The Heartland Institute

According to Keynesian economic theory, many recessions have little or nothing to do with underlying (structural) economic problems. Instead, recessions are the result of a crisis in confidence. People are scared and therefore not spending. And when they are not spending, others are not earning income and so the economy suffers ...

Minerals play an invaluable role in enhancing our quality of life, powering the economy and strengthening the national security of the United States. Yet, while America is home to a wealth of mineral resources, our ability to secure these critical materials in the face of rising global competition is threatened by an outdated ...

In this "Best of" Heartland podcast, Michigan is one of 18 states where the state government acts as liquor wholesaler. Liquor reforms are being mulled in Michigan, where a new report from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy concludes the state's liquor monopoly harms consumers without delivering health and safety benefits ...

California voters approved Proposition 39, which raises taxes on multistate businesses and directs half the revenues to go to so-called green energy projects. $1.1 Billion Tax Hike Proposition 39, which supporters dubbed the Clean Energy Job Creation Fund, targets multistate businesses by eliminating one of the formulas by which ...

In this Backgrounder & Report, W.D. Reasoner notes that a surprising number of naturalized citizens who have been charged and convicted of serious national security crimes — including terrorism, espionage, and theft of sensitive information and technology — in the last several years. It compares the relative ease with which aliens ...

Oklahoma Republican Gov. Mary Fallin announced the Sooner State will not create a state-based health insurance exchange under President Obama’s health care law, while reserving final determination of Medicaid eligibility for people referred from a likely federal exchange. Exercising an “opt-out” allowed in last summer’s U.S. Supreme ...

HAZLEWOOD, MISSOURI — In response to the December school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, more than two dozen Missouri Republicans are cosponsoring a bill that would allow teachers and administrators to carry guns into public schools if they have a concealed-weapon permit. “They are the people that we already entrust to educate ...

Georgia voters have approved an amendment to the state constitution that allows the General Assembly to authorize charter schools even if they have been denied by local school districts. Constitutional Amendment One won 58 percent to 41 percent in the November 6 election. Groups including the Georgia School Boards Association ...

As part of the deal to avoid tax increases and spending cuts required by the so-called fiscal cliff, Congress extended controversial wind power subsidies known as the Production Tax Credit. Taxpayers will have to hand over $12 billion to wind power companies in 2013 as a result. ‘Temporary’ Subsidies Continue Congress created ...

In this Backgrounder & Report, David North contends that it would be useful to review what we as a nation learned from our last experiment regarding the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA). Both a major foundation (Ford) and a minor federal agency (the no-longer existing Administrative Conference of the United ...

In this Backgrounder & Report, David North writes that would-be Wall Street bomber Quazi Mohammed Nafis had a student visa, as did Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad , and as did the 9/11 pilots Mohamed Atta and Marwan Al-Shehhi 11 years earlier. Perhaps it is time to look a little more closely at the sleepy agency that ...

In this "Best of" Heartland podcast, Texas students are clamoring for education options as the state legislature faces what seem like unending school funding struggles. Heartland President Joe Bast visited the Texas Senate in late August to discuss school choice legislation that would address both of these concerns: Taxpayer savings ...

This lengthy report for the World Economic Forum contends that green technology and energy is the only responsible way to meet the energy needs of consumers. Green growth is growing and investments in renewable energy are promising, but more progress is needed. The amount of present green growth is inadequate. The paper ...

The third time was not the charm for supporters of a higher cigarette tax in Missouri, as voters rejected for the third time in 11 years a ballot measure to raise the state’s cigarette tax. "While 21 percent of Missouri adults smoke, 51 percent of voters rejected another attempt to raise the state's cigarette tax at the ...

Report to the Ranking Member, Committee on the Budget, U.S. Senate. ...

Michel Nasibu, an advisor in the International Development Advisory Section of KPMG East Africa, wrote a compelling column for Forbes.com expressing concern about global warming devastating his continent. It is easy to sympathize with people who are sincerely and deeply troubled about our mutual future. Fortunately, however, Nasibu ...

The issues facing the 2013 legislature are many and complex. Selecting just eight and condensing them into one page each was a challenge. We hope this booklet will present a quick and useful overview for voters and legislators alike. The driving issue of 2013 will be the continued implementation of Acts 48 and171, bringing ...

Across the country today, Medicaid requires states to provide dental coverage for children. Yet Medicaid’s reimbursement rates have been, and continue to be, too low to adequately compensate traditional dental practices. This leads to significant health problems, where simple cavities become severe infections which can even prove ...

President Obama a few months ago blamed the nation’s economic weakness on spending cuts by state and local officials “who are not getting the kind of help that they have in the past from the federal government and who don't have the same kind of flexibility of the federal government in dealing with fewer revenues coming ...

Sixty-four percent of South Carolina fourth graders were not proficient in math and 72 percent were not proficient in reading in 2011, according to the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress, the most respected nationwide test. For minorities, the stats are abysmal: only 13 percent of African-American fourth graders ...