True North Ideas | True North

The New ‘Nonprofit Killer’ Bill and the Problem of Government Certification

The US House of Representatives just passed H.R. 9495, the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act. As with most federal bills, the name is pretty sympathetic. Who doesn’t want to stop the funding of terrorism? It also contains two related, but very different, proposals. According to Congress’s official website: This bill postpones...

By Peter Jacobsen

Study: Michigan is Pizza Capital of the U.S. (and World?)

Michigan is the pizza capital of the United States and, quite possibly, the world, according to a new report from the McNair Center for Free Enterprise at Northwood University and the Michigan Chamber of Commerce. The study, Michigan: The Unlikely Pizza Capital of the United States (and the World?), analyzes the size and scope of...

By Kate Hessling

The Economic Consequences of Populism

In May 1938, or the ninth year of the Great Depression, a minister in Columbia County, Pennsylvania cast about for a sermon topic. In the past the minister, C.R. Ness, had spoken to the members of North Berwick Evangelical Church on a variety of themes: Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, the healing power of Jesus....

The Evolving Debate on U.S. Trade Policy: Free Trade, Fair Trade, or Protectionism?

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and a long period of deindustrialization, the landscape of American trade policy is changing radically. This shift is reflected in declining support for free trade, particularly with China, across the political spectrum. This fall, the Northwood University Freedom Seminar featured a panel that explored free trade, fair trade,...

By Mathilde Champagne

The Grand Inquisitor: Freedom & Responsibility

People can be strong advocates of freedom in the abstract, an ideal in concept. But do people really want freedom and responsibility in practice? Chapter 36 of my book, “The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible,” refers to the works of Fyodor Dostoevsky in “The Brothers Karamozov.” Dostoevsky conjures a character, the Grand Inquisitor of Spain, who...

By Ken Schoolland

Latest Producer Price Index Data Does Not Bode Well for Future Prices

U.S. Producer Price Index (PPI) data for October 2024 does not bode well for future prices in the service sector, especially those related to the U.S. restaurant economy. The PPI measures the average change in producer prices for goods and services produced over a given month. In essence, it measures inflation at the wholesale level....

By Dr. Timothy Nash

U.S. Government Starts 2025 Fiscal Year Deep in the Red

The U.S. government got off to a very bad start for its 2025 fiscal year. The U.S. Treasury Department reported that the federal government spent $257 billion more than it took in as revenue in October 2024. That is the second-worst figure ever recorded for the first month of the fiscal year. Only October 2020...

By Craig Eyermann

Why the Great Depression Lasted So Long: Amity Shlaes on Economic Policy Blunders

In 1940, Victor Records released the Dust Bowl Ballads, an album of songs written and performed by American folk singer Woody Guthrie. In two volumes and a dozen songs, the folk legend sang about the droughts that plagued North America in waves beginning in 1934 and ending in 1940. On the 14th day of April...

By Jonathan Miltimore

Socialism: Science or Cyanide?

In a recently published booklet called The Buried Stories of Communism & Socialism, Marianna Davidovich vividly recounts the world’s horrific experiences with the evil of communism. It’s a ghastly record, littered with the bodies of a hundred million victims and the lost liberties of hundreds of millions more. No one should have ever expected otherwise;...

By Lawrence W. Reed

More trouble ahead for government-funded internet

Michigan’s long-delayed distribution of federal funds for promoting internet access is likely to be delayed again. Congress in its 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act economic stimulus legislation authorized more than $42 billion in federal funding for increasing internet access, of which $1.5 billion was allocated to Michigan. So far, not a single Michigan household...

By Ted Bolema

Who Should Pay for Really Expensive Drugs?

When is the last time you saw a news headline about cancer patients who died because they were unable to afford a drug that could have saved their lives? I bet you haven’t. One reason is that drug companies that make expensive drugs can’t afford the political backlash that would follow such a headline. Another...

By John C. Goodman

Building the Future the Past Promised

James Pethokoukis wants the future back. The 1960s future he was promised as a child. The future of Star Trek: The Original Series, The Jetsons, and Walt Disney’s EPCOT, the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. Walt Disney promised that EPCOT “will never be completed but will always be introducing and testing, and demonstrating new materials...

By Daniel J. Hugger

The Many Hidden Costs of Tariffs

Tariffs are not going anywhere in 2025. There is no indication that the protectionist rhetoric embraced by President-elect Donald Trump has changed; in fact, the evidence suggests that tariff policy will worsen. Given this climate, it is important for economists to make the case for free trade. Of course, tariffs raise the price of tariffed...

By Benjamin Seevers

Javier Milei’s Blueprint for DOGE: A Chainsaw for Bureaucracy

“What is the difference between a madman and a genius? Success.” That opening line set the tone for Javier Milei’s two-hour interview with Lex Fridman. In it, Argentina’s libertarian president reflected on the first few months of his administration following his historic electoral victory on November 19, 2023. Milei has been called many things, but...

By Daphne Posadas