- In his story "Black Gold: It's Time to Raise the Gas Tax", Michael Kinsley presents a very compelling argument for why the gas tax should be increased. He makes the point that just months ago, oil (and correspondingly, gasoline) prices were at all-times highs, but consumers were dealing with it just fine. Now, the economy has tanked (pardon the pun) and oil/gasoline prices have plummeted as well.
Kinsley's argument is that we shouldn't simply celebrate our good fortune (while the economy remains poor) and aimlessly wasting gas and abandoning the adoption of hybrids and new energy sources and technologies. Rather, we should raise the gasoline tax to keep the conservation direction going... and at the same time cut payroll taxes to stimulate both job creation and reduce the taxes coming out of consumers paychecks.
Seems logical both from an economic as well as a trying to save the planet perspective.
- "The Six-Figure Job Hunt" is an interesting piece about the number of white-collar workers looking for work. One thing that stands out about it is rather than just being a doom-and-gloom story, it makes the point that there's still jobs out there through natural turnover and the right approach through networking and resume targeting can land them for those inclined.
- Time's "Top 10 Everything of 2008" is a list section highlighting the biggest people, stories and things from the past year.
