Executive Summary “Dark shipping” practices weaken the effectiveness of economic sanctions and create significant environmental, humanitarian, and geopolitical risks. The “shadow fleet” transported approximately 3.7 billion barrels of oil in 2025, representing nearly 7 percent of global crude oil flows. These vessels allow sanctioned countries to circumvent sanctions, preserve billions of dollars in export revenue, … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Politics
The ACA Premium Tax Credit Expiration: A Return to Baseline Policy
Executive Summary: Declining in the Affordable Care Act Marketplace cannot be reduced to a single cause – it reflects a convergence of designed legislative sunsets, a crackdown on improper enrollment, and a fiscal choice to limit spending. The expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits reverts the Affordable Care Act subsidy to its initial statutory … Continue reading
The State of Social Security
The State of Social Security Social Security’s retirement trust fund runs out of reserves in late 2032. After that, incoming payroll taxes cover about 78 percent of scheduled benefits, an automatic 22 percent cut, unless Congress acts first. The trust fund is not a reserve of cash. It holds Treasury securities. For roughly 25 years Social Security … Continue reading
UNCLOS and Arctic Seabed Competition: Does U.S. Non-Ratification Strengthen or Weaken Its Position Relative to Russia?
Executive Summary: U.S. non-ratification of UNCLOS preserves regulatory autonomy by avoiding key obligations under Article 82 and the International Seabed Authority (ISA), including revenue-sharing requirements for extended continental shelf exploitation and deep-seabed mining. However, non-ratification prevents the United States from submitting Arctic continental shelf claims to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf … Continue reading
The Medicaid Work Requirement Debate Isn’t Just About Work
Executive Summary The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) has introduced work requirements for Medicaid expansion enrollees, expected to reduce federal spending while decreasing enrollment. Evidence from prior implementation of work requirements in Arkansas found no clear increase in employment, though they were short lived and administratively flawed. The empirical evidence for work requirements reflects … Continue reading
Why Are Most Nicotine Pouches on Sale Illegal?
Executive Summary The Food and Drug Administration has authorized 26 nicotine pouch products. Hundreds more sell without clearance, so the legal market is a small fraction of the shelf. For most of those unauthorized products, illegal means the FDA never finished reviewing them. It does not mean the agency examined them and judged them dangerous. A dangerous product … Continue reading
Hedging Their Bets, BRIC by BRIC: How Trump’s Tariffs Have Incentivized Diversification
Executive Summary Intra-BRICS trade was growing well before recent trade tensions, but U.S tariff escalations have accelerated efforts by BRICS+ members to diversify away from U.S.-centered trade. Trade among BRICS countries increased from $84 billion in 2003 to $1.17 trillion in 2024, at an annual rate of 13.3 percent—more than twice the pace of global … Continue reading
Why Young Americans Must Turn from Government Intervention and Reform Entitlements
Executive Summary The national debt is fundamentally a generational issue; running large budget deficits to finance tax cuts or spending increases today places an undue burden on younger and future generations. By borrowing more today, policymakers are effectively promising higher taxes and lower spending on future taxpayers and government beneficiaries; at the very least, younger and future … Continue reading
Wishing To Overhaul: American-Led WTO Reform Post-MC14
Executive Summary Last week, the World Trade Organization (WTO) concluded its 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) to plan the institution’s agenda for the next two years. Reform was front-of-mind for all members, including the United States; its vision for the WTO focuses on constraining developing member privileges, ensuring leeway for security-based trade measures, and making member commitments more flexible in general, differing markedly from other proposals like that of … Continue reading
Mercosur: An Integration Problem
Executive Summary Mercosur and the European Union have signed a sweeping free trade agreement twenty-six years in the making; that same month, Argentina signed its own bilateral trade deal with the United States. Despite the optimism surrounding the EU deal, Mercosur is still hamstrung by institutional limitations and diverging member interests, preventing further integration. Given this, U.S. trade policymakers are apt to treat Mercosur members as the individual … Continue reading
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