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1. Understanding the History, Context & Interpretation of America's Constitution

2. The History of Immigration in America

3. The 10 Most Trustworthy & Authoritative News Sources

4. 10 Illegal Immigration Myths Debunked

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6. 10 Issues and Trends that Will Define America's Public Policy Debate in the 2020s

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The Minimum Wage, Public Opinion, & the Lost Art of Political Compromise

3 hours ago
2 min

The Minimum Wage, Public Opinion, & the Lost Art of Political Compromise

Even though we now know that it can't be included in President Joe Biden's Covid relief package, a minimum wage increase should be fairly simple. It hasn't been raised since 2009 and its buying power has been undermined by a dozen years of inflation. Congress should have included an inflation adjustment in the legislation back then, but there wasn't adequate support and so we are left with the same debate; a living wage vs. job losses. Democrats support an increase to $15 per

New Research Finds that Minimum Wage Hikes Don't Negatively Impact the Job Market

Feb 2
2 min

New Research Finds that Minimum Wage Hikes Don't Negatively Impact the Job Market

Conservative opposition to a minimum wage increase is based, they say, on its negative impact on the job market. They argue that companies will hire fewer workers if they have to pay them more. While there is some logic to that argument, economists understand that there is a countervailing effect which tends to increase employment. When workers are paid more they purchase more, creating greater demand for goods and services in the economy. Greater demand increases pressure on

New Study: 50 Years of "Trickle Down" Tax Cuts Didn't Help Workers & Made Inequality Worse

Dec 17, 2020
3 min

New Study: 50 Years of "Trickle Down" Tax Cuts Didn't Help Workers & Made Inequality Worse

"Trickle Down Economics" is the basis of modern conservative economic theory. Since the presidency of Ronald Reagan, adherents have argued that if you give tax breaks to businesses and the rich, the benefits will eventually trickle down to everyone else. It's been the underlying rationale for decades of tax cuts that have enriched America's wealthiest individuals. The problem is that it doesn't work; it's as effective as the latest diet regimen you saw on television. Trickle-

Marco Rubio & the Republican Politics of Nostalgia. Trumpism Without Trump

Nov 25, 2020
2 min

Marco Rubio & the Republican Politics of Nostalgia. Trumpism Without Trump

FL Sen. Marco Rubio attacked President-elect Joe Biden's newly named foreign policy team yesterday as he started to position himself as the GOP's "Trumpism without Trump" 2024 nominee. Over the next two years, Rubio and other potential Republican candidates will try to devise a strategy to capture Trump's white working class base but without the bigotry and insane late-night tweets. Yesterday Rubio tweeted: “Biden’s cabinet picks went to Ivy League schools, have strong resume

The History of Immigration in America

Nov 11, 2020
7 min

The History of Immigration in America

There has always been something about the “otherness” of immigrants [their skin color, religion, language, culture or beliefs] that has sparked a backlash by some Americans. In 1751, Benjamin Franklin complained about the Germans in Pennsylvania and their reluctance to learn English. Even, the most famous immigrant of the 20th century, Albert Einstein, faced opposition when he sought entry with the anti-immigrant Woman Patriot Corporation arguing that he was “affiliated with

New Study Finds that Wage Growth for the Middle Class has Slowed Under Trump & How to Fix It

Mar 3, 2020
2 min

New Study Finds that Wage Growth for the Middle Class has Slowed Under Trump & How to Fix It

A new study conducted by the Economic Policy Institute [EPI], a think tank based in Washington, found that wage growth for the middle class has slowed during the Trump administration compared to the last three years of the Obama presidency. Newsweek: "Middle-class incomes grew at a rate of 2.7 percent from 2016 through 2018, compared to a 5.8 percent growth rate from 2014 through 2016 when accounting for inflation." The study belies the President's claims about American worke

Study Shows that Trump Tax Cuts Didn't Pay for Themselves & the Trickle-Down Economics Myth

Feb 24, 2020
2 min

Study Shows that Trump Tax Cuts Didn't Pay for Themselves & the Trickle-Down Economics Myth

In 2017, Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and President Donald Trump claimed that their tax cut legislation would pay for itself through increased economic activity. It was a lie and pretty much every economist not named Laffer said so at the time. Economists predicted that the cuts wouldn't pay for themselves, and would needlessly balloon the federal budget deficit. A new study released this month shows that the economists were correct; Trump's tax cut strategy was a pip

