Niskanen Center

More generous UI benefits can keep jobseekers off other public assistance programs + encourage work.

One study found that a $1,000 increase in monthly UI benefits led to a 16% reduction in other benefit claims.

Unemployment insurance expansions could reduce disability benefit utilization - Niskanen Center When policymakers debate unemployment insurance (UI) reforms, the focus often centers on the balance between benefit generosity and the time recipients take to secure new employment.

While EPRA introduces a federal interregional transmission planning process, it stops short of mandating the construction of new transmission lines.

This approach allows for federal coordination while still respecting state authority.

Why the Energy Permitting Reform Act is a necessary step forward - Niskanen Center This bipartisan bill aims to simplify the permitting processes that have historically slowed down the development of energy infrastructure.

NEW Science of Politics episode w/ :

Polls missed the 2016 election outcome and did even worse in 2020 on the margin, underestimating Donald Trump again. Should we believe the polls this time?

Harris and Trump’s immigration agendas could have vast implications for our economy within the next year.

From a new Brookings-AEI-Niskanen report:

It’s unlikely that we’ll see a prolonged Speaker-election process in 2025.

Still, Congress should work out ahead of time how it would handle this scenario so that the House can continue its work uninterrupted.

How the House can still (at least temporarily) function without a Speaker The House Rules Committee held a Member Day on Sept. 19, where members proposed changes to the legislative process, including allowing bills to have two original sponsors, expediting the considerat…

The ability to stay in power is not the same as the ability to serve the needs of the populace.

The numbers show governments that follow the law are actually stronger - Niskanen Center Governments are strong where leaders follow the rules. Where leaders break the rules, governments are too weak to fix much of anything.

115 arrests nearly crippled one of the largest illegal drug markets in the Western Hemisphere. Compare this to the widespread increases in arrest rates during the crack epidemic.

Targeted policing works.

Precision policing: The Kensington Initiative's targeted approach to combating the opioid epidemic - Niskanen Center In the early hours of Valentine's Day 2019, law enforcement launched a coordinated operation to dismantle a multi-million dollar drug trafficking organization in a single sweep.

“In 40 out of 50 states, undocumented immigrants pay a higher percentage of their income in state and local taxes than the top 1% of households.”

Debunking the myth: Who pays for educating unaccompanied minors in public schools? - Niskanen Center Analyses that claim to estimate the cost of educating unaccompanied minors in the U.S. often misrepresent or overlook important details about K-12 educational funding.

ICYMI: "In a world where money does matter, pricing is a vital complement to innovation and a substitute for supply-side wrecking.".

Carbon pricing deserves to make a comeback The right idea for a world where budget math matters

Modernizing energy infrastructure shouldn't be a partisan issue—it’s about economic growth, job creation, and securing the future of U.S. energy.

ERPA is a crucial step forward.

Why the Energy Permitting Reform Act is a necessary step forward - Niskanen Center This bipartisan bill aims to simplify the permitting processes that have historically slowed down the development of energy infrastructure.

Two steps toward for housing affordability!

- Sen. Tim Scott’s ROAD to Housing bill cuts $5K-$10K from manufactured home costs by removing the steel chassis mandate
- HUD’s new rules raise the cap on manufactured homes from 3 to 4 units

Two big developments in manufactured housing reform: New rules, new bill - Niskanen Center Manufactured homes currently provide 8.4 million affordable, unsubsidized homes across the United States, with an additional 100,000 new units entering the housing market each year.

How did a Yale professor shape American modernism, work as a WWII intelligence agent, and establish American Studies? Tune in to The Vital Center with and for a deep dive into Norman Holmes Pearson’s legacy.

Exploring Norman Holmes Pearson's legacy, with Greg Barnhisel - Niskanen Center Norman Holmes Pearson, who in the middle years of the twentieth century was a professor of English and American Studies at Yale University, is now a largely forgotten figure — and someone who was never that well known during his lifetime.

A potential $1,000 baby bonus in New York would target families that needed it most.

Full overview here: https://buff.ly/3U4jTI0

New DOE National Transmission Planning Study finds:
- The U.S. must AT LEAST double the size of its grid to meet power demands by 2050.
- Grid expansion could save up to $1.80 for every dollar invested
- We have to expand interregional transfer capacity

DOE finalizes long-awaited National Transmission Planning study - Niskanen Center This month, the Department of Energy (DOE) released its National Transmission Planning (NTP) study), a much-anticipated follow-up to its 2023 National Transmission Needs study.

Even when we pass laws, we fail to implement them.

This has become really pronounced in the internet age. https://buff.ly/3NsA5it

The government’s use of AI is not the goal. The government’s ability to deliver on its promises is the goal, and that will likely involve using AI.

AI meets the cascade of rigidity - Niskanen Center In recent years, the US government at all levels has made significant but incomplete progress catching up to the expectations and ways of working of the Internet era. Nowhere near done with its first digital transformation, though, it has now been jolted rudely into the age of AI.

In a world of strained budgets, it’s actually easier to commit to a tax on pollution than a subsidy.

Carbon pricing deserves to make a comeback The right idea for a world where budget math matters

Fundamental principles of American democracy are coming under stress amid our intense polarization. But there's a lot of room for optimism.

Niskanen's Kodiak Hill-Davis was at Abundance 2024 conference this week to explain how pragmatic policy proposals to eliminate scarcity, promote opportunity, and improve government efficiency can unite coalitions from across the political spectrum.

What happens when gov tech embraces agile? 's FLOW project is a great case study! We got collaboration, trust, and iterative learning transformed supply chain management.

Rethinking funding models can lead to lasting change, writes .

Don’t Fight Paper With Paper How To Build a Great Digital Product With the Change in the Couch Cushions

"We cannot produce any more primary care doctors than we did in 1998."

53 years ago, when NEPA was written, it was 7 pages long. Today, it has “metastasized” to over 2000 pages.

If process and procedure can metastasize like this, then they are a cancer.

We have cancer When procedures proliferate unchecked, they impair our bureaucratic functions. We should treat this as seriously as we treat cancer.

"We know what the jurisdictions with more abundant housing look like: more elastic housing supply."

But politicians will use housing as a vehicle to talk about what they want to talk about. And that's going to get us off-track, warns . https://buff.ly/3XRVaYI

Housing policy isn't that complicated If you want more affordable homes, make it legal to build more. If you don't, then don't.

Today in Hypertext, Daniel Schlozman + Sam Rosenfeld cover:

- How to fix Republican extremism
- How to make Democrats more effective
- A few friendly critiques of Niskanen as they see it
- The merits of local civic life vs. top-down organizing

Moderation is not just an elite project National policy solutions must be planted in local partisan soils.