Browse our library

Search and filter below to explore our library of research, essays, commentary, and more.

  • Choose Issue(s)

  • Choose Type(s)

Results
How The Elites Rigged Supreme Court Politics

The death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg less than 50 days before the 2020 election has dramatically increased the stakes of the election, and is exactly the type of September surprise that could scramble Americans’ voting patterns this late in the game. 

The Limits of Principle

Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg’s death roiled an already unsettled the political scene. A pitched battle is underway over who will succeed her and when. David French urges Republicans to stand Read more…

Refocusing Labor Policy to Unleash the American Worker

American workers are the backbone of this country. In the wake of the economic devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is more important than ever to remove barriers burdening the American worker. On Capitol Hill, the Republican Study Committee’s American Worker Task Force has proposed bold new solutions that would empower our nation’s workers to face today’s challenges as well as tomorrow’s.

A Conservative Jurisprudence Worthy of a Conservative Economics

The New Right, in contradistinction to the liberalized Hayekian governing mentality that American Compass’s Oren Cass has called “Let the Market Rip,” is unafraid to wield the levers of political power in the service of good political order.

Conservative Education Reform Should Emphasize Relationships, Institutions, and Vocation

A social capital approach to school reform focused on developing habits of mind and habits of association in young people is a basis for conservatives to lead on K-12 reform. It also offers conservatives a way to create new political coalitions with diverse advocates who believe expanding opportunity for young people includes developing their social capital.

Reviving the Conservative Heart of Organized Labor

Cardus’s Brian Dijkema advocates for a new conservative home for organized labor in this adaptation from American Compass’s “A Seat at the Table” series.

America Needs a Conservative Labor Movement

American Compass’s Oren Cass argues that a strong, reformed labor movement has unique potential to advance conservative priorities.

Labor for the Future

This is one of those half-baked blog posts that are the point of a blog but increasingly rare; after all, in the digital era everything seems to just get slicker and more centralized. There are only three sites to post to and you have to be on, and casual-Friday professional, you know?, for your brand. If you want to spitball you can just tweet. Anyway.

A Free Market Manifesto That Changed the World, Reconsidered

American Compass’s Oren Cass joins a wide range of economists and business leaders to discuss Milton Friedman’s essay, “The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits,” on its 50th anniversary.

Are British Conservatives Providing a Future Template for Post-Trump Republicans?

Much as the Brexit referendum anticipated the rise of the Trump presidency, the current UK Conservative government led by Prime Minister Boris Johnson may now be providing clues as to a possible future path for the post-Trump Republican Party in the United States.

Labor Market, Labor Code—Or Labor Bazaar?

If we do not want to allow a free labor market to set wages, then the only alternative is for the government to directly fix prices—in this case, the prices that employers are to pay workers for particular jobs—by means of a compulsory, rigid and universal government labor code.

The Quest for Community on Labor Day

In its latest public statement, American Compass affirms the enduring importance of organized labor and the need for conservatives to have a stake in its future. It challenges a right-of-center accustomed to dismiss unions to instead reconsider their role in our common life as well as the deeper costs of their absence.

Dignity to Endure

After spending eight years driving four hundred thousand miles to take 60,000 pictures of working class Americans, I could easily write a Labor Day essay on the dignity of work, topped by a photo of a man dirty from work, leaning on his well cared for F150 with a back-rack, silver tool box, two bright yellow cylindrical Igloo coolers, and pissing Calvin mud-flaps.

What’s the Best Way To Help Low-Income Workers? Automate Low-Income Jobs.

As we celebrate Labor Day, reducing unemployment and getting the COVID-impacted economy back to some semblance of normality is clearly the top economic task. But when that is done the economy will still face a critical labor market problem: too many workers earning too little. A recent Brookings study found that 44 percent of American adults workers make very little, with median annual earnings of just $18,000.

In Defense of Picket Fences

In a recent Commons post, Wells King argues against the Trump administration’s recent gutting of the Obama-era rule U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) rule, Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing, more widely known as AFFH. He characterizes the action of largely scrapping the rule, as opposed to merely revising it, as a case of the administration bowing to “upper class NIMBYism.” I respectfully disagree.

Republican Party Battles Over its Post-Trumpian Soul

American Compass’s Oren Cass spotlights the ideological contest between libertarian Republicans and post-Trump conservatives for the future identity of the American political right.

Yoram Hazony’s Liberal Nationalism

In a previous post, I used the term “synthetic nationalism” to describe what is increasingly the default premise of many conservative nationalists—or, in their words, of many national conservatives.

Time to Incorporate Competitiveness Into Anti-Trust

U.S. antirust doctrine and practice has long failed to consider issues of industrial competitiveness.

The Elite Needs to Give Up Its G.D.P. Fetish

American Compass’s Oren Cass suggests that the professional class might learn from the pandemic that “material living standards” do not always translate into “quality of life.”

Populism and Picket Fences

Since at least the inauguration, a central question of this presidency has been whether Trump could cease campaigning and learn to govern.

applearrow-cardsarrow-sharearrowcaret-downcloseemailfacebook-squarefacebookfooter-imggoogle-podcasts-clearhamburgerinstagram-squarelinkedin-squarelinkedinpauseplayprintspotifystitchertriangletwitter-squaretwitter