Idea Transcript
Reforming Federal Farm Policies
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America Faces a Debt Abyss but the Politicians Just Sit on Their Hands The federal government spends more than $20 billion a year on subsidies for farm businesses. The current farm law — enacted in 2014 — added new crop programs that have turned out to be more costly than promised. The law expires this year, and subsidy proponents are eager for Congress to pass another expensive bill. But farm subsidies impose a burden on federal taxpayers, and they harm the economy. A new bulletin from Cato scholar Chris Edwards argues that Congress should rethink its costly farm policies, and take steps to cut (and eventually end) farm subsidies. “Reforming Federal Farm Policies,” by Chris Edwards
Candy-Coated Cartel: Time to Kill the U.S. Sugar Program For decades, the federal government has been operating a program to control the production and importation of sugar. One of the program’s main purposes is to ensure minimum price levels for sugar that are typically significantly higher than those found on international markets, leading to higher costs for U.S. consumers. As a result, the federal government is, in essence, the leader of a nationwide sugar cartel. In a new paper, Cato scholar Colin Grabow explains the origins of the sugar program, and evaluates opportunities for its potential reform or abolition. “Candy-Coated Cartel: Time to Kill the U.S. Sugar Program,” by Colin Grabow
Checkpoint America: Monitoring The Constitution-Free Zone For over 60 years, the executive branch has, through regulatory fiat, imposed a “border zone” that extends as much as 100 miles into the United States. Within this area are a series of Soviet-style internal checkpoints run by the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protecton (CBP) service. Checkpoint America: Monitoring The Constitution-Free Zone is a new Cato project designed to map these internal checkpoints and provide the public with information on their operations, as well as the chance to help improve our information on and understanding of activities at these checkpoints. Checkpoint America: Monitoring The Constitution-Free Zone
Trump’s Tariff Fight: Why American Households Will Be the Losers In January, President Trump announced that he is imposing customs tariffs of up to 50% on imported residential washing machines and 30% on solar panels and modules. In March, he announced 25% tariffs on imported steel and 10% tariffs on imported aluminum. In the new issue of Regulation magazine, Pierre Lemieux explains how, by imposing “safeguard” tariffs, President Trump has delivered corporate welfare at the expense of Americans. Also in this issue, Jonathan M. Barnett discusses the Supreme Court and intellectual property rights, and Charles Calomiris addresses financial regulatory reform. Spring 2018 issue of Regulation
Ryan Bourne in UK Telegraph US politicians need to take action soon. Any adjustment will only become more difficult, the bigger the existing debt interest payments.
Striking Assad Might Boost Trump’s Prestige. It Won’t Serve American Interests. John Glaser in Washington Post Trump is once again tilting toward a resort to unwarranted force, for all the wrong reasons.
Donald Trump’s War with Amazon Will Deepen the Swamp Ryan Bourne in City A.M. What happens when a US President uses his bully pulpit to threaten individual companies?
Here’s How Trump Should Address the High Cost of Prescription Drugs Jeffrey A. Singer in The Federalist Here’s a solution: stop focusing on trying to control prescription drug prices, and start paying attention to who’s paying them.
Is the Trump Administration Sabotaging the Planned Summit with Kim Jong Un? Doug Bandow in National Interest (Online) The president’s positions and actions suggest that he and his new appointees view war not as a tragic necessity, but an unexceptional, even routine policy option.
Trump’s New Opioid Strategy Isn’t New at All — and It Has Failed Jeffrey A. Singer in Orange County Register Trump’s proposals are a product of the echo chamber in policy circles that won’t rid itself of the false notion that the opioid overdose crisis is primarily a result of doctors prescribing opioids to their patients, condemning them to a life of addiction.
Why Americans Love Amazon, and Why Trump Is Wrong to Attack It Michael D. Tanner in National Review (Online) The issue is Trump’s Bernie Sanders-style misunderstanding of economics and his nostalgia for an imagined 1950s America.
Sending Troops to the Border Is Unnecessary and Dangerous Alex Nowrasteh The proposed deployment of American troops to the border without a clear mission at a time of low and falling illegal immigrant entries is an unnecessary waste of time and resources that could put Americans in harm’s way for no gain.
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