Chris Edwards We recently examined data on public corruption and noted that 80 to 90 percent of all corruption convictions result from federal prosecutions. The states appear to do little to prosecute corruption by their own state and local officials. Why not? It may be because of federal displacement or “crowding out.” When it comes to government spending, federal increases ...
Jai Kedia The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently released price index data for June. Unfortunately, tariff defenders are drawing incorrect conclusions from this data. For instance, Vice President Vance used the lower-than-expected producer price index (PPI) numbers to claim that the “economics profession doesn’t fully understand tariffs,” even though the PPI does not include imports, the sector most likely to show immediate ...
Jeffrey A. Singer, Akiva Malamet, and Terence Kealey Last month, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary announced a new initiative: the Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher (CNPV) program. These non-monetary vouchers, valid for two years, let companies shorten the FDA’s final review of a drug application from 10–12 months to just one or two. The companies cannot sell or transfer the vouchers ...
David J. Bier This testimony was delivered July 15, 2025, at a joint hearing of the Homeland Security Committee subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability and the Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement entitled, “Case by Case: Returning Parole to Its Proper Purpose.” Here is my oral testimony: Here is the opening of my written testimony: Chairmen Brecheen and Guest, ...
Thomas A. Berry Suing the government is expensive work. That’s why federal law authorizes the “prevailing party” in a civil rights suit against the government to request attorneys’ fees. But what happens if a court temporarily blocks a law as likely unconstitutional, and the legislature then repeals that law? Do the law’s challengers qualify as “prevailing parties” because they got ...
Jeffrey A. Singer Chapter 10 of Your Body, Your Health Care covers tobacco harm reduction by exploring various nicotine delivery systems that are safer than combustible tobacco, which causes the harmful chemicals linked to cancer, lung disease, and cardiovascular disease. A study published this week in the Annals of Internal Medicine by researchers at the University of New South Wales ...
Alfredo Carrillo Obregon and Clark Packard Last week, President Trump announced the United States was imposing a 50 percent “national security” tariff on copper imports. Details are sparse, but Bloomberg reported that it will include all refined copper and semi-finished goods (i.e., bars, rods, wires, plates, etc.). As 60 years of failed steel protectionism—including the last seven-plus years of “national security” ...
David Kemp and Peter Van Doren Environmental regulations are among the most significant components of the federal regulatory state. Between 2006 and 2016, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) accounted for 71 percent of the monetized benefits and 55 percent of the costs of all major federal regulations. Of those benefits, 95 percent came from air quality rules, primarily those targeting ...
Jeffrey Miron and Jacob Winter President Trump has pledged to conduct the largest mass deportation campaign in American history. Fulfilling that pledge would harm the country in many ways, including by weaking American entrepreneurship. A recent study confirmed that, Start-ups founded by native-immigrant teams outperformed start-ups founded solely by natives or immigrants. Three years after their inception, start-ups with native-immigrant ...
Chris Edwards and Yasmeen Kallash-Kyler Is it in Louisiana, New York, Illinois, or elsewhere? Let’s explore US Department of Justice (DOJ) data on public corruption convictions in the nation’s 94 federal judicial districts. DOJ convictions are one measure of corruption levels, although an imperfect measure as discussed below. The table ranks the districts by the annual average number of convictions ...