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At the heart of conservative economics is the idea that a nation can and should choose the shape of its markets in pursuit of the substantive outcomes it values. Whereas Read more…

The breakdown in American capitalism over the past half-century is most apparent in its failure to deliver widespread prosperity for the American people. Success requires more than just rising material Read more…

Everyone recognizes the importance of work for a individual health and life satisfaction, strong families and communities, and more. And macroeconomists know the importance of a productive labor force for Read more…

In the years since President Ronald Reagan left office, conservative policymakers have had some success speaking to Americans as believers, as families, and as American citizens. But in the economic Read more…

American labor unions have become predominantly political organizations, representing only 6% of the private-sector workforce but spending nearly $2 billion during the 2020 election cycle. And while union members hold Read more…

Conservatives serious about protecting American workers must consider the hazards faced by workers seeking to exercise their legal right to organize in the workplace. Employers are legally prohibited from penalizing Read more…

A well-functioning capitalist system relies upon workers and employers both possessing sufficient power in the labor market to defend their interests and come to mutually acceptable arrangements. This is not Read more…

Americans take for granted that employers and government programs in some combination will provide the basic supports and benefits needed by workers in a modern labor market. But this system Read more…

American workers place enormous value on cooperative relationships with management. Poor employee-management relations harm job satisfaction even more than unpredictable scheduling or low wages. Worker voice can benefit businesses, too, Read more…

One great impediment to education reform is a false notion about the American Dream—and really, about democracy itself. For many Americans, college epitomizes the promise of democratic citizenship. The narrative Read more…

The “college-for-all” educational model sees education as a conveyor belt that moves young people from elementary to middle to high school to a college degree and—finally—to a job. “High school Read more…

Few areas of American life have experienced more conflict of late than K–12 education. Frustration with district schools’ preference for remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic has played a role, Read more…

Policymakers committed to championing “college-for-all” have given student debt an unhealthily “sacred” status. Because they believed a college education was the key to prosperity, they provided open-ended subsidies for students Read more…

America’s “college-for-all” model has produced a perverse financing system for higher education. Policymakers see a college education as the key to opportunity, subsidizing student attendance with loans—no matter the cost. Read more…

Employers increasingly require degrees for jobs that did not previously need them. This “degree inflation” is driven not by major changes in the skills these jobs require, but by changes Read more…

Wages for workers without college degrees have stagnated for decades, in part because America lacks effective non-college pathways. Public funding for post-secondary education goes almost exclusively to traditional higher education Read more…

The state of our unions in the United States is not strong. The marriage rate has fallen more than 60% since 1970. Fertility rates reached a record low in 2020, Read more…

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) governs how social media companies engage the nation’s children, but it was written in 1998, before social media existed. American teens are afflicted Read more…

Perhaps nothing is more crucial to parents and to society than ensuring the healthy development of children, from conception onwards. The care and raising of children, especially when they are Read more…

Margaret Thatcher once said, “Any woman who understands the problems of running a home will be nearer to understanding the problems of running a country.” She was right. American policymakers, Read more…