New Research Shows that Tolerant, Secular, Cosmopolitan Cultures are More Successful Economically

Feb 17, 2020
2 min

New Research Shows that Tolerant, Secular, Cosmopolitan Cultures are More Successful Economically

There has been a "chicken and egg debate" in the political science community for years about whether tolerance enhances a nation's economic success, or economic growth leads to more openness. Which comes first and influences the other? According to new research conducted at the University of Bristol [UK] and the University of Tennessee, "cosmopolitanism," tolerance and secularism are the building blocks of economic prosperity, but, on the other hand, economic prosperity doesn

Global GDP Per Person Is 4.4 Times Higher Than 1950, But Inequality Has Also Grown Substantially

Feb 15, 2020
2 min

Global GDP Per Person Is 4.4 Times Higher Than 1950, But Inequality Has Also Grown Substantially

Max Roser is an economist at the University of Oxford and the founder of Our World in Data. Roser recently compiled this chart which shows the per capita growth rate of each nation since 1950. You can see a larger version here which can be enlarged by clicking on the chart. Global GDP per person is 4.4-times higher today than in 1950, but growth has been far from uniform. Some countries like Singapore and Taiwan have experienced per capita growth rates of 20 or 30 times, whil

Trump's Cruel Budget, Labor Dept Says Job Growth Better Under Obama, & NH Set to Shake Up Race

Feb 11, 2020
2 min

Trump's Cruel Budget, Labor Dept Says Job Growth Better Under Obama, & NH Set to Shake Up Race

Trump's Budget: Every president's budget is just a list of aspirations with little chance of being adopted, but they do show the administration's priorities. Trump's budget prioritizes the "wall," weapons spending and more tax cuts, and reduces agricultural assistance funding, food stamps, student aid programs, Medicaid, Social Security Disability, and guts the Environmental Protection Agency. New York Times: "The president’s plan includes about $2 trillion in cuts to safety

New Federal Reserve Study Details How Trump's Trade War has Harmed US Manufacturers & Consumers

Dec 30, 2019
2 min

New Federal Reserve Study Details How Trump's Trade War has Harmed US Manufacturers & Consumers

Donald Trump initiated a trade war with China soon after taking office. His stated reason was to assist America's manufacturers that had been harmed by China's trade policies and low production costs. His idea was that if you make products manufactured in China more expensive to American consumers, they would buy similar items made in the United States. That might have worked 50 years ago, but the Trump Administration didn't take into consideration the dynamics of the 21st ce

Income Inequality Continues to Rise in America

Sep 30, 2019
3 min

Income Inequality Continues to Rise in America

The rich continue to amass fortunes at a record pace while the majority of Americans see income gains which barely exceed inflation. A new Census Bureau report shows that income inequality is now at its highest level since they started tracking it in 1967. Income inequality is measured by the Gini index [or Gini coefficient] which shows how wealth is distributed in a nation. The coefficient ranges from 0 (or 0%) to 1 (or 100%), with 0 representing perfect equality and 1 repre

A Fascinating Look at the Economic History of the World by Per Capita GDP from 1800-2016

May 2, 2019
1 min

A Fascinating Look at the Economic History of the World by Per Capita GDP from 1800-2016

This video shows the wealthiest nations measured by per capita gross domestic product [GDP] from 1800 to today. Gross domestic product is the total value of goods produced and services provided annually. Per capita GDP divides that total by the nation's population. America and China have the largest economies today, but when you measure a nation's wealth by per capita GDP there are some surprises. For instance, who knew that Australia and Luxembourg would have fared so well,

Comprehensive Study of Minimum Wage Increases in Six Cities Finds No Negative Impact on Employment

Oct 4, 2018
2 min

Comprehensive Study of Minimum Wage Increases in Six Cities Finds No Negative Impact on Employment

Conservatives and progressives have been arguing about the impact of minimum wage increases since, at least, I was an undergraduate student in economics in the late 70s. There is quite a bit of research being done on the question today because progressive politicians like Sen. Bernie Sanders support a large jump to $15.00 nationally, and a number of cities have already raised their minimum wage. Conservatives argue that while increases help some workers, they lead to job loss

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