Energy & Environment

BlackRock Letter to CEOs Shows Politics Takes Priority Over Bettering Human Lives

With increasing attention being paid to the negative consequences of so-called environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing—which means selecting clients’ investments based on political rather than financial criteria—many hoped BlackRock’s annual letter to CEOs would signal a shift away from activism and back toward fiduciary responsibility. Sadly, chairman and CEO Larry Fink’s letter offered no solace for the...

January 31, 2022

Economy

Strengthening the Successful Texas Model

Texas continues to recover from the shutdown recession of 2020. The state has made strong progress toward a full recovery, especially compared to other states. But it has much room for improvement by many metrics before we’ll see the robust pre-shutdown prosperity. In February 2020, Texas had low unemployment and relatively high labor force participation....

January 28, 2022

Economy

2023 Responsible Alaska Budget

Introduction Alaska’s economy and Alaskans’ livelihoods were hit particularly hard by the government shutdowns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, and Alaskans are struggling to recover. But businesses are now open, employment is slowly improving, and oil prices are up, which has resulted in the state’s Department of Revenue substantially increasing its revenue forecast by $2.2...

January 26, 2022

Election Integrity

Is Texas next for granting noncitizens the vote?

As one of his first acts, newly elected New York City Mayor Eric Adams allowed a measure to become law that gives some 800,000 foreign nationals the right to vote in city elections, so long as they’ve lived in the city for more than 30 days. New York’s move follows San Francisco, where, in 2016, voters approved a...

January 26, 2022

Economy

Out-of-control Congress and Fed need binding rules

“May you live in interesting times,” goes an old saying—usually meant as a curse. When it comes to economics, “interesting” usually means the sky is falling. Inflation reached 7% at the end of 2021, a rate not seen in 40 years. The Federal Reserve’s balance sheet more than doubled to $8.8 trillion since early 2020....

January 25, 2022

Economy

Government ‘stimulus’ didn’t stimulate job growth

We were promised job growth—after all, that was the main selling point for the March 2021 American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) from President Biden and the congressional Democrats. Promise made—promise broken. In February 2021, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued its economic outlook and projected 6.252 million jobs would be added in 2021 without ARPA....

January 25, 2022

Family

It’s Time for Texas to Fix Foster Care Once and For All

In what is becoming a sad tradition, U.S. District Court Judge Janis Jack again excoriated the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) for its failure to turn around the state’s beleaguered foster care system in a recent hearing. The status hearing focused on the state’s efforts to comply with remedial orders Judge Jack issued...

January 25, 2022

Economy

Inflation has Momentum

The Federal Reserve seems to take for granted its ability to stop inflation cold. The data tell a very different—and dangerous—story. Inflation is hurtling forward and could become a runaway train. Slow to get on board, the Fed has finally abandoned its previous nomenclature of “transitory” inflation. The mounting evidence is too much for Fed...

January 20, 2022

Energy & Environment

Regular Americans Are Paying Dearly For Biden’s Mistakes On Energy Policy

Few presidencies have garnered so many self-inflicted wounds in only a year’s time. On President Joe Biden’s long list of unforced errors, energy policy is near the very top, and Americans are paying dearly for it. The benchmark for crude oil in America has crossed $85 a barrel, a seven-year high. Despite being one of...

January 19, 2022

Higher Education

Attempt to Silence UNT Students Backfires on Administration

When conservative students challenged the constitutionality of some practices at the University of North Texas, school officials responded with a demand for the name and contact info of every member of the Young Conservatives of Texas’ North Texas Chapter. Judge Sean Jordan of the Eastern District of Texas said no. Judge Jordan recently issued a...

January 17, 2022

Health Care

What’s so bad about fee-for-service health care?

I don’t recall the first time I heard that Fee-for-Service (FFS) was bad. As an entrepreneur, FFS seemed to be a perfect description of a traded value-for-value transaction between a business and its customers. Fee-For-Service (or Fee-For-Product), to most business owners and customers, describes paying for exactly what you receive. A transparent price is set...

January 17, 2022

Foreign Policy

Midland: The Fruits of the Conquest

Most of the past forty-eight hours have been spent either in, or en route to and from, the Midland-Odessa region. Far out in west Texas’s Permian Basin, the two cities — towns, really — have a relationship that I still can’t quite unpack. On my last visit, which turned out to be the first time...

January 14, 2022