CDC Survey Finds Record Low Number of Adult Cigarette Smokers as Adult Vaping Increases
Jeffrey A. Singer (Source: Cato-at-liberty)
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 28, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Jeffrey A. Singer Source Type: blogs
Friday Feature: Nevada School of Inquiry
Colleen HroncichChristina and Eric Threeton have a lot of experience in education. They both taught in the Clark County School District in Nevada before moving to the charter school sector. When they moved into charter administration, they expected to really be able to shake things up and make an impact.“We were always trying to do new things in the classroom, always kind of innovative,” says Eric. “The higher we got, we realized the less you can actually do. Your hands are tied more. It got to the point where, in order to do what we know is best for children, we needed to do something differ ent. So we saved up so...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 28, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Colleen Hroncich Source Type: blogs
Western Muslims, LGBT Rights, and Free Speech
Mustafa AkyolOn March 29 of this year, the seat of the First Minister—the very leadership of the country—was taken by a member of an ethnic minority. Humza Yousaf (37), a Muslim politician born to Pakistani immigrants, took the oath of office, pledged his allegiance to the King, and vowed to work for “the best interests of our nation.” (Source: Cato-at-liberty)
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 28, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Mustafa Akyol Source Type: blogs
Comparing the Cost of IRA Energy Tax Credits to Expensing
Adam N. MichelThe House Republican debt ceiling package repeals many of theInflation Reduction Act (IRA)energy tax credits.Revised estimates of the tax credits confirm that their costs will be at least two times higher than originally thought.Putting aside the countless problems with each of the specific tax credits, it ’s worth comparing the size of the special interest IRA tax subsidies to other more beneficial tax changes Congress could have made. For example, the energy credits could end up costing almost twice as much as making full expensing permanent, the most pro‐growth investment incentive in the 20 17Tax C...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 27, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Adam N. Michel Source Type: blogs
Nutrition: Major Government Fail?
Chris EdwardsAmericans are getting used to failures by government experts. Government economists have a dismal forecasting record. Government actions and advice during the pandemic were often misguided. And dozens of former government intelligence experts got the Hunter Biden laptop storywrong.A less recognized but also important failure may be in nutrition. Federal experts appear to have issued faulty advice for decades, even as American obesityexploded from 15 percent in the 1970s to 42 percent today. Federal guidance on nutrition has a large influence on health practice across society. Some researchers argue that Am...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 26, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Chris Edwards Source Type: blogs
The GOP ’s Modest Debt Limit Proposal
Romina BocciaHouse Republicans expect to vote on a plan to raise the debt ceiling this week. TheLimit, Save, Grow Act put forth by Speaker McCarthy would raise the debt limit by $1.5 trillion or suspend it until March 31, 2024 —whichever comes first. This is a modest proposal that would begin to put a dent in the fiscal challenge. The plan allows fiscal conservatives to assert themselves by clawing back spending driven by the Biden administration ’s priorities and reining in the regulatory power of Washington bureaucrats. It would neither stabilize the debt nor address the main drivers of future spending...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 25, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Romina Boccia Source Type: blogs
Work Requirements in SNAP
Chris EdwardsFederal policymakers will soon run into a hard deadline to increase the government’s legal debt limit. President Biden wants a simple debt‐limit increase with no strings attached, but House Republicans have proposed spending reforms calledLimit, Save, Grow to include in a debt‐limit deal.One GOP reform would strengthen work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also called food stamps. The proposal would affect a small fraction of people on the program and reduce costs only slightly. But restricting hand‐outs to encourage work makes sense because the eco...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 24, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Chris Edwards Source Type: blogs
Trade in Real Life: How U.S. Sugar Farmers Snack on Americans ’ Treats
Gabriella Beaumont-SmithThe COVID-19 pandemic changed the world, shifting even peoples ’ eating habits.Numeroussurveys reveal that Americans are snacking more, providing new opportunities for food and beverage companies. In fact, according toAxios, American food manufacturers are pushing out all sorts of new flavor combinations, sizes, packaging, and shapes of snacks. In particular, fun ‐size snacks and “mashups” of flavors are trending, including, bite‐sized Twinkies and Ding Dongs, Cocoa Puffs popcorn, and Dr Pepper cotton candy. And these aren’t just aimed at kids, executives at numerous food companies...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 21, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Gabriella Beaumont-Smith Source Type: blogs
TikTok Panic Threatens Speech
