I. Introduction + Background  The Federal Reserve (Fed) has a dual mandate: keep unemployment down and prices steady. At this moment, in a post-covid environment, with messed up supply chains, inflation has proven to be the focus. The Fed has been tackling inflation as prices have been the highest since the 1970s and don’t seem … Continue reading →

Introduction  During a time of declining bipartisanship in Washington, one law continues to enjoy the backing of members in both parties: The Merchant Marine Act of 1920, better known as the Jones Act. The law requires that shipping between U.S. ports is conducted by ships that are U.S.-built and at least 75 percent U.S.-owned. Proponents … Continue reading →

Early last week, President Biden introduced new export controls that further heightened tensions with China, as the rule is directed to undermine Beijing while uplifting the American technology industry. While the controls have many consequences for China (and perhaps some unintended ones for the US, as well), it is mostly a tell-tale sign of where … Continue reading →

Introduction  Last month, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) released the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2022, a comprehensive permitting reform text meant to be included in the government funding bill. The proposal faced bipartisan opposition, with Senate Republicans still tiffed with Manchin’s decision to support the ironically named “Inflation Reduction Act” and progressives opposing the … Continue reading →

Introduction: On Monday, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that Joe Biden’s executive plan- put in place in August- to forgive thousands of dollars of student loan debt for millions of Americans will cost more than $400bn over three decades. While the White house has been reluctant in providing its own fiscal assessment of the plan, … Continue reading →

Jordan Peele’s horror/sci-fi film Nope debuted in theaters late last month. I’ve yet to see the movie, but its release offered a welcome change of pace to the Hallmark Channel’s Christmas in July special my mom watches every night. Nothing against Hallmark, but I’m thrilled Halloween in August has arrived.   Last year, Americans spent a … Continue reading →

Taxpayers spend between $400 million and $800 million each year (approximately $1 to $2 million per day) on nuclear waste storage due to the federal government’s failure to dispose of spent fuel sitting at nuclear power plants across the country. For the past 35 years, nuclear power plants have accumulated over 3,000 dry used fuel … Continue reading →

As a response to the increased oil process the President Biden proposed a gas tax holiday representing an 18-cent per gallon reduction until September and encouraged states to cut their gas taxes as well.   Reduction (or elimination) of taxes on fuel can potentially mitigate the burden of increased fuel prices on consumers in the short … Continue reading →

Since 1990, the average cost of a hospital stay has grown by 600 percent—five times faster than the average price of a new car. Runaway health care costs are undermining our country’s health and prosperity and the lack of transparency perpetuates delivery of unnecessary health care services. Price transparency refers to the practice of making … Continue reading →