Welfare

Andrew Biggs provides a reminder that governments are the main source of concern for future retirees’ incomes. while household retirement savings are growing, government retirement plans—Social Security, government employee pensions and the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.—are underfunded by up to $26 trillion. The World Economic Forum estimates that…

“Hierarchy is not imposed, it is natural,” Duke professor Adrian Bejan told J. Peder Zane in a recent interview. “Equality, however, is artificial, because it violates the law of evolution in nature.” Bejan comes to this conclusion because “physics and economics are two sides of the same coin,” and…

“Economic growth, while necessary, is insufficient to address many of the challenges of our 21st-century economy,” Abby McCloskey writes in National Affairs. She offers some policy suggestions to improve connections in community, make work pay, and reform entitlements to improve government finances. I don’t endorse all of them, but…

In his influential book, Coming Apart, Charles Murray made a compelling case for the cultural differences between affluent (white) Americans and working class (white) Americans. Among the differences were marriage and divorce rates. Wealthier whites marry and divorce at the same rates as in the past. Poorer whites marry…

Although legislative gridlock is a top concern of the American public, Investor’s Business Daily argues that gridlock saves the American tax payer a lot of money. Among other things, rates of spending are checked, and other potentially costly programs are held at bay by the lack of consensus. However,…

United Health Foundation recently published America’s Health Rankings.  North Carolina is 33rd in the nation.  Here are the details: Strengths Low prevalence of excessive drinking High percentage of high school graduation High HPV immunization coverage among adolescent males Challenges High incidence of chlamydia High percentage of uninsured population High…

Paul Bedard of the Washington Examiner highlights a new report that will do nothing to calm those who are concerned about the impact of immigration on the United States. A majority of “non-citizens,” including those with legal green card rights, are tapping into welfare programs set up…

People who are unemployed start their job search with needed optimism, like new entrepreneurs. Their optimism is generally too high for their situation, particularly when they have been unemployed for a long time, but their lack of success finding a job does little to temper their optimism.  New research…