- Why is the left still telling lies about Michael Brown? (Yglesias)
- I agree with Greg Mankiw: Its lonely out there. “Socially liberal and fiscally conservative” is the least common combination in American politics. The typical swing voter is instead “socially conservative and fiscally liberal.” (NYT)
- CBO: federal spending will exceed federal revenues for as far as the eye can see.
- Is the ivory-billed woodpecker really extinct? The debate rages.
Category: Consumer-Driven Health Care
Monday Links
- Roughly half of states are waiving current food stamp work requirements. Of 800 counties nationwide where work is waived, only 20 have unemployment rates above the 10% threshold prescribed by the waiver process.
- Michael Tanner: work requirements can be cumbersome and costly to enforce; there is also limited evidence that they increase employment or save much money.
- Federal housing subsides are twice as large as cash welfare; and they come with no time limits and no work requirements.
- Mile long trains can keep EMTs away from patients who need help.
Is Florida Hostile to Black Americans?
If the NAACP wants to identify states where policy is hostile to blacks, it should turn its eyes to states and cities run by Democrats. At the end of 2022, the national black unemployment rate stood at 6.1%. In Florida, it was more than two points lower at 3.8%. Meanwhile, black unemployment was higher than the national average in California (7.5%), Illinois (10.9%), and New York (8.3%).
Saturday Links
- On average, nearly 25,000 regulatory restrictions are put on the books annually. The Code of Federal Regulations is now so long that it would take a dedicated reader at least three years to get through the whole thing.
- Bad news on fertility: For the very first time in the history of humanity we are below replacement rate – worldwide.
- If the Census Bureau adopts a new poverty definition, millions more Americans could automatically be made eligible for benefits—leading to at least $124 billion in additional government spending over the next decade.
- Every fall, during open-enrollment period, over 100 million families can choose a health plan. Most people make bad choices. (WSJ)
- Chicago now has a lower population today than 100 years ago even though the U.S. population has more than tripled over that time period.
- Cochrane on work requirements: there are four million able-bodied adults without dependents on food stamps, and three in four don’t work at all. Less than 3% work full-time.