Independent Institute

@CalebDPetitt independent.org/article/2026/0…

"Most people, since the dawn of civilization, have had a difficult time getting enough food to survive and have had limited food choices at any given time. There has never been better access to great food than in our modern world." | @CalebDPetitt

Bullet Train or Bay Bridge? The contest for California’s biggest disaster may soon be decided. | K. Lloyd Billingsley

@DrJohnCGoodman independent.org/article/2026/0…

To Save Rural Health Care, Bring It out of the Dark Ages | @DrJohnCGoodman

California’s high-speed rail project has ballooned from $33 billion to an estimated $231 billion — and still hasn’t carried a single passenger. A new essay argues the project, along with the troubled Bay Bridge replacement, reflects a deeper problem of cost overruns, secrecy, and lack of accountability to taxpayers. | K. Lloyd Billingsley

License plate readers are no longer just cameras. At scale, they can function like a government-run GPS network. A new essay argues that as ALPR systems become denser and more sophisticated, they may cross a constitutional line under the Fourth Amendment by enabling continuous tracking of people’s movements without a warrant. | @JonathanHofer20

@DrJohnCGoodman independent.org/article/2026/0…

Rural America is losing doctors, hospitals, and pharmacies — and neither party appears to have a long-term solution. Congress added $50 billion for rural health care after cutting Medicaid spending, but the deeper access problems remain unresolved. | @DrJohnCGoodman

Prediction markets are creating a new way for Washington insiders to profit from political power. With lawmakers and bureaucrats able to influence — and potentially wager on — major policy outcomes, concerns over insider trading are expanding beyond stocks and into political betting markets. | Craig Eyermann

Housing First promised to reduce homelessness and lower public costs. Instead, homelessness spending has exploded while chronic homelessness continues to rise. A new essay contrasts “Million-Dollar Murray,” the famous case used to justify Housing First, with “Million-Dollar Draper,” a fentanyl addict in San Francisco whose subsidized housing has done little to address the addiction and medical crises driving repeated hospitalizations at taxpayer expense. | @ChrisCalto91066

The COVID era exposed how scientific dissent was suppressed and how political pressures shaped public health policy. A new review of In Covid’s Wake revisits the Fauci-Collins “takedown” emails, the backlash against lockdown skeptics, and the collapse of open scientific debate during the pandemic. | @PhilWMagness

Ronald Reagan signed CEQA in 1970 to require environmental reviews for government projects. A judge expanded it to cover private housing. By 1976, California produced four times as many environmental impact reports as the entire federal government. @ChrisCalto91066