Mercatus Policy Download

Data privacy. Just saying those two words together probably conjures a whole host of emotions, ranging from suspicion and fear about the way corporations collect and use our personal information to amazement at the quantity and variety of digital products and services that our personal data buys us access to. As any lawyer will tell you, privacy has always been a tricky issue to pin down, and the...

With the Super Bowl behind us, football fans are already looking ahead to the 2020 season, and they’re not the only ones thinking about the future of the NFL. More specifically, speculation about where and how new stadiums will be built is in full swing, particularly in the Washington, DC area. Even back in December, the Washington Post reported that Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder was wor...

What comes to mind when you hear the word “drones?” For some, the answer might be a remotely-piloted military aircraft. For others, it might be the little quad-copter you fly around your backyard for fun. But for our guests today, drones might be the future of healthcare. Other countries have already started experimenting with drone technology in order to deliver medication, blood, or other suppli...

Even in the middle of a partial federal government shutdown, federal, state, and local agencies continue to play a huge role in the policy world and our everyday lives. Regulations help determine everything from the kind of toothpaste you used this morning to the music you listened to on the radio during your commute to rent prices in your neighborhood, and after an exciting year of regulatory pol...

There are a lot of ways we could wrap up the year, but probably none better than to take a step back, look at 2018, and ask ourselves what the most important economic developments were. From trade wars to interest rate hikes, inverting yield curves to tax reform implementation, a lot happened this year. We've asked our guests today to be prepared to talk about…well, just about everything. We actua...

To kick off the year, MIT’s Technology Review did something they’ve done every year since 2001: they picked “10 Breakthrough Technologies” to watch in the coming years. Those breakthroughs varied from 3D metal printing to artificial embryos to ubiquitous and affordable artificial intelligence and everything in between. We’re not going to go through the list and rank how those predictions turned ou...

***Stick around until the end of the show to hear our latest What's on Tap segment and what beer we're drinking today! Check out the Twenty Three Anniversary beer by Avery Brewing Co. in Boulder, Colorado here .*** The last time we talked about trade was back in April , right about the time China had started to threaten new taxes on imported American products. That, of course, was a response to ou...

The policy world loves to talk about infrastructure. Support for infrastructure policy is often bipartisan, and it’s almost assumed now that candidates running for office will use the phrase “crumbling roads and bridges” at some point during their campaigns. But there’s another side to infrastructure that might be more interesting than those roads, bridges, and airports, and that’s the infrastruct...

Today we have a special, behind the scenes episode for you. Earlier in September, the Atlas Network announced the finalists for the 2018 Templeton Freedom Award, and the Mercatus Center was fortunate enough to be on that list. Specifically, Atlas identified the RegData project and the way states have used the project to reform regulations. Since there’s a lot to unpack in that one sentence, Chad's...

After more than a year of debating federal tax cuts, a return to trillion dollar deficits, and the fiscal condition of the federal government, you might think there’s not much more to say about fiscal solvency in the US. Of course, for those who follow state policy issues, there is still plenty to discuss spread out among 50 state government budgets. In fact, the Mercatus Center just released its...

A little over a year and a half ago, President Trump issued his 7th Executive Order. Titled “Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs,” Executive Order 13771 is better known in regulatory policy circles as the “1-in-2-out” rule. The general idea is that if you have too many regulations, one way to fix the problem is by requiring that regulatory agencies eliminate 2 rules for each new o...

Over the past two years, Illinois has taken multiple steps to reform how it regulates occupational and professional licenses. Illinois’ reform efforts are part of a broader national movement reexamining the ways in which we license certain professions. In other words, how state governments decide who’s allowed to work in what jobs. Here to do that, we have the perfect panel for today’s topic: Secr...

Last month, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady released what he’s calling a “listening session framework” for a second bite at the tax reform apple. While many thought that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed last December would be the last we’d hear about tax reform for at least a few years, Brady’s framework gives us the outline for what’s been dubbed “Tax Reform 2.0.” The plan inc...

For most of us, terms like “3, 4, and 5G” may not mean much more than an indicator that we can use our smartphones, or that it’s time to upgrade them to a newer model. They are simply markers of each new generation in wireless technology. But for telecommunications policy experts, 5G really matters. Some have predicted that exciting new technologies like driverless cars can only become a reality w...

Sports are often a great unifier for society. They give us arbitrary, even petty rivalries that we can lean into without taking too seriously at the same time that they bring people together. But sports, particularly at the professional level, can be expensive. Even ignoring things like player salaries, equipment, and an extensive staff, every sports team needs a place to call home, and stadium co...

“How many people are unemployed” sounds like a simple question with a straightforward answer: just go around and find out how many people don’t have jobs and you’re done! However, as economists who study the issue will tell you, it’s not that easy. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, a government agency charged with collecting data, has six separate measures of unemployment. And just in case you think...

Today we have a special bonus episode for you, giving you a look inside the Mercatus Center’s newest project. Those of you who have followed our work over the past year or so may have noticed an increased attention to the idea of policy moonshots: high-risk, high-reward efforts aimed at dramatically improving the world. Today, we’re taking our own advice. This fall, the Mercatus Center will launch...

How to regulate consumer financial products and services has remained one of the most contentious issues in Washington since the financial crisis. Congress created a new agency aimed at dealing with the issue in the wake of the crisis, but nearly 7 years after that agency first opened its doors, the issue remains as relevant as ever. In fact, experts are even divided on what to call the agency. Fo...

Everyone seems to agree that America is a nation of immigrants. Beyond that, however, actual immigration policy remains a contentious and often partisan topic. From insistence on a border wall between the United States and Mexico to growing calls for the abolition of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, common ground hasn’t been easy to find lately. That may be because, as the Mercatus...

Inflation, rate hikes, hawks, doves, and yes, even dual-mandates. We’re diving into the exciting and, at times, intractable world of the Federal Reserve today to talk about new-ish Fed Chair Jay Powell and the Fed’s recent announcement that it’s increasing its interest rate target now and in the near future. That makes this the perfect time to talk about the direction the Fed may be heading under...

Depending on who you ask, Initial Coin Offerings, or ICOs, are a scam, a brilliant new way for cryptocurrency companies to raise startup money, a sneaky way to get around securities regulations, or some combination of the above. What we do know for sure is that ICOs are garnering a lot of attention these days. China outright banned them last year, and the SEC recently launched its own “HowieCoin,”...

On May 16th, the US Senate voted to repeal a Federal Communications Commission rule that was itself a repeal of the FCC’s 2015 rule intended to change the way the internet is regulated. The double repeal is now awaiting sign off from the House and the President, neither of which seem likely to support it. Still, the legislation has renewed the debate over ‘net neutrality,’ and how policymakers sho...

Privacy and social media have always had a complicated relationship. On the one hand, users of sites like Facebook often voice concerns when they find out how much of their personal information ends up with advertisers. On the other hand, the roughly 2 billion active users of Facebook continue to provide that data voluntarily in exchange for free use of the platform. Add political advertising to t...

The word “regulation” can be a pretty loaded one in the world of public policy. To some, it means health and safety protections necessary for a well-functioning economy and society. To others, it means unnecessary bureaucratic restrictions that kill jobs and favor large, established businesses. What just about everyone can agree on, however, is that there’s room for improvement in the existing reg...

Just about everyone who lives in a metropolitan coastal area understands the value of affordable housing. It's a given that if you want the benefits that come with living near lots of people and businesses, you're going to have to pay more for your mortgage or rent. That might be most obviously true of California, where growing demand and stagnant supply have produced 10 of the 11 most expensive m...