Articles | National Affairs

Men and Women at Work

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 19:50:00 +0000

The unavoidable differences between men and women, especially surrounding pregnancy and child-rearing, have long posed a challenge to civil-rights law. Since the 1960s, our laws and their enforcement have set men and women in the workplace against each other rather than respecting their equal rights while taking their differences seriously. It's time to redirect the law away from the battle of the sexes and toward safeguarding each worker's opportunity to contribute as a unique individual, regardless of sex.

Central-bank Independence

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 19:50:00 +0000

Effective monetary policy requires meaningful independence from political pressure. But our constitutional order does not countenance a completely independent regulatory agency. That means we will need to make a choice about the Federal Reserve: Either it retains an expansive regulatory role and loses its independence, or it returns to a narrower scope of activities while maintaining its freedom of action.

The Three Faces of Education Accountability

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 19:50:00 +0000

Education debates often appeal to accountability. But what does that mean in practice? Results-based accountability, marketplace accountability, and professional accountability are all ways of holding schools and teachers responsible for their students' achievement, but they often pull in different directions. Seeing how they can work together could broaden our sense of what it means to hold schools to account.

Full-spectrum Education Choice

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 19:50:00 +0000

Historic changes are underway in K-12 education. So far, 19 states have established choice programs for all resident children. But these programs are just the beginning. Education savings accounts, 529 plans, and child savings accounts are expanding their reach, offering federal and state policymakers a golden opportunity to align these account-based initiatives and give Americans more control over their education.

The Five Evasions in Education

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 19:50:00 +0000

The American educational system is at odds with its own purpose: intellectual training. Rather than ensuring every child becomes literate, numerate, and knowledgeable, educators too often invoke therapeutic, instrumental, technological, futuristic, and political alternatives to genuine learning. Any attempt to remedy American educational failure must begin by forswearing these evasions and recommitting to academic excellence.

The Opportunity of General Education

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 19:50:00 +0000

Almost all colleges have general-education requirements. But rather than providing students with a common baseline from which to learn, these programs typically allow students to choose from hundreds of boutique classes with no shared tradition, no common readings, and no sense of what is essential to American or Western civilization. Policymakers and activists looking for ways to channel today's pressure for change should focus their attention on reforming colleges' general-education curricula.

Mental Health as a Policy Challenge

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 19:50:00 +0000

Americans are reporting more and greater mental-health concerns than ever before, yet the political right has largely ceded the issue to the left. It need not do so. Conservative and libertarian approaches — namely loosening occupational-licensing rules to expand access to care, rejuvenating civil society and community connection, and protecting children and families from digital harms — offer policymakers practical paths forward.

Industrial Policy for Housing Construction

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 19:50:00 +0000

Since the 1970s, productivity in the housing sector has steadily declined. The way forward requires combining continued land-use reform with a light-touch industrial policy for factory-built housing. Homes or components manufactured in controlled environments offer a realistic path to dramatic productivity gains and affordable housing, and perhaps also a way around some of the political challenges to building more of it.

The Mission of Public Libraries

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 19:50:00 +0000

Americans are reading less than ever. Policymakers know this is a problem, but they rarely look to public libraries for solutions. Instead, libraries have embraced an agenda of redundancy, morphing into technology centers, daytime homeless shelters, and all-purpose community centers. It's time for libraries to return to their traditional mission: offering Americans serious books and a place for quiet study.

American Geniuses

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 19:50:00 +0000

We typically regard geniuses as supremely bright individuals gifted with uncommon intellect at birth. But recent biographies of Elon Musk, Jensen Huang, Sam Altman, and Bill Gates reveal a more complex picture. Understanding what drives such innovators can help us appreciate their strengths and weaknesses, and give us guidance on how to cultivate the talents of future American geniuses.