Issue III | 2021
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Editorial Board: DUJPEW Issue III 2021 DARTMOUTH UNDERGRADUATE JOURNAL OF POLITICS, ECONOMICS AND WORLD AFFAIRS VOLUME 1 | ISSUE 3 | 2021 Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Politics, Economics and World Affairs, Vol. 1 [2021], Iss. 3, Art. 1 Published by Dartmouth Digital Commons, 2021 Published by Dartmouth Digital Commons, 2021 1 Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Politics, Economics and World Affairs, Vol. 1 [2021], Iss. 3, Art. 9 Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Politics, Economics and World Affairs, Vol. 1 [2021], Iss. 3 ARTMOUTH UNDERGRADUATE JOURNAL OF POLITICS, ECONOMICS AND WORLD AFFAIRS VOLUME 1 | ISSUE 3 | 2021 MASTHEAD Editor-in-Chief Co-Presidents Noah Freundlich ‘21 Jonathan Briffault ‘21 Addison Dick ‘22 Treasurer Hadley Detrick ’22 Associate Editors Andrew Culver ’22 Devan Fink ’23 Joshua Freitag ’23 Peter Leutz ’22 Victor Wu ’22 Published by Dartmouth Digital Commons, 2021 2 https://digitalcommons.dartmouth.edu/dujpew/vol1/iss3/9 2 Editorial Board: DUJPEW Issue III 2021 Editorial Board: DUJPEW Issue III 2021 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR This has been a year of immense hardship and tragedy. Police brutality, systemic racism, and the COVID-19 pandemic have upended the lives of citizens across the globe. During times like these where togetherness is so badly needed, it is all the more painful that we have spent so much of our time in isolation. Now more than ever, a platform for sharing ideas and diverse perspectives with students and faculty across the country is incredibly valuable. Although we have missed out on so much of the human connection on which we thrive, the staff of DUJPEW is grateful for the opportunity to listen, read, and collaborate with our peers in the national undergraduate community. Despite the trials of these polarizing and contentious times, we cannot shy away from discourse and conversation. Ideas must be shared with others, interrogated by listeners, and adapted when new information becomes available. Common ground cannot be reached if we do not look outside ourselves, and publications that amplify the voices of a wide body of undergraduate scholars are an invaluable tool for civil discussion. Dartmouth founder Eleazer Wheelock assigned our motto of “Vox Clamantis in Deserto,” or “a voice crying out in the wilderness.” He envisioned Dartmouth as an intellectual beacon in the woods, whose students would critically engage with and question difficult subjects and curiosities. DUJPEW’s aims are just that. Technology has enabled us to interface with students at a plethora of institutions, and our publication can serve as a vehicle for those voices to cry out from the wilderness. We would like to thank the entire DUJPEW editorial staff for their dedication to, and enthusiasm for, launching this year’s issue. We are elated that you were all so willing to adapt to the remote format and keep DUJPEW alive. On behalf of the graduating seniors, Noah and Jonathan would also like to thank Addison for his critical work this year and we wish him the best of luck transitioning it back to an on-campus publication. Additionally, we want to thank the entire staff of associate editors — your work was indispensable. We must also thank the many supportive professors, friends, and readers who continue to engage with and connect to the scholarship that we at DUJPEW bring to print. Finally, we must express my profound appreciation and admiration for the authors that provided the eight fantastic pieces of writing that comprise this year’s publication. We are so happy to provide a platform for your work, and we cannot wait to see what great things you will certainly accomplish in the future. Noah Freundlich ‘21, Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Briffault ‘21, President Addison Dick ‘22, President Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Politics, Economics and World Affairs, Vol. 1 [2021], Iss. 3, Art. 1 3 Published by Dartmouth Digital Commons, 2021 Published by Dartmouth Digital Commons, 2021 3 Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Politics, Economics and World Affairs, Vol. 1 [2021], Iss. 3, Art. 9 Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Politics, Economics and World Affairs, Vol. 1 [2021], Iss. 3 ARTICLES 5 The Cost of Subway Delays: A Counterfactual Welfare Analysis of Boston’s T Adam Dean, Brandeis University 23 Tracking the Tracing: A Global Investigation of Privacy Issues in the Age of COVID-19 Jessie Miller, Claremont McKenna College 53 The Great Swedish Experiment Xiofan Gong & Michael Ratzkin, Cornell University 91 The Radicalization of the Far Right in Germany and Regional Disparities in Support Sophia Winograd, Princeton University 106 Understanding the Unique Spatial Relationships and Power Dynamics of China’s Urban Villages Kaitlyn Zhao, Cornell University 119 Sexual Violence and Sex Trafficking: An Observation of Developing International Law and Its Implementation Hannah Kate Albach, Pepperdine University 135 Weakening of the Nation-State by Climate Change: Water Weaponization by ISIL