RealClearPolicy Articles

Gas prices are extraordinarily high—and rising. The price at the pump per gallon is now nearly $4.50 according to the American Automobile Association. These skyrocketing prices have a lot to do with geopolitical issues, as well as out-of-control climate litigation and more mundane causes like seasonal fluctuation.  Some imply that credit card interchange fees—which are paid by merchants to support payment networks—are a major part of the price of gas. For example, Merchants Payments Coalition Executive Committee member and National Association...

Imagine you founded a company with a stop-smoking product that actually works — no nicotine, better than anything on the market. You are the largest investor. You take no salary. You build it into something real, serving 756,000 customers. You are doing exactly what America is supposed to reward. Then one night, without warning, without a trial, without any finding of wrongdoing — the federal government comes. They freeze every account you own or are even associated with. Personal accounts. Business accounts. Life insurance. Retirement savings. A court-appointed receiver sells...

The outcome in Iran is emerging as a two-staged agreement where, in the second stage, Iran agrees to as-yet undefined limits on its nuclear program over a period of ten to twenty years. President Trump will declare victory, but he will have a hard time explaining how his agreement is much better that the ten-to-fifteen year deal that former president Obama reached in 2015. Yet, with the destruction of so much of Iran’s weaponry and its military-industrial complex, he has set back Iran’s ability to produce a nuclear weapon for years in a way the Obama did not. And, with a decade of...

American cities need bold renewal. What we need is a “MadeCity” vision — a vision for intentionally crafting or “making” cities that emphasize the enduring higher order potential within people. Beginning to plan and build such cities as part of America’s upcoming 250th anniversary is a fitting way to extend John Winthrop’s vision for America as a “City on a Hill.” A MadeCity is a living monument to faith, freedom, and entrepreneurship — the very ideals that turned a collection of colonies into the greatest...

The House Energy and Commerce Committee is considering legislation that would effectively ban the sale of Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) in the U.S. This is a prudent step. Chinese EVs are effectively rolling surveillance platforms, collecting geolocation data, mapping American roads and infrastructure, and transmitting that information directly to the Chinese Communist Party. Banning them from American roads is the right call, and the committee's focus on this issue reflects a growing bipartisan understanding of the national security stakes. But the proposed legislation is missing a key...

The U.S. auto industry is no longer defined by competition between domestic and foreign firms—instead it is deeply integrated. In fact, Japanese-brand automakers, have become a significant and embedded part of the U.S. economy, contributing meaningfully to employment, investment, and industrial activity. Americans should recognize that Japanese-brand automakers have also become key contributors to the United States’ overall economy. Over the last 40 years, they have invested more than $70 billion in...

America's tax system runs on trust. It's a voluntary compliance system, and that only works when taxpayers believe the rules are fair, consistent, and applied equally. But that trust is fracturing. When tax policy is carelessly misinterpreted or grows needlessly complex, honest, hardworking Americans are left struggling to navigate a system that feels rigged against them. The frustration is real, and it's widespread. New polling commissioned by the Alliance for IRS Accountability (AIA) confirms what many already suspect: taxpayers across the country are losing confidence, and they...

The Senate Commerce Committee’s recent oversight hearing on the Federal Trade Commission raised a question worth answering: Does the agency need sweeping new rules to protect consumers or does the enforcement of existing laws accomplish that job? The answer is the latter, and the agency’s own track record proves it. President Trump has made clear that restoring economic growth, strengthening private enterprise, and boosting the confidence of entrepreneurs are central priorities of his Administration. Achieving those goals requires federal agencies to ensure that their regulatory...

Every spring, I watch another class of young men cross stages, shake hands, and step into the next phase of their lives. As President and CEO of the North American Interfraternity Conference (NIC), I have had a front-row seat to this moment for two decades. This year, the young men graduating will face an even more difficult landscape than generations before. The current job market is challenging. Many of them will move to a new city where they will need to start over socially, a task that does not come easily to many and has become increasingly difficult in the digital age. Coupled with an...

The power of the purse entrusted to Congress is about far more than keeping the government’s lights on. Appropriations bills are one of lawmakers’ most effective oversight tools, allowing Congress not only to fund agencies but also to signal priorities, demand accountability, and correct agencies that begin drifting from their intended mission. That oversight function matters now more than ever as the International Trade Commission (ITC) has increasingly become a venue for legal gamesmanship with serious consequences for American innovation. Bad actors seeking to profit from...

