In many board games using dice, such as Monopoly and Easy Money, each player moves a piece on a board, the number of squares advanced being equal to the sum of the numbers appearing on the two dice thrown. An element of skill can be added to these games by…

Half Chess is a simplified version of chess that is played with half of the pieces, with the pieces confined to half of the board. An advantage of Half Chess is that it can be played even if some of the chess pieces are missing. Another advantage is that two…

Academic Treasure Hunt is similar to a conventional treasure hunt, except that the clues require knowledge of various academic subjects in order to locate the next clue or the treasure itself. An example of such a clue is the following: “From your present location, proceed north x meters, where x…

The national debt is the amount owed by the federal government, mainly in the form of Treasury securities. …

Insect pests cause harm by damaging and destroying crops, as well as by spreading disease. Current methods of controlling destructive insects have had at best limited success. Chemical insecticides can be effective in reducing insect populations, but they become less effective over time due to the targeted insects developing resistance…

The cost of healthcare in this country has been increasing at a rate far faster than the rate of inflation. The latest government effort to deal with this problem has been the passage of the so-called Affordable Care Act (ACA). While the ACA did reduce the cost of healthcare for…

A financial bubble, aka economic bubble, occurs when the price of an asset rises to a level well above that at which it is normally valued. Eventually, the price drops, usually precipitously, to a point at or below its normal level. (The bubble “bursts.”) …

The main problem associated with campaign financing is that large campaign contributions by vested interests or the lobbyists that represent them may cause members of Congress to vote on legislation favorable to those vested interests. Now, no lobbyist would be foolish enough to make the quid pro quo explicit, for…

There are a number of problems with our current system of electing our representatives. Let’s begin with the low-hanging fruit. We currently elect our president and vice president by the Electoral College, rather than by a direct popular vote. …