“The Interns’ Turn” features blog posts about policy, history, and culture from interns at The James Madison Institute.
Starbucks’ Last Straw
By Patrick Martin Starbucks’ decision to discontinue its use of plastic straws is an example of a market-based solution in action. The coffee giant made the decision to expand its use of a strawless “sippy cup” style lid earlier this month. The decision follows a years-long movement in the U.S. [...]
The Military’s Overlooked Role in Florida’s Economy
By: Connor James Florida’s Military Installations/Defense Business Employment: 801,747 jobs[1] Population of: Alaska: 739,795; District of Columbia: 693,972; North Dakota: 755,393; Vermont: 623,657; Wyoming: 579,315 Let’s not talk about tourism. Rather than discuss how the tourism industry is Florida’s economic savior, the focus should be on what narrowing Florida’s vision [...]
American Dream Miami: Private Deal, Public Consequences
By Patrick Martin It looks like Miami will be the home of the nation’s largest mall in 2022. The Miami-Dade County Commission voted 9-1 in March to approve the plans for American Dream Miami, from Canadian mall-builder Triple Five Group. The same group owns the well-known Mall of America in [...]
The Startup Economy
By: Connor James With talk of the nation’s biggest companies including Facebook[1] and Google[2] holding a great deal of market share, it serves as a great time to look back to the beginnings of the goliaths: as startups. Whether it’s Facebook, Google, Amazon, or Apple, they each began at the [...]
Opinion: ‘Right-to-work’ really does work
By Dr. Bob McClure Once upon a time, workers in the United States were served by a necessary and positively transformative feature of society – collective bargaining. In times long past, pay and working conditions were so poor that union efforts were warranted in the push for greater economic prosperity [...]
King Midas: The Economic Impact of LeBron James
King Midas: The Economic Impact of LeBron James By Paul Donaldson On July 1 at 8:05pm, the long anticipated announcement of whether or not LeBron James would once again take his talents elsewhere finally arrived. With it came the jubilation of my fellow Lakers fans, and the utter disbelief of [...]
Revisiting Lexington: What Can We Learn From the Red Hen Fiasco
Revisiting Lexington: What Can We Learn From the Red Hen Fiasco By John Towey The recent kerfuffle which resulted in White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, being asked to leave a local Lexington, Virginia restaurant, sorely reminds us of the divisive political animosity that threatens the cohesion of our [...]
The Art of the Trade War
The Art of the Trade War By Patrick Martin Since 1975, The United States has had the highest trade deficit in the world. In 2017, the amount of the deficit was $566 billion.[1] This means that the U.S. imports more goods than it exports. In some cases, the U.S. no [...]
Janus v AFSCME
The Nation Follows Florida’s Right-To-Work Lead By: Connor James Florida led the way, and the nation has finally followed. On June 27, the United States Supreme Court issued a decision that prevents public sector unions from forcing non-union workers to pay fees if they choose not to.[i] The decision also [...]
South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc.
South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. By Vittorio Nastasi The advent of the internet and the modern digital age has been a catalyst for innovation and exchange across the world. Consumers have access to a wider variety of goods at a lower cost than ever before, and for the first time, [...]