Productivity increases are almost always a good thing, but this time, rising productivity hasn’t translated into more jobs or higher wages. This has happened before, but it wasn’t easy. Can we transition again?

The pension cuts Illinois passed with so much kicking and screaming were merely the prelude to bigger problems. Chicago faces a dangerously underfunded system and a looming half-billion contribution increase in 2015 with no plan for how to pay it. Meanwhile, a thousand miles to the southwest, a more prudent and responsible model of fiscal governance seems to be taking place in Texas. Blue states, take note.

The Saudis are continuing to refuse to back down in a dispute with Washington over Middle East policy—at least when it comes to words. But where else can they turn?

As miraculous as India’s economic growth has been over the past two decades, systemic discrimination has ensured that religious groups and low-caste Indians remain excluded from India’s new-found wealth. Things have gotten so bad that Muslims have adopted the names and appearances of Hindus to increase their chances of employment.

Now that same sex marriage is here to stay, a new frontier in the marriage wars seems ready to open. A George W. Bush-appointed judge in Utah has struck down important parts of the state’s anti-polygamy law, though for now at least it is still illegal to have more than one valid marriage license at the same time.

From China’s airpocalypse to the ACA’s fail fractal, Canada’s Arctic ambitions to Ukraine’s restless protesters, this week was a busy one. Here are some posts you may have missed.

China just took another step toward easing its water crisis. Water began flowing along the Eastern Route of the unassuming sounding South-North Water Diversion Project a few days ago. The project is perhaps the largest and most expensive infrastructure enterprise in the history of the human race. It will draw water from China’s fertile south to the parched north, through three sets of canals and tunnels called the Western, Middle, and Eastern routes. Why? Because northern China is dying.

While most news coverage tends to look at the state of Ukrainian street protests to gauge how things are going, there is lots of evidence that the real power in Ukraine rests with the zillionaires and billionaires who emerged from the twilight of Communism, getting their mitts on everything that wasn’t nailed down in the country. There are signs that the debate among the oligarchs is tilting toward the EU affiliation, but this may have more to do with power dynamics than the size of crowds on the street.

One of the biggest questions of the 21st century is whether the demand for ethnic, cultural and/or religious homogeneity will continue to convulse world politics, drive new generations of conflict, and create millions more victims.

The smog over Beijing was touted as a potential missile screen earlier this week, but more pressingly—and distressingly—it’s causing problems for airplanes attempting to land in China’s capital. To reduce flight delays, China’s civil aviation regulatory body will require pilots traveling in to the city on especially smoggy days be certified in instrument-only flight.