The likely outcome of the Iran War is a draw at best. Yet, President Trump could achieve much more. In high irony, the conflict has revealed that Iran may not need a nuclear weapon. Closing the Strait of Hormuz has emerged as Iran’s non-nuclear weapon of mass destruction. With some diplomatic pressure and ingenuity, Iran might be induced to swap nuclear for non-nuclear. This swap could serve as the basis for settlement of the entire Mideast conflict. Trump could induce Iran to give up its entire nuclear program in return for the establishment of a Palestinian homeland (not state) in the...

That the U.S. railway system is an interconnected national network is obvious (see, e.g., here), the natural infrastructure outcome of the response of market forces to the demand for heavy transportation services. That government policies have distorted the long-term investment process is beside the point: Rail lines must cross state lines, freight often must be moved between carriers and between modes (e.g., trucks to trains), and coordination of such movements so as to pursue efficiency is no small undertaking. What is not beside the point are the efforts of various states to satisfy...

Last week, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) announced it had gathered more than 1.5 million signatures — nearly double what it needed — to put a sweeping new wealth tax on California's November ballot. The initiative is called the 2026 Billionaire Tax Act. The name is designed to make you stop reading. Don't. SEIU has spent months positioning itself as the champion of nurses, teachers and caregivers. What it has actually done is run a $24 million campaign to put a measure on the ballot that could eventually be used to tax virtually any Californian...

Cutting costs through outsourcing is one thing. Outsourcing policy is another – and when Congress and federal agencies do it, American businesses and consumers usually wind up paying the steepest price. U.S. regulators are asleep at the wheel. They are outsourcing policymaking in ways that saddle Americans with costly, counterproductive burdens voters never authorized and can't afford. One blatant example is playing out in Europe, where rogue pseudo-regulators are pushing guidelines that could stifle investments in energy efficiency and jack up the costs of everything from food to...

The United States Senate Judiciary Committee recently convened a full committee hearing as part of its bipartisan investigation into Credit Suisse’s (now UBS) conduct related to Holocaust-era Nazi accounts and records. At a time when Holocaust distortion and denial are increasing, Chairman Grassley’s efforts reinforce a simple but important principle: truth matters, and accountability endures. We submitted a letter for the record to the Committee in support of its effort to correct the historical record regarding Holocaust-era accounts and financial transactions. Revisiting this...

As the U.S. Department of the Interior is making big plans for wildfire fighting, American companies are scrambling to provide technology and services to meet the growing need for wildland fire management during what has become, thanks to climate change, a year-round fire season. So, if you were a government procurement professional, and you were vetting potential providers of advanced technological platforms designed to make fighting wildfires safer and more effective, who would you want to design it? Fire fighters … or fire starters? Pacific Gas and Electric Company, aka...

Off the front pages, and in the real world, American small businesses are quietly thriving.  US Census Bureau data shows new business formation hovers at its highest level in history, with approximately 500,000 monthly applications over the last several months. That's 15% to 20% higher than the post-pandemic average. The most recent ADP Payroll Report shows that small businesses with 1-20 employees account for all the nation's job creation. This small business surge coincides with last summer's passage of the Working Families Tax Cuts, which meaningfully reduced the...

When Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, the Administration had a real problem on its hands. I understand why a White House would want to move fast, but moving fast and moving smart are not the same thing. This week the Administration extended the current Jones Act waiver for another 90 days. Washington needs to take an honest look at what this waiver has actually produced. The U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD), which oversees the nation’s merchant fleet, has data that tells the story. Of the fifteen voyages completed under the current waiver, a clear majority have gone to maritime...

President Trump does not to have a clear strategy in Iran, despite that the objective is a clear, namely, to deny Iran a nuclear bomb. The general approach has been apparent: punish Iran until it capitulates. Except that military punishment has ceased. Now, it is economic warfare. The outcome depends on which side can outlast the other. Can Iran survive the U.S. naval blockade and stricter sanctions enforcement longer than the global economy can survive Iran’s closure of the Straight of Hormuz? What are the president’s strategic options? In common parlance: go long, go home...