Policy Perspective: The Realities of Occupational Licensing

September 15, 2015

Samuel Barr

Licensing acts as a form of protectionism for those who work in licensed professions by restricting access to jobs and stifling job creation.

View Full Publication

Fool Me Twice: Why the Texas Grid is Still Vulnerable to Winter Storms | Part 3: How Texas Can Solve Its Winter Reliability Problem

Part 3: How Texas Can Solve Its Winter Reliability Problem Five years after Winter Storm Uri, the ERCOT grid is still not ready for the next major winter storm. The first two installments of this series showed that demand has grown more than 20% since 2021 while firm generation capacity has barely budged, and the...

February 12, 2026

Criminal Justice

Texas sets the standard in the fight against human trafficking

Originally published in the Dallas Morning News. New legislation stiffens penalties and provides for victims. A recent police effort underscored a disturbing but resolvable truth: Human trafficking doesn’t just happen in faraway places — it happens in our own backyard, and, too often, it targets our children. Through a coordinated effort by the U.S. Marshals...

October 30, 2025

Economy

Affordable Austin? A Shakespearean tragedy in the making

The median home sales price climbed 40 percent during the last five years, from $215,000 to $301,500. Meanwhile, BBC Research and Consulting reckons that up to 40,000 low-income households lacked access to rental options within their price range.

May 9, 2016

Samuel Barr

Related content

Fool Me Twice: Why the Texas Grid is Still Vulnerable to Winter Storms | Part 3: How Texas Can Solve Its Winter Reliability Problem

Texas sets the standard in the fight against human trafficking

Affordable Austin? A Shakespearean tragedy in the making