Some Links
GMU Econ alum Dominic Pino talks with Scott Lincicome about trade.
Gloria Romero makes the case for abolishing the U.S. Department of Education. A slice:
The education industrial complex is a quagmire. Nationally, student academic outcomes have plateaued or declined. Wide achievement disparities affecting racial and ethnic minorities should shock the American conscience. Parents, particularly of African-American and Latino students, want to close these gaps and have embraced school choice. The Trump administration has an opportunity to deliver for children who for generations have been trapped in failing schools by the Democratic Party.
In 1979 President Jimmy Carter, backed by the teachers unions, signed the Department of Education Organization Act. A single department, he reasoned, would reduce administrative costs and improve efficiency. It didn’t.
Reading scores for fourth- and eighth-graders across the country have been largely unchanged since 1990, when the National Assessment of Educational Progress began. According to the most recent NAEP data, in 2022 only 31% of America’s eighth graders were proficient in reading and 27% were proficient in math. That year, the average fourth-grade math score fell by five points to a level last seen in 2005; the average eighth-grade math score fell by eight points to the 2003 level. In California, statewide tests in 2024 found that 70% of African-Americans and 63% of Latinos in grades 3 through 11 can’t read at basic levels of proficiency.
Hard to believe, but Donald Trump on Friday night nominated a favorite of teachers union chief Randi Weingarten as his Labor Secretary. Why would Mr. Trump want to empower labor bosses who oppose his economic agenda and spent masses to defeat him?
Mr. Trump’s regrettable choice is Oregon Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer. Ms. Weingarten on Thursday tweeted her support for the freshman Republican. Teamsters President Sean O’Brien, who spoke at the Republican National Convention, has also been pulling for her. In a Truth Social post, Mr. Trump said she’ll work toward “historic cooperation between Business and Labor.” But Ms. Chavez-DeRemer has backed union giveaways like the Pro Act, which are not “cooperation.”
Hence the enthusiasm from the labor bosses.
John O. McGinnis counsels careful consideration before overturning New York Times v. Sullivan.
James Madison, the primary architect of the Bill of Rights, famously framed freedom of speech as “property” in one’s opinions, underscoring its vulnerability to state interference. But as with all property, it is subject to certain restrictions when wielded to harm the rights of others. The common law’s property concepts, deeply infused with natural rights theory, provide guidance on what interests may justifiably limit free speech without devolving into arbitrary suppression. These venerable doctrines, shaped over centuries, offer assurance that such protections serve a legitimate purpose rather than an agenda to stifle expression.
Once President Javier Milei took office, he repealed the Lipovetzky Law by decree, which quickly reversed its effects. Rental unit supply increased by over 170 percent, and real rental prices dropped by 40 percent from October 2023 levels. Note not only the magnitude of the improvement in this market, but also the immediate effect after the Lipovetzky Law is removed. This market improvement is largely attributed to the repeal of the Lipovetzky Law, allowing landlords and tenants to once again agree on lease terms and price adjustments freely, even in dollars if preferred.
However, there’s another factor at play. Lipovetzky’s Law introduced a new level of regulatory uncertainty. But this uncertainty did not vanish with the removal of the rent controls. Now, fearing future regulations, many landlords are eager to lock in leases or sell properties before rental controls come back, or, for instance, a tax on unoccupied residential properties. Ironically, part of the recent improvement in the rental market can be traced back to this regulatory uncertainty.
Juliette Sellgren talks with historian David Beito about Rose Wilder Lane.
GMU Econ alum Jon Murphy makes an interesting point about “science-guided policy.”
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