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April 9, 2024
April 22: 30 Years of Environmental Progress: Is It Time at Last to Be Optimistic?
For years, American environmentalists held a largely pessimistic outlook on our planet’s future. But recently, the environmental movement has seen significant changes. Join Steven F. Hayward—a resident scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, who previously authored an AEI book on favorable environmental trends—for a presentation on how the trend data demonstrate the momentum of…
April 9, 2024
Complexity, Permissionless Innovation, and the English Dance
The dreary weather this week in Chicago has been dispiriting, making me feel listless and in need of a mood lift. Nothing does the trick like two of my favorite things: examples of emergence in complex systems, and Jane Austen, especially when I can think about ways to apply the analysis to reducing barriers to…
April 9, 2024
Judicial Rulemaking and Lucidity: Justice Barrett’s First Amendment Opinion in Lindke v. Freed
Fashioning constitutional rules isn’t easy; Justice Barrett and the Court deserve kudos for their efforts to establish a rule to determine if public officials’ activities constitute state action.
April 9, 2024
The TikTok Ban’s Free Speech Dilemma
TikTok is a perfect villain. The app seems to be connected with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It’s where Osama Bin Laden’s manifesto picked up traction and where antisemitic tropes run amok. TikTok’s impact on kids isn’t heartening, and its data security problems are serious. Still, I’ve got some trepidation about the TikTok bill that just passed the House by a vote…
April 9, 2024
The Myth of Net Neutrality and the Reality of Network Management
The concept of “net neutrality”— that internet service providers (ISPs) should treat all data on the internet equally — fails to acknowledge the realities of network management and the benefits of a free-market approach to internet services. Despite the claims made in the original net neutrality order, no significant instances of blocking, throttling, or paid…
April 8, 2024
April 22: Is Climate Change to Blame for Natural Disasters? The Science and Politics of Extreme Weather
When natural disasters happen, climate change is often blamed as a culprit. But attribution research actually shows that infrastructure, institutions, and technology are more important factors in how costly weather is to human communities. This panel will examine the tension between the rhetoric and reality of extreme-weather attribution and what this means for policymaking and…
April 8, 2024
Addictive Design: The Legislative and Litigation Synergy Driving Florida’s Social Media Crackdown
When Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill last month banning anyone “younger than 14 years of age” from holding accounts with certain social media platforms, it garnered coverage in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and USA Today. The New York Times deemed the law “one of the more restrictive measures that a state has enacted so far in an escalating nationwide…
April 8, 2024
The Twitter Electorate Isn’t the Real Electors
Over the past few years, I have watched my parents, family, and friends retreat from online spaces. They used to comment on political issues online; now they just lurk. So a couple of years back, while working at the Center for Growth and Opportunity at Utah State University (CGO), I made sure we asked a…
April 8, 2024
What Countries Have Decarbonized the Fastest?
Last month here at THB, I used the “Kaya Identity” to explain the concept of decarbonization, which refers to a reduction in the ratio of carbon dioxide emissions to GDP. I showed data at the global level, which indicates that the world as a whole not only remains far off the pace of decarbonization that would be…
April 8, 2024
Mass General Brigham Puts Antiracism Ahead of Their Patients’ Health
The new policy could compromise the well-being of black women and babies in the name of ‘equity.’ Last Tuesday, Mass General Brigham announced it will stop reporting to child welfare officials suspected incidents of abuse or neglect solely because a fetus or a newborn is exposed to drugs. The Boston health network’s new policy also requires written consent for testing of…