A chain of events piles up on one-year anniversary of bridge collapse

[Publisher's Note: Smith's column originally ran in our sister publication, The Saint Paul Legal Ledger Capitol Report.]

As the leader of a think-tank that applies research and statistics to public policy debate, I am always conscious of the need to stay focused on aggregate data, the big picture. It’s important to look beyond personal experience, purely anecdotal evidence, and to be wary of making cause-and-effect out of coincidence or isolated events.

But almost every day this past week something has happened to bring me