-induced layoffs. As a resurgence of the disease in the U.S. raises lots of questions about whether the growth can continue, though, I thought it might be informative to take a look back. That is, rather than…

When New York City’s Covid-19 epidemic peaked in late March and early April, the city was reporting more than 5,000 new confirmed cases a day, and more than 60% of tests for the disease were coming back positive. In Arizona, which has a similar if somewhat smaller population (7.3 million versus 8.3…

The results from the first blood surveys that test for evidence of antibodies to the new coronavirus have begun rolling in. They’ve been confirming earlier hints that in hard-hit places a significant share of people — 21.2% in the New York City survey — may have been infected with the virus, and…

A procedural mask loosely covers the mouth and nose of the wearer and has straps that go over the ears. The term is often used interchangeably with “surgical mask,” but among US medical suppliers a surgical mask is one with ties secured behind one’s head for a snugger, more secure fit. Both are…

After tests found H1N1 in two soldiers during a flu outbreak at the Fort Dix army base in New Jersey in 1976, the US government jumped into action, with President Gerald Ford announcing a plan to vaccinate “every man, woman, and child in the United States.” That turned into something of a debacle,…

The coronavirus outbreak has been turning a lot of us into amateur epidemiologists. Just listen to Mick Mulvaney, the former real estate developer and member of Congress from South Carolina who is now acting White House chief of staff. “The flu kills people,” he said last week. “This is not Ebola…

Donald Trump is an unpopular president. According to the Real Clear Politics polling average as of Friday afternoon, only 43.3% of Americans approve of his performance. FiveThirtyEight, which weights polls by quality, sample size and partisan lean, puts the average at 41.6%. But as the president…

Mercer, the global human resources consulting firm, this week released its 21st annual Quality of Living list, which ranks cities around the world based on economic conditions, housing, health care, public services, safety, natural environment and other metrics. For the 10th year in a row, Vienna…

Alphabet Inc., which is almost entirely Google, had 98,771 employees as of December. That news, contained in the annual 10-K report the company released last week, got me thinking. Google, you may remember, passed the entire US newspaper industry in advertising revenue in 2010. The numbers are now…