Nicholas Anthony Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) were launched in Jamaica and The Bahamas with ambitious promises: to promote financial inclusion, to stabilize the monetary system, and to foster competition. Yet several years in, the evidence shows that the CBDCs in both countries have failed to gain traction with consumers and businesses. Instead, the CBDCs have become little more than vehicles for ...
Jeffrey A. Singer A November 2024 report from the Health Resources and Services Administration projects a shortage of 87,150 full-time equivalent primary care physicians by 2037, and a shortage of 187,130 full-time equivalent physicians across all specialties. In recent years, several states have revised their medical licensing laws to let residents benefit from the skills and experience of immigrant physicians ...
Norbert Michel As we mark the 15th anniversary of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, it’s a great time to ask whether the law lived up to the hype. Admittedly, it’s rather difficult for someone who edited The Case Against Dodd-Frank to be objective, but let’s start with the law’s preamble. Right there on page 1 (out ...
Scott Lincicome In Kentucky, bourbon has long been a source of local pride and economic growth, contributing $9 billion annually and supporting 23,000 jobs. Similarly, the Virginia wine industry has exploded over the past 30 years, today accounting for $1.73 billion in annual sales and more than 10,000 jobs. These industries today face significant challenges, including rising input costs, foreign retaliation ...
Clark Packard In a lengthy speech at last week’s Reindustrialize Summit in Detroit, MI, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer expounded on the supposed benefits of industrial policy and protectionism. Featuring the usual laments about how the US doesn’t build anything anymore (never mind that the United States is the world’s second-largest manufacturing country) and the contributions of foreign subsidies and ...
Michael Chapman In a small but politically significant win for liberty, Congress has passed the 2025 Rescissions Act, eliminating $9.1 billion in previously allocated funds—including $1.1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which helps fund NPR and PBS. President Trump is expected to sign the bill into law. This marks a hard-won victory for fiscal conservatives and libertarians, especially ...
Jeffrey A. Singer It has been more than seven months since Donald Trump took office as president, and the Senate still hasn’t held confirmation hearings for his nominee for surgeon general, Casey Means, MD. Dr. Means is a controversial choice because, despite her Stanford credentials, she never completed a residency, doesn’t hold a current medical license, and promotes trendy but unproven ...
Romina Boccia and Ivane Nachkebia Voter turnout has long been the highest among senior Americans, making them one of the most influential voting groups in the country. Politicians, well aware of this, often try to cater to their preferences. The latest example of this trend is Congress’s decision to expand the already larger standard deduction for seniors—who are the wealthiest ...
Michael F. Cannon I have a piece at the Wall Street Journal with the title, “Medicare and Medicaid Fail a Basic Scientific Test.” It explores the implications of the fact that Medicaid failed the test the federal government uses to determine whether new elixirs save lives. Basically, “If Medicaid were a drug, the federal government wouldn’t approve it—and could penalize ...
Jeremy Horpedahl Much has been made of the “China Shock,” or the impact on US manufacturing from two related trade policy changes: the US granting China permanent normal trade relations in 2000, and China’s accession to the WTO in 2001. As Scott Lincicome has pointed out, the policy discussion has strayed from the academic research on this topic in several important ...