- The debt deal may actually weaken work requirements. That’s because the bill’s new exemptions (for homeless people, veterans, and young adults who grew up in foster care) remove more people from existing work mandates than the number of people the bill adds.
- In 2021, 42 million adults in the United States sought mental-health care of one form or another. But does therapy really work? The evidence is mixed. (NYT)
- The Biden administration funds a grant to a project that discovers the GOP, Fox News, the Heritage Foundations, etc. are the foundation of Nazi, white supremacist and other hate groups.
- “We find that a 1-year reduction in effective patent length reduces the number of new drugs brought to market from 46 to 39 per year (a 16% decline), decreasing in social welfare by $9.0 trillion between 2021 and 2050. Consumers incur 75.8% ($6.8 trillion) of the reduction in social welfare.”
Category: John C. Goodman
Tuesday Links – 30 May 2023
- Why is the left still telling lies about Michael Brown? (Yglesias)
- I agree with Greg Mankiw: Its lonely out there. “Socially liberal and fiscally conservative” is the least common combination in American politics. The typical swing voter is instead “socially conservative and fiscally liberal.” (NYT)
- CBO: federal spending will exceed federal revenues for as far as the eye can see.
- Is the ivory-billed woodpecker really extinct? The debate rages.
Monday Links
- Roughly half of states are waiving current food stamp work requirements. Of 800 counties nationwide where work is waived, only 20 have unemployment rates above the 10% threshold prescribed by the waiver process.
- Michael Tanner: work requirements can be cumbersome and costly to enforce; there is also limited evidence that they increase employment or save much money.
- Federal housing subsides are twice as large as cash welfare; and they come with no time limits and no work requirements.
- Mile long trains can keep EMTs away from patients who need help.
Is Florida Hostile to Black Americans?
If the NAACP wants to identify states where policy is hostile to blacks, it should turn its eyes to states and cities run by Democrats. At the end of 2022, the national black unemployment rate stood at 6.1%. In Florida, it was more than two points lower at 3.8%. Meanwhile, black unemployment was higher than the national average in California (7.5%), Illinois (10.9%), and New York (8.3%).