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September 18, 2023

“Player Piano” (Revisited) in the Age of AI

If one judges futuristic novels of the past narrowly in terms of whether they got their predictions right, Kurt Vonnegut’s brilliant first novel, Player Piano, was not perfect. Upstate New York did not become the hub of engineering innovation. He thought of vacuum tubes not chips as the key tech breakthrough. That he was right about…

By Howard Husock

September 18, 2023

A GOP Plan to Raise the Minimum Wage Is Also a Bid for Immigration Reform

Republicans have talked a lot in recent years about becoming a “workers party,” without having much of an agenda to match the rhetoric. A new Senate proposal aims to start changing that. The bill would raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $11 per hour while also requiring employers to check that their employees are legally…

By Ramesh Ponnuru

September 18, 2023

Students’ Lack of Basic Knowledge of US History and Civics Remains a National Embarrassment

A new study from a pair of Penn State researchers finds that passing the US Citizenship Test as a high school graduation requirement does nothing to improve youth voter turnout. Within the last decade more than a third of US states have adopted and implemented a version of the “Civics Education Initiative” (CEI), but according to study…

By Robert Pondiscio

September 18, 2023

There’s an Easy Fix That Would Solve Our Housing Crisis: Light Touch Density

We’re living through one of the greatest housing crunches the U.S. has ever known. It’s resulted in record numbers of homelessness and entire generations certain they will never become homeowners, that critical milestone of the middle class. But there is a simple solution to the problem. The answer to our housing crisis is to legalize…

By Ed Pinto

September 18, 2023

No Culture Wars, Please, We’re Academics

A few years ago, Melissa S. Kearney got into a taxi cab and asked the driver about a photo of a young girl on his dashboard. The driver confirmed it was his daughter and then proudly showed her more pictures. The girl lived with her mother, he explained. Kearney, a professor of economics at the…

By Naomi Schaefer Riley

September 18, 2023

A Degree of Risk

Higher education policy has gone from a niche issue studied by wonks and practitioners to a point of mainstream political concern. I used to wait with bated breath for a national political figure to mention the issue I care so much about, celebrating even a banal reference to maintaining a competitive workforce. I longed for…

By Beth Akers

September 18, 2023

Biden’s Latest Student-Loan Plan Is Another Disaster

Late last month, President Biden and his Department of Education announced the launch of the “SAVE” Plan, a reform that expands existing income-driven repayment (IDR) programs to the tune of up to $550 billion. Now, it’s been reported that as many as 4 million borrowers have signed up for the plan, many of them enrolled automatically. Last week, Senator Bill…

By Beth Akers | Joe Pitts

September 17, 2023

Tracking ‘two-parent privilege’ in Utah

Utah was just acknowledged by WalletHub as the happiest state in the nation, and it’s no secret that Utah leads many state performance rankings in America. From the economy — including growth, a favorable business climate, work environment and economic mobility — to life satisfaction, Beehive State residents enjoy enviable levels of success. What’s the key to…

By W. Bradford Wilcox | David Bass | Derek Monson

September 15, 2023

Why Industrial Policy Fails

With Democrats and Republicans alike supporting a shift from free markets toward government planning, the United States has clearly entered a new era of economic policymaking. Yet all the reasons why such strategies generally fail to make good on politicians’ promises are as valid as ever. WASHINGTON, DC – Industrial policy is all the rage…

By Michael R. Strain

September 15, 2023

What Does a Good Economy Look Like?

In the past couple of weeks, I’ve written one column arguing that the economic situation for working class America is now better, relative to a decade ago, than some pessimistic populists make it sound, and another arguing that the eating-away at American wages because of inflation explains some important measure of President Biden’s political difficulties. I think both of…

By Ross Douthat