Entries by Foundation for Economic Education (FEE)

Target and Walgreens Are Making Drastic Changes Amid Skyrocketing Shoplifting in San Francisco

San Francisco ranks as the fifth-worst city in the US when it comes to retail theft. Now, the problem is getting so bad that businesses like Target and Walgreens are being forced to make drastic changes in response. “For more than a month, we’ve been experiencing a significant and alarming rise in theft and security incidents at […]

Ivy League Study Shows How U.S. Media Created a Climate of Fear Over COVID-19

A new NBER paper titled “Why Is All COVID-19 News Bad News?” shows how US media fanned the flames of public panic. n February 18, the Oxford Mail published an article headlined “Scientists working on a coronavirus vaccine in Oxford.” The article explained that Sarah Gilbert, a British vaccinologist and professor at the University of Oxford, was leading a […]

Here Are the 10 Best [And Worst] Cities Ranked By Post-Pandemic Economic Recovery

When the COVID-19 outbreak began and governments started imposing economic lockdowns, most parts of the country experienced huge upticks in unemployment. But how have different cities fared in the year since? A new report from WalletHub offers some insight. The financial analytics firm looked at cities’ most recent unemployment rates, from May 2021, and compared them to […]

Who Was the Biggest Mass Murderer in History?

At least 45 million were starved, shot, tortured, and worked to death. Who was the biggest mass murderer in the history of the world? Most people probably assume that the answer is Adolf Hitler, architect of the Holocaust. Others might guess Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, who may indeed have managed to kill even more innocent […]

Federal Government Imposes Up to $14,000 in ‘Hidden Taxes’ on Households Every Year, New Report Reveals

Most Americans pay close attention to how much of their money is taken in taxes each year. But there’s another, less obvious way the federal government imposes financial costs on citizens—and according to a new report, it amounts to trillions annually. The fiscally-conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) just released its annual “Ten Thousand Commandments” report, which […]

States Ending Ultra-Generous Welfare Are Doing Better in One Big Way, New Data Show

We’ve got a new contender in the competition for the least-surprising news development of all time. As it turns out, if you pay people more to stay on unemployment welfare than they can earn working, and then scale back the benefits, more people will go back to work. Shocking! Some have denied and pushed back […]

44 Things You Should Know about the Green New Deal

What should we make of this Green New Deal? On Feb. 7, US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and US Sen. Ed Markey introduced legislation known as the Green New Deal. You’ve probably heard of it. It’s a big deal, to paraphrase Joe Biden. The History of New Deals Wikipedia, the internet’s fountain of knowledge, describes the legislation as […]

The Supreme Court Just Struck a Blow for Student Athletes Against the NCAA. Here’s One Reason to Cheer

More free-market principles could soon take root in college sports. Two-thirds of Americans now say they believe student athletes should be able to profit off their names and likeness. And 51 percent of those go even further, stating that they should be paid for their labor above the cost of free tuition and board. But schools have […]

New Data Offer Even More Proof Price Inflation is on the Rise

Proponents of big government spending have desperately argued that mounting price inflation is just temporary. But multiple alarming inflation metrics came out for April and May, and examples of rising prices are clear to see from big-box retail stores to the real estate market. Now, yet another metric has come in making the ongoing inflation even more difficult to deny. […]

Disturbing Poll Results Show Young Republicans’ Support for Capitalism on the Decline

A new poll from Axios/SurveyMonkey is out on how Americans view free-market capitalism and socialism. The initial takeaway, as we’ve seen with many other polls in recent years, is that overall support for socialism is on the rise while the appeal of capitalism is ebbing away. Overall, 57 percent of Americans view capitalism favorably while 36 percent […]

Biden Administration’s New ‘Woke’ Corporate Disclosure Rules Will Cost Companies Billions, Experts Warn

Under the Biden administration’s leadership, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed new “woke” corporate disclosure rules. A new form of social-justice-based financial regulation, the federal agency’s rules would mandate that companies track, report, and disclose a wide array of data on issues such as climate change emissions and diversity. This might poll well […]

The Supreme Court Just Struck a Big Blow for Private Property—Against Union Invasion

Do union activists have the right to invade a business owner’s private property? The Supreme Court just rejected a California regulation and answered the question with a resounding “no.” Here’s the backstory. Mike Fahner owns a successful strawberry farm in California, Cedar Point Nursery, which provides roughly 500 jobs and pays above-market wages. But in 2015, […]

Restaurants Are Now Adding ‘Equity’ Charges to Customers’ Checks to Fight Oppression

“Where should we eat tomorrow?” my wife asked me excitedly as we sat on our deck Friday evening. She had locked down a babysitter for Saturday night, and we were both eager for our first dinner date alone together in months. “Broders’,” I answered without hesitation. Located in southwest Minneapolis, Broders Pasta Bar is a […]

Progressive Lawmakers Are Working on a Backdoor Plan to Quietly Take Us One Step Closer to Socialist Healthcare

Bipartisan talks over compromise spending legislation are ongoing in Congress, but the prospects of the two parties reaching a compromise aren’t exactly bright. So, progressive lawmakers in Washington, DC are already planning a $6 trillion spending bonanza that they will try to push through on a party-line vote if or when bipartisan talks hit a […]

We Just Got Even More Proof that Stay-At-Home Orders Lethally Backfired

A new study finds that lockdown orders didn’t reduce overall mortality, and may have even increased it. WATCH: SENATE TESTIMONY: Child Suicide & Lethal Lockdown Consequences  Life under lockdown was hard for all of us. From economic destruction to social isolation, the costs of restrictive government policies intended to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 have […]

3 Reasons Homeschoolers Often Become Entrepreneurs

I learned the word “entrepreneurship” when I was 12. I had just started my first business, and my mother informed me I was now an “entrepreneur.” I didn’t know what the word meant, but I liked the way it sounded. Even better, I liked having a business. I was selling hand-knitted dolls, made from patterns […]

New Harvard Data [Accidentally] Reveal How Lockdowns Crushed the Working Class While Leaving Elites Unscathed

Founding father and the second president of the United States John Adams once said that “Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” What he meant was that objective, raw numbers don’t lie—and this remains true […]

Congressman’s Impassioned Testimony Reveals the True Victims of Gun Control

Data show that every year, at least 200,000 women employ a firearm to defend themselves against sexual abuse. Gun control advocates often claim the moral high ground. They accuse opponents of selfishly clinging to their guns and having cold hearts toward the victims of gun violence. That is exactly what happened on May 20 at a […]

MIT Data Scientist: Lockdowns Not Correlated With Fewer Deaths (But Are Correlated With More Unemployment)

Coming to grips with the failure of lockdowns is important for several reasons. Dozens of studies show that lockdowns were an ineffective pandemic response. The list just got longer. In May, Youyang Gu, an MIT-trained engineer and data scientist, released data showing that government restrictions were not correlated with lower COVID mortality in America. Government restrictions were […]

15 States Are Moving to Curb Public Health Agency Powers Following Lockdown Carnage

Mike Fratantuono grew up in a restaurant. Literally. For decades, Sunset Restaurant in Glen Burnie, Maryland, was the family business. Over the years, he’d done seemingly every job imaginable: busboy, bartender, and butcher; prep cook and plumber; handyman and manager. Fratantuono says that’s what made it so hard to watch the family’s legacy become a […]