Skip to main content

Research Archive

Welcome to Our Research Archive

Search and filter by content type, issue area, author, and keyword

August 22, 2023

Is Paid Leave a Pro-Growth Policy?

Some pro-growth public policies seem super obvious, like attracting more high-skill immigrants or reducing the federal paperwork needed to build clean energy facilities and infrastructure. Paid leave, whether mandated by Washington or funded by new taxes on rich people and large companies, might seem like another obviously good thing. Rarely do I ever hear about…

By James Pethokoukis

August 21, 2023

Four Shocking Truths about the American Economy! (Well, Shocking to Some.)

I recently wrote a brief essay, “Generative AI and Economic Growth,” for Exponential View, the great newsletter by Azeem Azhar. And I knew one particular passage would be sure to raise eyebrows: A lengthy and fundamentally solid expansion would allow the economic progress of the pre-pandemic period — falling inequality, rising real wages across the income…

By James Pethokoukis

August 17, 2023

The ‘Utah Family Miracle’ and Why It Matters

Utah ranks at the top of many rankings of state performance across America. But perhaps the Beehive State is best known for its top rankings on the economic front. The “Utah economic miracle” — marked by exceptional economic growth, a favorable business climate and high rates of economic mobility — has garnered attention across the…

By W. Bradford Wilcox | Patrick T. Brown | Jenet Erickson

August 16, 2023

How to Strengthen the ‘Success Sequence’ in Utah

Growing numbers of young adults across America — including here in Utah — are moving into adulthood without a durable connection to two benchmarks strongly connected to human well-being: work and marriage. Taking the second benchmark first, a record-high 25% of 40-year-olds in the United States were never married as of 2021, according to new data…

By W. Bradford Wilcox | Derek Monson | David Bass

August 15, 2023

The Generative AI Revolution Is Underway

2023 is shaping up to be a pivotal year for artificial intelligence, with the rise of generative AI poised to transform industries and reshape workforces. The latest McKinsey Global Survey on AI confirms the increasing market penetration of tools like DALL-E and ChatGPT and outlines how workers and employers see the technology affecting work patterns in the…

By Brent Orrell

August 14, 2023

What ‘Earth Mama’ Doesn’t Tell Us About Foster Care

There are plenty of movies that start in the middle of the story. But typically the director will eventually go back and tell you what happened at the beginning. This is not true of “Earth Mama,” a recently released film by first-time director Savanah Leaf. The story is about a pregnant woman, Gia, whose two…

By Naomi Schaefer Riley

August 14, 2023

Keep the Utah Family Miracle Going Strong

Utah lands at the top of many rankings of state performance across America. But the Beehive State is perhaps best known for its top rankings on the economic front. Utah’s economy is widely seen as the best in the nation. The “Utah economic miracle”—marked by exceptional economic growth, a favorable business climate, and high rates…

By W. Bradford Wilcox | Jenet Erickson | Patrick T. Brown

August 14, 2023

Tracking Plans to Make Pandemic Benefit Expansions Permanent

In 2008, former White House Chief of Staff and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel famously said what has come to be known as Rahm’s rule: “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that [is] it’s an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before.” It’s clear that…

By Matt Weidinger

August 14, 2023

The Narcissism of Small Diffidences

Catherine, a mother living in the New York City suburbs, has a son who flunked out of college. Her story is one of the cautionary tales offered up in Jennifer Breheny Wallace’s Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic—And What We Can Do About It. Catherine left the workforce to raise her two children. The…

By Naomi Schaefer Riley

August 13, 2023

‘The Death of Public School’ Review: Find a Place to Learn

What is a public school? Is it an institution that is paid for by the public? One staffed by government employees? One that teaches a publicly approved curriculum? One that educates a broad swath of the public’s children? In the view of Cara Fitzpatrick, the author of “The Death of Public School,” it possesses all…

By Naomi Schaefer Riley