Donald Trump’s proposal to build a border wall to seal off Mexico and deport all undocumented immigrants has made immigration a top issue in the 2016 presidential campaign. Unfortunately, much of public policy discourse around immigration stems from misconceptions about how immigration affects wages and employment in the U.S. labor market. The concern that immigrants … Continue reading
In case you missed it, a presidential candidate invited a foreign government to break into either a private citizen’s email account and steal information or break into the servers at the United States Department of State. I am in a state of disbelief. These were his words (with my editorial comments in parentheses): Russia, if … Continue reading
The Democratic Party’s platform draft for Financial Services states that “[t]o restore economic fairness, Democrats will fight against the greed and recklessness of Wall Street.” Despite these goals, the proscribed policies in the Democrat’s platform will have unintended consequences that will harm consumers, and make the biggest banks bigger and smaller banks disappear. In short, … Continue reading
Americans are unhappy with their choices in the upcoming Presidential election. Hillary Clinton, whose net favorability rating is -15.4,[i] is the least popular presidential candidate in the last 10 elections cycles save one:[ii] her opponent Donald Trump.[iii] Seeing this, some media outlets have speculated[iv] that this could be the election cycle in which we see … Continue reading
The phenomenon of “Midnight Regulations” — the high volume of rules issued as a lame duck President’s term winds down — has been well documented by the American Action Forum, as have Congressional attempts to curb the Midnight trend. Building on that analysis, we decided to investigate the effect of a 1996 law that was … Continue reading
Last week, Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) wrote an op-ed titled, “A Victory for the American People Against the Export-Import Bank.” The “victory” being Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Alabama) blocking a vote on the nomination of J. Mark McWatters to the export credit agency’s board. By blocking the nomination from a Senate vote, Sen. … Continue reading
A source of frustration for policy makers is that effective policy and feasible policy do not always neatly intersect. Of course the political climate determines the reforms that receive serious attention, but some proposals fail even without ideological opposition. One roadblock for evidence-backed proposals that policy makers must navigate is the “wrong pocket problem”. The … Continue reading
Network weaknesses are like holes in a fence – eventually something is going to get through. This entry will look at how hacking groups were able to take advantage of general weaknesses in outdated systems and gain access to a rural dam and a network of hospitals in the DC-metro area Continue reading
Among the many popular topics of the 2016 presidential campaigns, healthcare remains a timeless defining issue sparking vivid debate on both sides of the political spectrum. In the 2016 presidential campaign, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) – commonly referred to as “Obamacare” – has become the privileged scapegoat. However, beyond the political contention, an aspect … Continue reading
When Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan started as Speaker of the House last October, he promised to outline a Republican vision on policies for the 2016 election. Last week, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), began that process by outlining a bill designed to replace the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform … Continue reading
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