Annika Cole, Elon College 157 Minority Representation on the U.S. Court of Appeals: Do Foreign-Born Judges Influence Immigration Case Outcomes? Bianca Ortiz-Miskimen, Princeton University Published by Dartmouth Digital Commons, 2021 4 https://digitalcommons.dartmouth.edu/dujpew/vol1/iss3/9 4 Editorial Board: DUJPEW Issue III 2021 The Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Politics, Economics, and World Affairs Volume. I, Issue. III, 5-23, June 2021 The Cost of Subway Delays: A Counterfactual Welfare Analysis of Boston’s T ADAM DEAN Brandeis University ABSTRACT: Boston’s subway system, the T, is an important artery for transportation in and around the city. However, it is the oldest subway system in the United States, and, as a result, is in dire need of upgrades. This paper employs a welfare analysis to calculate the economic cost of the T’s lack of reliability, while also comparing the T’s reliability rate to other transit systems around the world. With a counterfactual estimate of a 95 percent reliability rate versus the pre-pandemic 88.47 percent reliability rate, the difference in welfare is found to be between $54 million and $163 million annually. Thus, long overdue improvements to the T would have a significant impact on the overall welfare of the Boston metropolitan area, and serve as a great economic benefit to all stakeholders. Introduction In 2019, President Donald Trump and Democratic congressional leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi agreed to pursue a $2 trillion infrastructure plan1. The display of bipartisanship illustrated the widespread agreement from across the political spectrum that America’s deteriorating infrastructure was in need of an upgrade. But like most infrastructure talk in recent years, the proposal failed to gain traction as lawmakers felt uneasy about the large costs and finding potential funding sources. State and federal legislators currently remain in stalemate about who will foot the bill for upcoming infrastructure projects across the country. Boston’s subway, the T, is the oldest subway system in North America, thus making it a prime candidate for an infrastructure upgrade2. In 2019, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) released a 25-year investment plan that would modernize the regional transportation system, including the T, to best serve the needs of the region in the future. Like most transit agencies in the US, the MBTA cannot cover its costs, so shortfalls are financed by the state government. During the winter of 2015, brutal storms slammed the northeast, causing massive delays and even the complete suspension of certain transit lines for days. The poor performance brought public attention to MBTA’s issues. For example, at the time, almost one-fourth of the MBTA budget went towards servicing debt, with billions of dollars in infrastructure backlog. Following the 2015 winter disaster, the Governor of Massachusetts created a special panel to get the “MBTA Back on Track.” The panel successfully recommended a state-funded capital program to begin working through the billion-dollar backlog. However, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, ridership has been decimated, threatening to impact the solvency of the agency3. As a result, funds have been shifted away from capital projects towards the immediate budget shortfall. Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Politics, Economics and World Affairs, Vol. 1 [2021], Iss. 3, Art. 1 Published by Dartmouth Digital Commons, 2021 Published by Dartmouth Digital Commons, 2021 5 Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Politics, Economics and World Affairs, Vol. 1 [2021], Iss. 3, Art. 9 Adam Dean The pandemic will push back the day when the MBTA works through its infrastructure backlog and starts modernizing the T for the future. This will result in a continuance of the status quo costs even when ridership returns to normal. Policymakers and the MBTA have many cost- benefit analyses that explain the impacts of potential projects available to them. But being presented with just the costs and benefits of a particular project can allow policymakers to overlook the present costs delays. For every year policymakers avoid solutions to fix reliability problems, riders continue to deal with delays, which have real economic costs. In this paper, I calculate the welfare difference between the pre-pandemic T and a hypothetical T with an improved reliability rate. This paper is a lower bound for the economic cost of subway delays because I only analyze the short-term welfare implications to consumers. In the conclusion, I will briefly explain why the long-term welfare effects are likely to be larger. I also do not explore the impact on road traffic from displaced riders nor what improved reliability would mean for employers. Additionally, I do not analyze how a more reliable public transit system would impact the environment and social equity. In my estimate, I employ the consumer choice logit model, as created by Daniel McFadden, to estimate welfare differences. To construct my utility function, I use ridership, reliability, and line-specific data from the MBTA.