Civil Asset Forfeiture in the States
Executive Summary Civil asset forfeiture is an in rem (against the property) proceeding, in which property is seized but no criminal charges are brought against the owner. Critics often point to …
The U.S. Export-Import Bank Reauthorization Debate
Since 1934, the Export-Import Bank (Exim) has been the official U.S. export credit agency, financing the purchase of U.S. manufacturing exports by foreign governments and companies when private lenders are unavailable or …
Economic Opportunity versus Income Inequality
Income inequality is largely misunderstood and its importance is frequently overstated. Since the late 1970s, middle-class incomes and living standards have continued to improve.
Congressional Brief: Public Lands
The federal government owns some of the nation’s most magnificent landscapes and treasured resources, but it also owns some lands with no particularly striking characteristics or special environmental value. Unfortunately, it has managed the public’s natural resources as poorly as it has managed the federal budget. Unable to balance land use and preservation, government management of public lands has shifted between periods of exploitation or overuse and periods of “protection” or “preservation” bordering on neglect. The result has been degradation of the public lands and the wildlife that depends on them.
Fixing Airport Security
The terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center have emphasized that the present U.S. airport security system is not adequate to the task.
Crisis Policy-Making: Immediate Action, Prolonged Regret
In a national emergency, perhaps the strongest urge of democratically elected officials is to "do something" immediately. Politicians believe that inaction sends citizens the message that their leaders are indecisive and perhaps incompetent to deal with the crisis. In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, Congress and the president are proposing a host of new security measures and other laws and regulations.
Waging the New War on Terrorism
We are now at war. President Bush and the U.S. Congress have made that clear and the public has evinced so far overwhelming support for their leaders' calls for waging a long, patient and difficult struggle against both those who attacked us so brutally on September 11 and those who support global terrorism.
Suing Gun Manufacturers: Hazardous to Our Health
The lawsuits against gun manufacturers are not just bad public policy, they are also dubious as matters of law. The courts have recognized that firearms are no different from many other potentially dangerous products and have consistently held that legislatures should decide whether guns should be legal and widely available.
Explaining the Growing Number of Uninsured
The number of people without health insurance continues to grow. The most recent U.S. Census Bureau estimate places the number at 41.4 million people, or 17.7 percent of the nonelderly population – up from 35.7 million, or 16.6 percent in 1990.
Why the Government Shut Down
The recent shutdown of parts of the federal government lasted 21 days and ended on January 5. It idled thousands of federal employees and closed numerous government agencies.
What Is the Optimal Size of Government in the United States?
Beyond some minimum level, government becomes a net drain on the private sector. When resources are allocated privately, the goal is the highest economic rate of return. When they are allocated by politicians or planners, the goal is the highest political return in the form of votes and campaign contributions.
Death by Quota
Is death sentencing really racially discriminatory? Those who claim there is a pattern of discrimination are ignoring a host of studies that show otherwise.
Government In Retreat
Technological changes are increasing the mobility of labor and capital around the world. Because of this mobility, governments no longer have a fixed supply of productive resources to tax and regulate. Instead, governments are in active competition with each other to make their countries attractive to workers and investors who have increasing freedom of choice about when they produce, save and invest. Because the most effective way to compete for capital and labor is to reduce the burden of government, government spending is no longer growing relative to the size of the economy in most developed countries.
How Much Government does Texas Need? An analysis of the Texas State Budget
This study will propose changing or abolishing specific programs, bureaucracies and state policies in order to alleviate the assult on the pocketbooks of long-suffering taxpayers.
Government vs. Free Enterprise in Space
Until recently, the U.S. had a clear lead in virtually every aspect of space technology. Today, we are in danger of losing that lead to Europe, to Japan, and even to the Soviet Union.
Private Sector Alternatives in Urban Transportation
Throughout the 20th century, in the United States and in countries around the world, people have increasingly turned to government to solve problems they believe cannot be solved through the private marketplace. In recent years, however, scholars have discovered that government solutions to social problems often do not improve upon the private solutions of the marketplace.
Analyzing the Reagan Record
The Reagan Administration is criticized as being hostile to the interests of low-income Americans, women, and the elderly, and as being partial to the rich and well-to-do.
America In Space: The New Industrial Revolution
A handful of scientists and visionaries are proclaiming that the next economic frontier, the one that will carry us into the 21st century, lies in outer space.