The Commons

Libertarians and American Compass-types disagree on plenty. But here’s something that should unite us: the desirability of having families, rather than the federal government, decide which care settings are best for young children. While all parents have strong opinions on this question, a confident, pluralistic society should allow a thousand child-care flowers to bloom, meeting […]

In his recent post, Oren Cass helpfully examines the existing family policy proposals put on the table by Republicans this year. As someone who cares a lot about marriage and family, it has been exciting to see this conversation unfold. But I can’t get rid of a nagging reaction that I have to the related […]

The desire to achieve “self-sufficiency” has encouraged us out of the communities we grew up in. When children no longer live with their parents and those parents experience the freedom of an empty nest for the first time in decades, both generations have seemingly met the goals that modern society has set for families. It […]

Senator Josh Hawley’s proposal this morning for a “Parent Tax Credit” is a welcome expansion of the conservative debate over family policy and, in particular, a federal benefit paid to families with children. Following on Senator Mitt Romney’s “Family Security Act” in February and the subsequent proposal from Senators Marco Rubio and Mike Lee to […]

Folks, it’s time we had a serious conversation about statistical gnosticism. I talk a lot here at American Compass about the right-of-center’s problem with market fundamentalism—the tendency to say things like, “markets do not fail us, we fail markets” or “as we are dealing with changes in our economy, tax cuts are always a good […]

To Americans, the idea of a professional sports league with the same slate of teams competing each year is normal. In Europe, it might lay bare how an unthinking application of market logic to cherished traditions and institutions can kill the golden goose.

Take a deep breath and hold it for ten seconds. Imagine doing that over and over again, 31,536,000 times, not knowing where your children were. That’s ten years – or as long as my daughter was separated from her two disabled sons after their non-custodial father abducted them. But when she went to the police, they […]

Along with his proposals to raise the U.S. corporate tax rate to 28% (President Trump cut it to 21% from 35%), President Biden has offered something up to his global counterparts that has been around for a while, but which no U.S. president had heretofore seriously contemplated: a global minimum corporate tax rate of 21%, which […]

As the Biden administration and Congress consider “industrial policy” legislation (e.g., the Endless Frontier Act, the CHIPS Act, funding for shoring up domestic supply chains, and a more robust R&D credit) it’s perhaps not surprising that many pundits, journalists, and policymakers are asking how this is any different than what China is doing. After all, […]

In a non-binding concurrence, Justice Clarence Thomas (joined by no other justices), argued that social media platforms could be labeled “common carriers,” and should therefore be treated like phone companies or similar utilities. Thomas’ commentary accompanied a Monday Supreme Court order instructing a New York district court to dismiss as moot a lawsuit against former […]

Government economic statistics are critical to understanding the economy and making policy. For example, the Federal Reserve relies on accurate information about inflation to make monetary policy. Accurate statistics are also important for understanding structural economic changes and economic performance. Nowhere is this more important than in understanding what has happened to manufacturing output and […]

Large numbers of American workers are trapped in low-wage jobs in low-tech, low-profit industries in the nontraded domestic service sector, including leisure and hospitality, retail and child and elder care. To raise wages significantly, firms would have to increase their productivity by investing in innovative technology, but their profit margins are too small for them […]