(To read the full Policy Tip Sheet, click here.) Key Takeaways: The European Union’s new ESG law—the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD)—is designed to transform business practices across the entire world, including in the United States. The CSDDD mandates that large businesses impose ESG standards on companies operating within their “chain of activities,” regardless of whether those “chain” businesses have operations within the European Union. Some of the policy […]
(To read the full Policy Tip Sheet, click here.) Key Takeaways: The Uniform Law Commission (ULC) has drafted a model bill—the Public-Health Emergency Authority Act (PHEAA)—that would both formally institutionalize the executive emergency powers wielded by state governors during the COVID-19 pandemic while also significantly strengthening them. Considering the ULC’s established degradations of individual rights and societal welfare, policymakers should tread carefully when considering anything the ULC promotes. This is […]
(To view the full Policy Brief, click here) Key Takeaways: The proposed 2022 amendments to Articles 9 and 12 of the Uniform Commercial Code strip individuals of their property rights to real-world assets. The entities responsible for the UCC’s governance consist of partisan actors who serve special interests. The UCC has already been used to abrogate property rights to investment securities through amendments to Article 8. The 2022 amendments facilitate […]
(To view the full Policy Tip Sheet, click here) Over the past decade and particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic, an increasing number of American families have become dissatisfied with government-run public schools and desire robust school choice options. During the pandemic, most public schools, at the behest of teacher unions, decided to close their doors for in-person learning. Meanwhile, private and parochial schools generally remained open for in-person learning. The […]
(To view the full Policy Tip Sheet, click here) Election-related deepfakes involving audio, photo, and video manipulations have become a significant concern in the digital age. Deepfakes use artificial intelligence (AI) to create convincing but false representations of individuals, making them appear to say or do things they never said or did. These manipulations pose significant threats to the integrity of public debate and electoral processes, as they can be […]
Click here to view/download the full Tip Sheet. Important provisions in Article 8 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) contain highly problematic elements that undermine Americans’ individual rights and threaten the stability of the U.S. economy. This Tip Sheet will provide a brief description of those troubling areas of the UCC and propose a set of related concrete policy solutions for lawmakers. The UCC was created in the mid-twentieth […]
Click here to view and/or download the full Tip Sheet. Important provisions in the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) contain highly problematic elements that undermine Americans’ individual rights and threaten the stability of the U.S. economy. This Tip Sheet will provide a brief description of those troubling areas of the UCC and propose a set of related concrete policy solutions for lawmakers. The UCC was created in the […]
To view the full letter, click here. Dear State Legislators and Other Elected Officials, Questions are now being raised about important laws that have been added to state codes in all 50 states over the past 25 years. These laws were deliberately designed to abrogate private property rights and could in the future be used to harm all Americans who hold investment securities, including those held in IRA […]
Click here to read the full policy brief. Public health emergency declarations and the policies that flow from them are fresh in the minds of the American public, with the actions taken by federal, state, and local governments during the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to be fiercely debated. Substantial questions remain concerning the source and accuracy of public health information used to justify the response to the pandemic, and over […]
Over the past decade, many of the largest corporations in the United States have adopted overtly political causes, including positions on controversial social issues. In most cases, these corporate policies have favored left-wing ideological positions. For example, in 2021 , massive companies such as American Airlines, Dell, and AT&T openly opposed state laws meant to limit election fraud, despite the fact that none of these laws had anything to do […]
Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) have only recently become a widely discussed topic among influential figures in academia, media, and public policy institutions. However, initiatives to implement CBDCs around the globe have existed for years, especially in countries with autocratic governments, such as China and Russia. As of September 2023, 131 countries have explored CBDCs.[1] The Biden administration has also signaled that it’s supportive of a Federal Reserve-backed U.S. CBDC, […]
Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) have only recently become a widely discussed topic among influential figures in academia, media, and public policy institutions. However, initiatives to implement CBDCs around the globe have existed for years, especially in countries with autocratic governments, such as China and Russia. As of September 2023, 131 countries have said they are exploring CBDCs.[1] The Biden administration has also signaled that it’s supportive of a Federal […]
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics are a popular kind of social credit scoring, one that poses a significant threat to individual liberty and free-market economies, both in America and abroad.[1] ESG is regularly used by corporations and investors as a tool to impose values and environmental policies on other businesses, governments, families, and individuals. ESG has been widely adopted in recent years by corporations across the United States and […]
Since the Great Recession, the total number and percentage of U.S. renters has hit an all-time high.[1] Moreover, the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates several times since the start of 2022, making owning a home, considered by many to be “the American dream,” unattainable for millions. Due to these and other extenuating circumstances, more Americans than ever are now renting. Simultaneously, the United States, especially in urban areas, is […]
Artificial intelligence (AI), automation powered by AI, advanced algorithms, and other emerging technologies are now being used in criminal courts across the United States, raising serious concerns about civil rights and the trustworthiness of these tools. (For a basic primer on AI, see item 1 in the Notes section.[1]) Mapping Pretrial Injustice, a website created by the Movement Alliance Project and MediaJustice, notes that “most states” now use at least […]
In recent years, America has experienced a remarkable trend: foreign individuals and corporations have been amassing millions of additional acres of U.S. agricultural land. Although some organizations have downplayed the significance of this development, there are substantial economic, national security, and freedom-related reasons policymakers should be deeply concerned.[1] According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), at the end of 2021, “approximately 40 million acres of U.S. agricultural land (forest […]
Artificial intelligence (AI), automation powered by AI, advanced algorithms, and other emerging technologies are changing the landscape of the global financial services industry, including in the United States. AI offers numerous benefits to financial companies seeking to lower costs and provide speedier decisions for consumers and other businesses, but it also comes with significant threats to liberty. (For a basic primer on AI, see item 1 in the Notes section.[1]) […]
Over the next decade, artificial intelligence (AI), automation powered by AI, and other emerging technologies will play an increasingly larger role in the global economy. The McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) estimates “between 400 million and 800 million individuals could be displaced by automation and need to find new jobs by 2030 around the world, based on our midpoint and earliest (that is, the most rapid) automation adoption scenarios.”[1] AI will […]