September 23, 2025
Why the USDA Is Justified in Ending the Food Security Survey
The USDA announced plans to discontinue future Household Food Security reports, ending the annual supplemental survey that, among other things, was used as the government’s official statistic on “food insecurity”. The supplemental survey had been attached to the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey each December since the late 1990s, asking households a battery of questions…
September 23, 2025
End Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility in SNAP and Address Benefit Cliffs
Abstract Broad-based categorical eligibility (BBCE) in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is an administrative function with broad implications for SNAP caseloads and expenditures. Though Congress originally established BBCE as a way to lower administrative burden and increase program efficiency, states have used it in recent decades to expand SNAP eligibility beyond statutory income eligibility…
August 8, 2025
Revise the Messenger
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported out the latest employment numbers on Friday, August 1, finding that nonfarm establishments added just 73,000 jobs in July compared with June. That was a disappointing number, but the news was worse below the headline. The combined number of jobs the economy added in May and June—previously reported by BLS…
August 1, 2025
Trump’s tariff deadline: Six experts weigh in
Trump’s trade deals have been surprising in their one-sidedness, in favor of the United States. The president’s supporters have painted this in a positive light. But it likely reflects two things. First, Trump is willing to impose more economic harm through higher tariffs on the U.S. than our trading partners are willing to impose on…
July 30, 2025
It’s Not Surprising That No-Strings Attached Cash Didn’t Help Kids
A recent study put to the test an idea that has become increasingly influential over the past decade: To help kids thrive, one of the best things you can do is to give their parents cash with no strings attached. This idea was the impetus in 2021 for the one-year replacement of the existing Child Tax Credit—which…
July 24, 2025
Divorce In Decline: About 40% Of Today’s Marriages Will End In Divorce
We’ve all heard the mantra that half of all marriages end in divorce. This idea often gets peddled as a way of dissuading young adults from tying the knot. If you only have 50/50 odds of making it, is marriage really worth the risk? Much of this caution surrounding marriage comes from those who’ve personally…
July 18, 2025
The Misunderstood Gains of Modern America
An unfortunately popular myth peddled by populists on both the left and right is that America has been in steady decline since the 1970s. To hear them tell it, the country has become a rigged game: stagnant wages, hollowed-out jobs, and lives made harder by rapacious, elite-driven capitalism. But a more honest accounting of the…
July 2, 2025
Have You Heard the Good News?
A quick look at some recent headlines shows that we have problems. The nation sharply and angrily divided along political lines. Rioters in the streets of Los Angeles. A destructive trade war. Debt and deficits at unsustainable levels. Those are real and serious problems (and not close to an exhaustive list). But the tenor of…
June 18, 2025
The (Non) Effect of Tariffs on Manufacturing Employment
This paper is a chapter in the volume The Economic Consequences of the Second Trump Administration: A Preliminary Assessment, published by The Center for Economic and Policy Research. Introduction President Trump has stated many goals to justify his trade war. He has argued that tariffs on imports produce leverage that the US can use to reduce…
June 5, 2025
The One Thing Both Parties Agree On: More Deficits and Debt
The House of Representatives recently passed by a single vote Republicans’ “One Big Beautiful Bill” that reflects President Donald Trump’s tax and spending agenda, and GOP senators are now working to put their own stamp on the bill. Given that partisan pedigree, you would think this bill had little in common with legislation that Democrats crafted during the…