The Gig Economy Benefits Freelance Workers—Until Regulation Steps In
Article
AEIdeas

The Gig Economy Benefits Freelance Workers—Until Regulation Steps In

In recent years, the gig economy has become a lightning rod for political debate. Lawmakers and activists warn that Uber drivers, online freelancers, and other contract workers are trapped in…

Whose Experts?
Article
The Honest Broker

Whose Experts?

In an op-ed yesterday in the Wall Street Journal, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announced that he was sacking all of its members…

Pew Survey Shows Growing Skepticism Toward Federal Censorship of Online Speech
Article
AEIdeas

Pew Survey Shows Growing Skepticism Toward Federal Censorship of Online Speech

A recent Pew Research Center survey suggests slightly more public support––albeit still far from optimal––for a robust online marketplace of ideas in which the federal government and technology companies refrain…

A Note on Roger Pielke Jr. and Extreme Greenhouse Gas Scenarios
Article
AEIdeas

A Note on Roger Pielke Jr. and Extreme Greenhouse Gas Scenarios

My AEI colleague Roger Pielke Jr. posted some useful observations recently on the politicized use of extreme greenhouse gas (GHG) scenarios for purposes of the usual climate scaremongering and support of policies…

Let the Market Work
Article
AEIdeas

Let the Market Work

The Trump administration is trying to fix a market that isn’t broken—and in doing so, it risks breaking the parts that are working just fine. That’s the irony at the…

Are Software Jobs Collapsing?
Article
AEIdeas

Are Software Jobs Collapsing?

The image below, which appeared in the Financial Times, has been gaining traction on the Internet because it seems to show what people in the software industry fear most: The…

Reclaimed Words and a Meta Oversight Board Decision Reveal Problems with Policing Online Hate Speech
Article
AEIdeas

Reclaimed Words and a Meta Oversight Board Decision Reveal Problems with Policing Online Hate Speech

To appreciate the complexities of policing online hate speech that underlie an April summary decision by Meta’s Oversight Board, let’s start with a musical detour through a 2017 US Supreme…

Expect an AI Shock to Change the Job Market, Not Destroy It
Article
AEIdeas

Expect an AI Shock to Change the Job Market, Not Destroy It

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, “The Real Story of the ‘China Shock‘,” economists James J. Heckman (a Nobel laureate at the University of Chicago) and Hanming Fang (University of…

What is a “Worst Case” Climate Scenario?
Article
The Honest Broker

What is a “Worst Case” Climate Scenario?

The implausibly extreme and hugely popular climate scenario RCP8.5 made it into President Trump’s executive order last week on “Restoring Gold Standard Science.” Ironically, the Trump administration’s characterization of RCP8.5…

The Intelligence of Things Is Here—Reflections from Google I/O 2025
Article
AEIdeas

The Intelligence of Things Is Here—Reflections from Google I/O 2025

Recently, I had the privilege of attending Google’s I/O developer conference with colleagues Will Rinehart and Shane Tews. The event featured (literally) 100 AI announcements and live demonstrations, including Waymo…

What Economists Are Learning About AI, Jobs, and Local Economies
Article
AEIdeas

What Economists Are Learning About AI, Jobs, and Local Economies

Conventional wisdom about artificial intelligence runs in two directions—utopian and dystopian. On one hand, we’re told that AI will usher in explosive productivity, endless efficiency, and new industries we can’t…

The Politicization of Intelligence, Part 2
Article
The Honest Broker

The Politicization of Intelligence, Part 2

In Part 1 of this two-part series I discussed the National Intelligence Council (NIC) and its role iin synthesizing and summarizing intelligence from across the U.S. government’s intelligence gathering agencies. Today, in…

A Bitter Pill to Swallow: American Drug Shortages
Article
RealClearHealth

A Bitter Pill to Swallow: American Drug Shortages

While drug pricing has been a consistent focus for policymakers concerned about access to medicine, another significant barrier to care has grown: drug shortages. Drug shortages have become more prevalent,…

Atlantic Hurricanes Preseason 2025
Article
The Honest Broker

Atlantic Hurricanes Preseason 2025

There has been no tropical cyclone of hurricane strength anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere so far in 2025. If we get to June 5th — which looks quite possible if…

A Tale of Two Satellite Broadband Policies: The US and South Africa
Article
AEIdeas

A Tale of Two Satellite Broadband Policies: The US and South Africa

On Tuesday, technology writer Patience Haggin claimed that in the US, “rural internet is still so bad, some states are turning to outer space.” The article referred to the growing…