In an industry already short of workers, hospitals and healthcare facilities are facing serious staffing shortages in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. As public officials in Washington and across the United States seek to increase the supply of medical equipment necessary to combat the virus,...

In relation to an evolving labor market, the main focus of this paper is to examine whether the traditional model of higher education is effectively matching graduate skills to labor market demand. In light of a growing student debt burden and proposals for significant expansions in higher...

Proposals for raising the maximum statutory tax rate to 70 percent, with dual objectives of generating additional revenue for new spending and curtailing inequality, are gaining attention among both academics and media commentators. While the idea might be superficially attractive, there is...

The Social Security Disability Insurance program (SSDI) was designed to assist individuals deemed unable to work as a result of a permanent disability. SSDI has been and remains an essential component of the nation's safety net. However, the program faces significant financial challenges and...

This policy brief will assess the underlying problems with the United States' budgetary process and the issues that arise as a result of the country's current fiscal trajectory. We explore the role that spending rules play in restraining the growth of government spending wherever they are...

In light of these proposals, one of which would increase federal aid funding by $100 billion over 10 years, we review the current state of affairs in higher education, the impact that increased federal aid has had so far, and whether more federal aid is the correct treatment for the problem of...

This policy brief will focus on the underlying causes of declining discretion in policy-making: specifically, the unsustainable growth of mandatory spending programs rooted in a rapidly aging population. We will discuss how this phenomenon will lead effectively to the end of policy-making in a...

A US-UK trade agreement would be a major economic policy initiative for both nations. From January through November of 2019, Americans exported $63.6 billion in goods to the United Kingdom, representing 4.2 percent of total US exports. During that same period, Americans imported $57.6 billion in...

To rein in fiscal deficits, policymakers traditionally raise taxes or cut public spending. However, many economists worry that those policies can slow down the economy. By contrast, faster economic growth — without changing taxes or spending — reduces the deficit on two fronts, by raising...

Over the past three decades, more than a dozen developed nations have abandoned their wealth taxes. Yet the United States today finds itself in the midst of a political debate about implementing a wealth tax to partially fund the spending commitments of progressive presidential hopefuls. The...