Republicans’ and Democrats’ attitudes toward higher education are seemingly diverging. Increasingly critical Republican attitudes will likely in time have policy consequences. An annual Pew Center survey found in 2015 that 54 percent of Republicans thought that higher education’s impact on the country was positive, versus 37 percent negative. This year these numbers flipped […]

  A recent study from Dell Technologies contends that 85 percent of the jobs that will be around in 2030 do not yet exist. My son should graduate from high school in 2030, so what type of job market will he face? A very different one than I graduated into in Detroit. Will there be […]

    The Senate passed a tax bill last weekend. The details must be ironed out in conference negotiations with the House, but the plan includes a corporate income tax overhaul. This was a campaign promise of President Trump, and is long overdue. The corporate income tax does not apply to all businesses, only those […]

    The current debate in Congress over tax reform highlights a favorite argument of economists: that we should eliminate loopholes, like the deductions for mortgage interest or state and local taxes, and use the savings to lower tax rates. The argument illustrates both core economic principles and the limitations of a purely economic analysis. […]

    This is the time to give thanks, and I hope that your family has much to be thankful for this year. Thanksgiving offers a time to reflect on the prosperity we enjoy. Most humans throughout history have lived at the subsistence level, usually only one poor harvest away from facing famine. Just as […]

    Last spring Alabama’s legislature mandated coverage of autism therapy by health insurance plans. Such mandates provide benefits to people without spending our tax dollars, but threaten the viability of health insurance. The main issue for autism coverage was Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA), an intensive therapy program with demonstrated benefits for patients. Helping persons […]