Publications

Private label products have been important for consumers and the economy since the 19th century because retailers can sell them at lower prices with greater efficiency than brand-name alternatives. Legislation that prevents retailers from putting their own products front and center—either online or on store shelves—would jeopardize those benefits.

The United States, Germany, and China are the three countries that used the Madrid System the most last year, which allows firms to receive trademark protection in 128 countries with only one application and set of fees, thereby making it easier to receive international protection for intellectual property.

Economics is about more than the economy. It also intersects public and private institutions, culture, religion, morality, and politics. Rob and Jackie explored these subjects with Benjamin Friedman, a professor of Political Economy at Harvard and author of The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth and Religion and the Rise of Capitalism.

The tax law allowing firms to fully expense their research and development (R&D) costs expired at the end of 2021, and full expensing of equipment costs will begin phasing out in 2023. This decreases firms’ incentive to invest in these key drivers of economic growth and competitiveness. Congress should restore and make permanent full expensing for these investments.

Data has become invaluable in today’s economy. The extent to which individuals and communities can collect and put it to productive use helps determine everything from health outcomes to public safety and economic growth.

A coalition of 70 individuals and organizations, including the Center for Data Innovation, sent an open letter to the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak opposing the Online Safety Bill’s clauses that erode end-to-end encryption in private messaging and other online services.

Section 337 of the 1930 Tariff Act allows the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) to bar imports when domestic industries suffer harm due to unfair competition. Congress should expand the law to better address the unfair trade practices China uses to capture market share in advanced industries at America’s expense.

A recent paper published by the Center for Economic Studies finds that just under 35 percent of inventors (those granted patents) in the U.S. in 2016 were born abroad.

It will likely be months (at least) before a full accounting shows whether the ultimate causes of FTX’s downfall were simply abysmal corporate governance or outright fraud. But regardless of the cause, the result shows why policymakers should get serious about regulating crypto exchanges.

The United States must get the CHIPS Incentives program right, because if it fails to do so, the United States is seriously at risk of losing long-term competitiveness in the semiconductor industry.