A new think tank by the name of American Compass recently made headlines as a “conservative” foe of private equity by launching its new “Returns Counter.” This project purports to compare the returns of private equity against public capital markets, and was launched with a politicized primer on mergers and acquisitions, private equity, and hedge fund investments. Wells King, research director at…
Tensions surrounding the COVID-19 lockdowns are exceptionally high. Protestors across the US, Germany, France, and Spain—to name just a few—have rallied en masse to demand the lifting of legally-imposed quarantines. Now that economies have begun to reopen, social media has become its own battleground with many urging—even outright shaming—others to stay home and not go to work. So why hasn’t…
May 20, 2020 The Honorable Donald J. TrumpPresident of the United StatesThe White House1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NWWashington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President: Thank you for your leadership in this most challenging time. As you take steps to restore the economy, we write to express our concern about a misguided policy response being pushed from some quarters. Tariffs on imported oil…
Arthur Schopenhauer once quipped that if it were constantly repeated with great solemnity, nothing was too absurd for people to believe. After reading the preliminary Pandemic Anti-Monopoly Act from Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, I find myself more seriously contemplating absurdity. This proposal is a study in Schopenhauer’s point: though couched in great solemnity, both the act itself and the…
As a homeschooling father, I am no stranger to explaining our family’s choice to home educate our children. Yes, they have plenty of socialization with other children. Yes, we teach all the subjects. No, you can simply buy the curriculum and it tells you what to do. By now I have the answers memorized (as do most homeschool parents). You…
If you had you asked someone on New Year’s Day of 2020 what they envisioned the year ahead might look like, few would’ve imagined that the first few months would be spent canceling trips, events, and academic semesters. Families and college students hadn’t planned to spend their spring break in quarantine. Most businesses didn’t enter the year in fear of…
The Trump Administration has presented a surprisingly good opportunity for advocates of criminal justice reform. With the recent passage of the First Step Act, criminal justice reformers are looking to what’s next. Lindsay Marie is a policy analyst for the Lone Star Institute and writer with Young Voices. She joined Stephen Kent in Arlington, VA to discuss the state of…
Make “Safety” not “Essential Services” the Test Ravaged by COVID-19, the American economy is on the precipice of economic free fall. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard has forecasted a 30% U.S. unemployment in the second quarter and a possible GDP plunge of 50%. Goldman Sachs has made similar warnings about our economic trajectory. American businesses are not merely struggling with…
Over the past four decades, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been approving new prescription drugs faster. That’s a great thing, since quicker approvals give terminally-ill patients faster access to potentially life-saving treatments. Of course, some critics aren’t happy, and it’s leading them to wonder if the FDA needs to slow “its drug approval roll.” But slowing down the approval process by bolstering…
Across the United States, we hear we’re facing an affordable housing crisis. Little children, like three-year-old Ethan Wood, are living in tent cities with their parents, some of whom are seeking a fresh start after extensive battles with drug abuse. Then there are others, such as Emilee Broll, who has a full-time job with the federal government yet is still…