The 2023 Cost-of-Thriving Index
Tracking the catastrophic erosion of middle-class life in America
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Search and filter below to explore our library of research, essays, commentary, and more.
Results
Ferment of Change Lurks in Republican Chaos
The unfolding spectacle of a US House of Representatives in disarray, unable to elect a Speaker, should be a common one.
Founder’s Letter: The Libertarians Have Left the Building
On plotting the progress of a paradigm shift
Liz Truss, Supply-Side Crush
American Compass executive director Oren Cass discusses Liz Truss’s disastrous time as prime minister and the irrational response from supply-siders.
Skills Gaps Will Force Companies to Do Right by Their Compatriots
Employers who profited from cheap foreign labour cannot now gripe at having to train local workers, writes American Compass executive director Oren Cass.
Where Have All the Young Men Gone?
The question of who would pursue non-college pathways, if they were offered, is one that has bedeviled education reform debates for decades.
Liberty and Tariffs for All
Free international trade is not a vital tenet of liberty in the American tradition; it was adopted, in Burtka’s words, “for the worst reasons and delivered the worst results.”
The Successful Policy That Progressives Love To Hate
American Compass executive director Oren Cass discusses a recent report analyzing the effects of welfare reform on child poverty, and how progressives fail to understand the importance of work in designing social safety net programs.
Rebuilding from the College Catastrophe Starts Here
The problem that the American Workforce Act aims to solve is simple, but deadly serious: In American education, all roads lead to college.
Republicans Have Great Ideas. It’s Time To Start Talking About Them
American Compass executive director Oren Cass makes the case for a GOP focus on substantive policy ideas, prioritizing efforts that benefit working families.
Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness is Wrong. Here’s How to Handle College Debt Instead.
America has turned higher ed into a lavishly expensive sacred cow, and now we’re all footing the bill. Let’s make college debt boring again, argues Oren Cass.
What Republicans Should Do if They Win Big This Fall
American Compass’s Oren Cass and Chris Griswold describe how a conservative agenda focused on workers and their families could create new avenues for progress in a divided government.
The Chips Act Debate Shows How Far the Republicans Have Moved
FINANCIAL TIMES—Oren Cass argues that conservative interest in rebuilding America’s industrial base may finally be overtaking free-market fundamentalism on the right.
The Problem Joe Manchin Highlighted Is Crucial for America’s Future
Oren Cass makes the case for serious permitting reform, without which it will take years to spend any money building climate-related projects, costing us money and harming the environment.
Chipping Away at Globalization Is a Smart Move
American Compass’s Oren Cass argues that the CHIPS Act marks an inflection point for America turning away from globalization and revitalizing domestic industry.
CHIPS Won’t Help China
American Compass executive director Oren Cass argues that demanding perfect legislation is a convenient excuse for voting no, and a standard by which everyone would always vote no.
Pass the CHIPS, Please
Restrictions on investment in China are a good idea, to be sure. The taller and stronger the guardrails, the better. But holding incentives for domestic investment hostage to tougher restrictions on foreign investment may not be wise or necessary, for two reasons.
Recovering a Sense of Papoose
In this week’s Compass Point, Pursuing the Reunification of Home and Work, Erika Bachiochi throws a fascinating curveball into the modern debate over home economics. That debate, to oversimplify, pits the mid-20th-century model of breadwinner-plus-homemaker against the late-20th-century model of the dual-income household.
Post-Roe, the GOP Is Stepping Up To Support American Families
American Compass executive director Oren Cass discusses the promising shift on the right-of-center toward supporting generous pro-family benefits like Senator Romney’s Family Security Act 2.0.
The Climate Crisis Is No Excuse for Backsliding on Democracy
For progressives, the US Supreme Court’s EPA ruling should have been a teachable moment, argues American Compass executive director Oren Cass.
