Publications
Few archetypes have as much hold on the global imagination as that of the ingenious Yankee. This paradigm of the American inventor has been with us from the nation’s earliest days. Not only did…
I am excited to announce that I recently persuaded two brilliant people to start a podcast with me. It is called Politics In Question and is about how our political institutions are failing us and…
The distinguished judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit have considered how much Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have paid the Treasury Department to compensate the taxpayers for the…
Congress is a basket case. Our national legislature has passed only a couple dozen laws this year, a count which includes legislation naming a post office and appointing former Senator Bob Dole…
Since the beginning of modern science policy in the mid-20th century, the executive branch has taken the lead on supporting scientific research and relying on scientific expertise when making…
Law and order, or criminal justice reform?
To hear Attorney General William Barr and others hostile to recent reforms tell it, the two are incompatible. In their eyes, “tolerance” is a dirty…
Underage drinking remains a nationwide problem, but there’s one approach that policymakers never consider: banning the sale of most types of alcoholic beverages to adults to keep it out of the…
A “time bomb lodged near the heart of the nation.” That is how the Pulitzer-Prize winning author, James A. Michener, described the Electoral College in his 1969 book, Presidential…
Amid today’s bitter political divides, there is one thing on which Democrats and Republicans agree: The United States Senate is a miserable place to work. By any measure, the Senate’s recent…
Despite uncertainty about trade, the U.S. economy is growing at around what most economists believe is its long-term potential growth rate, unemployment is very low, inflation remains subdued and…