By Krisztina Pusok, American Consumer Institute With the economy still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic, there are growing calls to ease competition in the labor market by restricting immigration. But these policies overlook the fact that highly educated foreign graduates from U.S. universities act as a stopgap for a shortage of American STEM graduates. Before taking […]
Tag: Congress
Washington Beyond the Headlines: Are Businesses Competing with Prison Labor?
By Andy Blom, TES Washington Editor The number one question in America this week is: When should we open? Thoughtful free market policy people are proposing ways to lead us out of this crisis…and some other crises as well. As Washington goes back to work…and considers spending a whole lot more of your money… […]
COVID Bailout for the Postal Service: A First-Class Mistake
By Oliver McPherson-Smith and Steve Pociask, American Consumer Institute As the Beltway grapples with reviving the American economy amidst Coronavirus, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is asking for $85 billion in government bailout money to weather this crisis. But the costs inflicted by the virus are just a drop in the bucket when […]
Rules playing catchup with transport technology
“Moving America Forward with Transportation Infrastructure” By Krista Chavez, courtesy of the Mercatus Center Imagine receiving emergency medical supplies that were delivered to your house by drone; enjoying a sandwich while your autonomous vehicle drives you from Dallas, Texas, to Salt Lake City, Utah; or taking an air taxi from downtown Los Angeles […]
Agricultural labor law’s “touchback” provisions make absolutely no sense
“The H‑2A Touchback Requirement Makes No Economic or Security Sense” By David Bier, courtesy of the Cato Institute The House of Representatives passed the Farm Workforce Modernization Act (H.R. 5038) last month. The House bill made some improvements to the H-2A program, which allows farmers to hire foreign guest workers, but it incorporated […]
Suleimani hit will drag U.S. deeper into Middle East morass
“Trump’s Dangerous Escalation with Iran” By Christopher A. Preble, courtesy of the Cato Institute President Trump’s decision to order the killing of Iranian General Qassim Suleimani threatens to draw the United States even more deeply into a region that has already claimed too much American blood and treasure. The international reaction was swift. Futures on […]
Price Controls Consistently Fail Consumers: Why does Congress keep hoping that next time they will work?
By George Landrith, Frontiers of Freedom Government mandated price controls do not work. The intentions of Members of Congress when passing such government mandated price controls may or may not be good, but intentions are not the issue. Even if their intentions are good, the results will not be. That is the bottom […]
How about we stop budgeting by crisis?
“AFP Calls on Congress to Stop Budgeting by Crisis as Funding Deadline Looms” Courtesy of Americans for Prosperity As Congress moves ahead with another continuing resolution (CR), Americans for Prosperity (AFP) outlining an alternative to stop-gap funding bills and budgeting by crisis. Year after year, Washington brings America to the brink of a […]
New bill would legalize agricultural labor (but E-Verify is still a disaster)
“Bipartisan Bill Increases Legal Migration & Legalizes Farmworkers” By David Bier, courtesy of the Cato Institute A bipartisan group of about 50 House members, equally divided between both parties, introduced legislation today that expands both permanent and temporary migration for agriculture, while legalizing illegal farmworkers. The Farm Workforce Modernization Act will be […]
Hey Congress, drug price controls are still a bad idea
Bad ideas have a way of sticking around , but fortunately there’s a home for them called Congress. The recently proposed legislation on drug prices is firmly in this category, relying on what are in effect government-imposed price controls, backed by the threat of […]