“Two dissimilar government agencies have inadvertently combined to clarify the immigration debate. Stomach-turning excesses by Immigration and Customs Enforcement have turned many Americans’ abstract political preference into something uncomfortably concrete. And the Census Bureau has demonstrated that the nation needs immigrants as much as they need the blessings of American liberty.” (03/13/26)
“For decades, economists have warned about the risk of fiscal dominance. Over the past year, the topic has graduated to news headlines. At first glance, the US’s deteriorating fiscal situation appears to be the culprit. Kevin Warsh sees it differently: fiscal dominance is an outgrowth of Federal Reserve actions that enabled profligate federal spending, led the Fed to stray from its monetary mission, and ultimately undermined Fed independence. In other words: the problem of fiscal dominance is actually one of monetary policy run amok.” (03/13/26)
“The division of labor increases production and makes it more efficient by dividing the separate tasks of making an object among different individuals and thereby simplifying the job each person must perform. On the economic side of things, this innovation that Smith recognized helped spark the Industrial Revolution, and was a precursor to comparative advantage …. As part of Gen Z, the generation of side hustles and multitasking, my students should appreciate the division of labor more than most, and yet when I think about most of them, the marvel that is the division of labor — that we don’t have to make each and every thing we use in our daily lives from start to finish ourselves or pay the price for someone else to do this — is lost on them.” (03/13/26)
“The poet Robert Frost once said that ‘good fences make good neighbors.’ He apparently never met Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is being sued by his neighbors for effectively squatting on their land and then seizing it to install a fence along his $830,500 private residence in suburban Philadelphia. The litigation is likely to put Shapiro in a much different light for many who think of him as a 2028 contender. The irony of the case is crushing. Shapiro opposed Trump’s plan to build a wall along the southern border, declaring that he would sue before a dime of Pennsylvania money would go to pay for it. He apparently adopted a similar approach to his neighbors in Pennsylvania. The difference is that he built the wall, but without giving his neighbors a dime.” (03/14/26)
“2026 has reignited debates about Proposition 13, with a new measure designed to ‘save’ the 1978 proposition. While Prop. 13 has been an immense benefit to incumbent longtime property owners, it is fundamentally unfair to new property buyers, especially with California’s sky-high property values. The solution to this problem is not to reward property owners based on how long they have been here, but instead to abolish property taxes for everyone.” (03/13/26)
“Given the Islamic Republic’s internal dynamics, war could produce the opposite of what many expect. Rather than weakening the regime, the war may strengthen its most committed supporters — the ideological networks often labeled ‘hardliners’ in Western media — while marginalizing the broader political middle, inside and outside the system, that favors non-violent and gradual change. The Islamic Republic has long relied on a relatively small but highly committed constituency that sees the survival of the system as a political and even moral duty.” (03/13/26)
“[E]ach year, as our primary means of sewage disposal, millions of tons of toxic sewage sludge, labeled as ‘biosolids,’ are spread as agricultural fertilizer across our nation’s farmland, where rural Americans call home. I know this because my family lived it, and it made us very sick. We had to leave our home to save our health. The unthinkable illnesses my family suffered motivated me to seek independent facts. After all, we had authorities at every level telling us that this practice was safe, but our experience told us otherwise. What we uncovered in our testing and research — including the statistically significant increased relative risk of disease in a community where sludge is used on farmland — left us no option but to take action.” (03/13/26)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Stephen Weese
“In the US, we love our cars. Nearly 92% of households have access to a motor vehicle. We have car shows, car racing, car dealerships everywhere, and even TV shows about cars. It’s an accepted part of our society. In a geographically expansive country like ours, cars are essential for many. Along with car culture, we also have a cultural acceptance of the dangers and even fatalities that come from car accidents. The US (human) accident rate is approximately 2,000 per million miles driven. Around 40,000 people are killed each year in auto accidents. … What if we could reduce the number of injuries and fatalities to 50% of what they are now? Or even further, what about 80%? Would it be worth it to switch to self-driving cars then? Interestingly enough, preliminary numbers from Waymo indicate that they already are 80% safer.” (03/13/26)
“When tax rates rise, taxpayers work less, shelter their money and invest differently, compressing the tax base until the yield reverts to its historical equilibrium.” (03/13/26)
