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Misrepresenting Policy: The GOP “Private Jet Owner Tax Cut”
The Senate tax reform bill that just passed has many changes, but one that took some flak was an apparent tax cut for private jet owners. As is often the case, the story is more complicated than it seems at first blush. All another reminder to be critical about what you read, no matter how you lean politically.
The RAISE Act, and How to Analyze the Impact of Immigration Proposals
There’s a lot of disagreement among Americans about whether we need more or fewer immigrants, and what types will be most helpful. What do economic analyses say on the subject, and about the RAISE act?
Tying Trump’s Hands On Russian Sanctions, AKA “You Shall Not Pass!”
Donald Trump is getting a quick lesson in the limitations of his office. As much as he’d like to will his policy proposals into existence, he is learning – as have all other presidents before him – how constrained his new position of power actually is.
Dispatch from Seattle: Reviewing the $15 Minimum Wage
I was in Seattle recently (great city, fabulous, everyone says so), and while there a very nice and gregarious person was telling us about how excited she was for the $15 minimum wage. I knew almost nothing about it other than brief headlines on the news, so I listened but didn’t add much.
But it was a good opportunity to then go do some research.
What’s the Impact of The US Withdrawal from the Paris Agreement?
Trump withdrew from the Paris agreement in early June 2017. Not surprisingly, there was a big reaction. We were meeting with one of our ReConsider Cabinet members discussing the withdrawal the day it happened (as expected, great conversation). One thing we learned immediately hearing from her was that she had done much more research on the Paris Agreement and the withdrawal’s implications than we had, so we did some research! You’re welcome.
The Environmentalist’s Dilemma: Electric Cars
Electric cars have the potential to dramatically reduce CO2 production in the United States; CO2 emissions from burning gasoline and diesel cause 1.5 billion metric tons of CO2 per year, which is 30% of total US energy-related emissions.
A number of friends of ours have electric cars, and hoo boy are they fun. (Got to drive a Tesla recently and holy smokes does it have some get-up-and-go.) A reader asked me recently how much an electric car–over lifetime–reduces CO2 output versus a conventional car. They wondered whether charging a car with a predominantly hydrocarbon-based energy grid actually helped the environment. It could be a major environmentalist’s dilemma.
Trumpcare is Dead–What’s Next for Obamacare?
The American Healthcare Act is dead, and the Affordable Care Act lives on. What will happen now?
This article won’t be an intrigue piece about how the GOP will lick its wounds and try to circle back for another run at “repeal and replace.” (And frankly I don’t think they’ll be ready for another attack anytime soon.) More interesting, perhaps, is looking at what will happen if we leave Obamacare alone. So I did some research into the Congressional Budget Office, and here’s what I found:
The GOP May Want to Consider a Bipartisan Obamacare Replacement
Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan are planning on moving forward with the GOP’s Obamacare repeal-and-replace plan (still officially not released in full). The plan itself is still likely to change, and they’re having trouble getting all of the Republicans on board, but they want to move forward. This reminds me of a story. A very important one for Republicans that want to win.
Where Did All the Manufacturing Jobs Go? And Should We Care?
Let’s dig into the data: what happened to American manufacturing jobs?
This one’s a doozy–but you’ll learn a lot.
The Surprising Argument Against Single Payer Healthcare in the United States
I wanted to point out a potential consequence of the United States adopting single payer insurance that I have not yet seen spoken elsewhere. I wanted to point out a potential consequence of the United States adopting single payer insurance that I have not yet seen spoken elsewhere.