Opinion

BY BRENT ORRELL Masks work to prevent the spread of COVID-19, something we’ve known since early last year back when masking got caught up in the culture war despite the best attempts of many. Almost any mask will help — but

BY SAMUEL J. ABRAMS Despite nationwide protests, acts of sedition, utter chaos in governance, constant divisive rhetoric, a global pandemic, and many troubling policy pronouncements, the Trump administration did not destroy the American dream for the overwhelming majority of Americans.

BY E.J. McMAHON Governor Cuomo’s Division of the Budget (DOB) and the Legislature’s fiscal committees have agreed to boost New York State’s revenue projection for fiscal years 2021 and 2022 by $2.45 billion—the latest in a series of upward adjustments that have

BY BILL HAMMOND A closer look at newly released data about coronavirus in New York nursing homes raises questions about what factors contributed to high infection and mortality rates—and what reforms should be adopted in response. A package of bills

BY CLAUDE BARFIELD Almost a month after the most recent — and most devastating — Russian cyberattack, we know a bit more about what we know, but still alarmingly little about what we do not know. Having observed and analyzed both

BY DEREK SCISSORS Earlier this week, India’s Supreme Court indefinitely stayed new, important farm laws, creating a court-appointed committee to . . . do something, maybe. This has been hailed as prudent and needed to protect farmers and attacked as a

BY ALAN D. VIARD In previous posts (here and here), I discussed the Trump administration’s decision last August to allow employers to defer the Social Security payroll taxes that they would otherwise have withheld from their employees’ paychecks during the last four months of

BY JAMES PETHOKOUKIS Economic optimists (like me) who are hoping for a second Roaring Twenties have to concede version 2.0 isn’t starting off so good. Not only is the COVID-19 pandemic getting worse — as measured by cases, hospitalizations, and deaths —

BY KYLE POMERLEAU Last week, Democratic challengers Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff won their Senate races in Georgia. Joe Biden will enter the White House on January 20 with a large Democratic majority in the House and a 50-member Democratic

BY BRONWYN HOWELL The debate over whether social media platforms should be held accountable for ensuring the content they carry is “truthful” (whatever that means — perhaps “not fake news” is a better description) continues to rage. Since checking the

BY NICHOLAS EBERSTADT Despite the information revolution, the Big Data explosion, and the advent of all-but-universal connectivity, American social policy is dogged by a huge knowledge gap. For years — sometimes decades — on end, acute social and economic troubles

BY DANIEL A. COX The ritual of going to a place where one is a “regular” is a cherished one. Sarah Firshein of Eater said, “When you’re a regular, you become a creature of habit and ritual, joyously unburdened by the agonies

BY JAMES PETHOKOUKIS America’s “K-shaped” recovery is a convenient phenomenon for analysts who focus a lot on income inequality, not to mention those convinced America already suffers from severe “late stage capitalism.” To them, it’s just another example of how

BY IAN KINGSBURY The disruptions to K-12 education caused by the COVID-19 pandemic spurred Governor Cuomo to announce an initiative to “reimagine education.” This challenge should have policymakers asking what inadequacies have been exposed in our public education system, and

BY DANIEL LYONS Recent tech policy debates have been animated by the surprising push by both Democrats and Republicans to reform Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the cornerstone of internet law. But that bipartisan call masks a significant

BY ELISABETH BRAW A group of British MPs wants to restrict the opportunities for former politicians and senior officials to work for foreign companies. The idea sounds terribly protectionist, but it is necessary if liberal democracies including the UK are

BY SITA NATARAJ SLAVOV In April of this year, polls indicated widespread support for lockdowns to stop the spread of COVID-19. Stories emerged of people shaming and reporting their neighbors for even minor social distancing violations. Formal enforcement of the

BY STAN VEUGER AND JEFFREY CLEMENS Friday’s data on the October employment situation provides a sobering reminder of the ongoing need for sound economic policy in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Labor market indicators remain depressed. Notably, employment by state