James Bacchus While President Trump takes a victory lap following the capitulation of many of America’s trading partners to his arbitrary trade demands and the application of astronomical tariffs to imports from other countries worldwide, and while the piles of additional tariffs on US imports add more and more to the prices of purchased goods, it is worth pausing to ...
Tad DeHaven Except for Rand Paul, Senate Republicans have responded to President Trump’s schizophrenic tariff policy with a mix of acquiescence, mild pushback, and servile boosterism. The latter is exemplified by Sen. Josh Hawley’s (R‑MO) “American Worker Rebate Act,” which would send checks of at least $600 to individuals and the same amount to each child. So, a family of ...
Nicholas Anthony President Trump officially put his foot down on debanking, issuing an executive order addressing accounts that were allegedly closed for religious or political reasons. To its credit, the administration largely prioritized investigations over interventions. That’s a strategy that Tennessee policymakers could have benefited from when they decided to use a questionable story to advance new restrictions on banks. ...
Emily Ekins and Hunter Johnson 55% of Americans don’t know how Social Security is funded, 79% don’t believe they’ll receive their full benefit in retirement The Cato Institute’s August 2025 Social Security Survey of 2,200 Americans, conducted by Morning Consult, reveals that many Americans are deeply confused about how Social Security works, what it’s for, and what the future holds. ...
Patrick G. Eddington In the pre–Trump 2.0 era, it was a relatively simple matter to determine which federal law enforcement agency (LEA) had which mission. Some focused exclusively on firearms, another on the “drug war,” and another on a wide range of federal crimes. Today, it’s clear that LEAs within the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security have a very ...
Christine Marsden The Founders envisioned the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement as a strong wall safeguarding citizens’ lives and property. Over time, its protections have been systematically eroded. One particularly gaping hole is the emergency aid exception, which allows officers to enter a home without a warrant if they believe an emergency inside requires their immediate assistance. In 2021, Montana police ...
David Kemp A Nature comment published last week provides interesting data on nuclear construction costs in China. The authors find that, unlike in the United States and France, where costs have historically ballooned, China has seen nuclear construction costs decline over time (their findings are recreated in figure 1). What has China done right, and what has the West done ...
Jeffrey A. Singer With wait times for primary care averaging nearly three weeks, states should consider removing barriers that prevent qualified non-physician practitioners from filling the gap. Yet just over half the states allow nurse practitioners to practice independently. In 1965, the University of Colorado launched the nation’s first nurse practitioner (NP) program. Since then, physicians and advanced practice nurses ...
Colleen Hroncich As school choice programs surged in 2025—driven by new and expanded education savings accounts (ESAs), vouchers, and tax credits—families in many states gained greater freedom to select learning environments that meet their children’s needs. But access to funding doesn’t guarantee access to options. Without a sufficient supply of private schools, even the most generous school choice policies can ...
Travis Fisher Walking into the secretary’s office at the Department of Energy (DOE) headquarters in March of this year, I felt uneasy. I had offered to help the team with whatever they might need, and my friend and colleague Alex Fitzsimmons arranged for me to meet with Secretary Chris Wright. Candidly, after a rough tour of duty in 2016–2018, which ...