Will DuffieldTikTok is a social media app that hosts short ‐form videos and serves them to users via algorithm. Because TikTok is owned by the Chinese tech firm ByteDance, its surging popularity with teenagers and young adults in America has prompted concerns that it could be used for illicit data gathering and influence operations. These concerns, and a broader crisis of confidence in American culture, have launched host of proposals to ban TikTok. A ban would frustrate the many millions of Americans who use TikTok to express themselves, and efforts to crush the app risk giving the government new power...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 21, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Will Duffield Source Type: blogs
Friday Feature: Gather Forest School
Colleen HroncichOn average, kids today reportedly spend fewer than10 minutes a day playing outside —and more than seven hours a day on screens. That ’s one of the reasons I love learning about forest schools, likeThe Garden School,Barefoot University, and today ’s feature,Gather in Decatur, Georgia.A former teacher, Ashley Causey ‐Golden was caring for her newborn son and trying to figure out her next move. She didn’t want to put him in daycare when he was so young, so she decided to try creating her own school. Ashley had interacted with Shelby Stone‐Steel on Instagram through As...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 21, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Colleen Hroncich Source Type: blogs
Continue Work on Stablecoin Legislation or Risk Forfeiting the Financial Future
Jack SoloweyThe United States has long led global finance. Its institutions shaped critical financial infrastructure and saw the dollar become the world ’s reserve currency—thanks torule of law, property rights, and an innovative market economy at home. As the economic landscape evolves,maintaining this position is a matter of adapting to new technologies that couldcomplement the U.S. dollar and enhance global financial plumbing. Yet, in a fit of myopia, U.S. regulators seem bent on stifling the very developments thatcould help extend America ’s historic strengths, looking askance at recent attempts to inte...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 20, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Jack Solowey Source Type: blogs
Lobbying Turns Green
David BoazI don ’t mean to keep writing the same article about lobbying and special interests over and over. But the federal government keeps creating more and more opportunities for special interests to hire lobbyists. This weekThe Economist writes,with up to $800bn in clean ‐energy handouts now up for grabs over the coming decade, …The energy industry as a whole spent nearly $300m last year on lobbying, the most since 2013 (see chart 1). Big oil and electric utilities, which had been reducing their spending on influence ‐seeking before 2020, haveramped it up again; spending is growing in line with that...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 19, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: David Boaz Source Type: blogs
Who Stopped the Rescue of Silicon Valley Bank?
Norbert MichelTransparency and accountability demand that Congress hold more hearings related to the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) failure, and at least one more is sure to come. Congress especially needs to get to the bottom of exactly which Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation board member – or members – decided the FDIC would prevent nonbank financial companies from purchasing the failed bank. TheWall Street Journal is reporting the FDIC “snubbed nonbanks interested in buying SVB [Silicon Valley Bank], resulting in increased costs to the insurance fund,” a revelation that doesn ’t seem to be getting the atte...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 19, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Norbert Michel Source Type: blogs
Expensing Is Key in Any Pro ‐Growth Tax Package
Adam N. MichelAs Congress searches for policies to meet our current economic challenges, maintaining full expensing —which has begun to phase out—should be top of the list. Full expensing protects business investment from the costs of inflation and supports economic growth by reducing barriers to new investments.Expensing (also called 100 percent bonus depreciation) allows businesses to deduct the full cost of new investments in the year they are made. Without expensing, investment costs must be deducted over time. For example, if a farmer buys a new combine and can only use one-fifth of what he paid to offset revenues...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 19, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Adam N. Michel Source Type: blogs
Steve Ballmer ’s New Public Sector 10‑K Report Illustrates Weaknesses in Government Financial Disclosure
Marc JoffeEach April, USAFacts, a not ‐for‐profit information provider founded by former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, issuesa report on the condition of US federal, state, and local governments. Ballmer ’s release takes the form of a 10 ‑K Report, like those publicly listed corporations produce annually. This year’s public sector 10‑K, which relies on data from 2020 and excludes sizable government liabilities, raises questions about the federal data USAFacts relies upon.The USAFacts balance sheet shows that the public sector had $24.9 trillion in assets and $44.6 trillion in liabilities as ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 19, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Marc Joffe Source Type: blogs
