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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 much of conventional economics declares itself above politics and able to evaluate results objectively through measures of consumer welfare, conservatives recognize that the choice of 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 living standards: For citizens to flourish, they must have access to good jobs that pay family-supporting wages. For the nation to flourish, its growth and 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 the overall vitality of an economy and rising living standards. Less often discussed is how the organization of that labor affects these outcomes. Apart from 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 realm, their message has often spoken to Americans only as owners: especially small business owners, but also other entrepreneurs and even independent contractors. As conservatives 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 a wide range of political views, more than 99% of spending by the largest unions goes to Democrats and the political left. Perhaps for these 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 “concerted activity” in which workers take action to discuss or improve their wages, benefits, and working conditions, including by attempting to organize a labor union. 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 a natural state of affairs, as economists since Adam Smith have warned. Absent worker power, policymakers necessarily step forward with redistribution to ensure widely shared 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 works poorly. Government administration of public benefits like unemployment insurance is bureaucratic, ineffective, and unaccountable. The COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing shutdowns strained state unemployment systems 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, through increased productivity and job satisfaction, improved information flow, and strengthened trust. But most American workers experience a “voice gap” between the influence they want 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 can be reduced to a basic syllogism: In a country that values social and political equality, you should be able to make a life for 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 to college to work arose about 50 years ago,” writes Ryan Craig, managing partner at University Ventures, “and became gospel only 25 years ago.” Americans 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, as have high-octane culture wars about racial equity and curriculum. Between spring and fall 2020, homeschooling rates nearly doubled; for African American families, the rate 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 through loans that the market would never offer. At the same time, overconfident in a college education’s value, policymakers prohibited discharging student loans in bankruptcy. 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. Colleges and universities receive their money up front, regardless of how students perform or whether the education prepares them for success. Most enrollees fail to 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 in hiring practices. Degree requirements remove an estimated 15.7 million capable American workers from consideration for jobs they can do. This is devastating for those 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 even though most Americans do not earn degrees, and high schools operate mostly as college-prep academies. Private employers hesitate to invest in job training themselves 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, well below the replacement rate. The falling fortunes of marriage and family life have hit the working class especially hard. No group has seen the 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 by a profound mental health crisis, and smartphones and social media are the principal culprit. Social media companies monopolize the attention of teen users by 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 young, is at the center of family life, shaping new human beings and laying the foundation for a nation’s future. The roots of human flourishing Read more…