Stories

A Somber Anniversary: One Year of Bombing ISIS in Syria

Tomorrow, September 22, marks the one-year anniversary of the first U.S. airstrikes against ISIS targets in Syria. The strikes were launched against ISIS’ unofficial capital of Raqqa and involved both cruise missiles and precision-guided bombs. The targets included various types of military equipment, training areas, military transportation, and command-and-control facilities. The New York Times called […]

What Do Millennials Think About Foreign Policy?

Understanding the unique preferences of millennials has become something of an obsession for the media, social scientists, the government, parents, and even millennials themselves. On any given day, news stories feature headlines like “Millennials Are Annoyed When Your Grammar’s Not on Fleek” and “How to Win The Millennials With Paid Vacations.” Other recent articles have examined […]

2015 Economic Freedom of the World

America is the land of the free—but how free is it? The 2015 Economic Freedom of the World (EFW) Index  downgrades the United States to 16th of the 157 countries surveyed for five major indicators of freedom, such as size of government, freedom to trade internationally, and regulation. This ranking is a steep decline from 2000, […]

The NFL’s Welfare: Billions in Stadium Subsidies

Tonight the 2015 NFL season will kick off as the New England Patriots host their conference rival the Pittsburgh Steelers at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Win or lose, Patriots’ fans will have bragging rights beyond being the reigning Super Bowl champions: While Gillette Stadium accepted $72 million in public funding for construction, or 17 […]

Licensing Doesn’t Fit for Personal Trainers in DC

Following recent calls to curb the unnecessary regulation of occupations across America, the Council of the District of Columbia yesterday moved to block proposed licensing rules for personal trainers in Washington, DC. The now-stalled regulations were written by the Board of Physical Therapy, an obscure licensing agency housed under the DC Department of Health. The […]

Toward Second Chances: Reforming Criminal Justice in Indiana

In contrast to more common “tough-on-crime” rhetoric, Indiana’s constitution calls for incarceration to “attempt to reform persons and not punish them vindictively.” Recent criminal justice reforms have shown progress toward this goal—recidivism in Indiana is below the national average—but the state also estimates that over the next two years, its prison population will reach more […]

Parole in the Criminal Justice System: What’s Its Role?

Last week, Vikrant Reddy, senior research fellow at Stand Together Trust, sat down with WAMU’s Kojo Nnamdi Show in Virginia to discuss the necessity of criminal justice reform and why the issue is garnering national support. With the United States housing 25 percent of the world’s prison population, Reddy talked with guest host Jonathan Capeheart […]

The Role of American Power: Asking the Experts

On its fifth anniversary, 25 years ago, The National Interest asked contributors to answer the question “What should be the purpose of American power?” This year, for the magazine’s 30th anniversary, they are once again seeking to find the answer to that question, this time asking 25 foreign policy experts. The series of articles ran […]

How Cronyism Harms Entrepreneurs

What motivates entrepreneurs? That’s the question being answered in a new white paper from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. The study, conducted by economists G.P. Manish and Daniel Sutter of Troy University, examines the conflict between mastery-seeking, or the entrepreneur’s goal to produce a good product or service, and profit motive. Manish and Sutter’s […]

Indiana’s Criminal Justice System: What You Should Know

A criminal justice system should exist to bolster public safety in a cost-effective fashion, while according the highest respect to individual rights and human dignity. While Indiana’s criminal justice system lives up to that purpose more successfully than many other states, more reforms to the system would be a welcome improvement for its prisoners, their […]