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Niskanen Center Profile picture
Niskanen Center
@NiskanenCenter
A nonpartisan think tank that promotes an open society and changes public policy via direct engagement in the policymaking process.
May 9 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
New apartment buildings in U.S. all look really similar to each other.

One reason: U.S. regulations dictate an oddly-specific layout that's hostile to families and limits light/ventilation.

THREAD:
Image
Image In most U.S. cities, building code requires multiple exit stairways accessible from each apartment for buildings over 3 stories tall.

It's all done in the name of fire safety. But the restrictions don't really advance fire safety.
Feb 20 • 14 tweets • 3 min read
.@heritage publishes regular iterations of its “Mandate for Leadership” with an agenda for the next Republican administration. The prior Trump admin implemented nearly 64% of its recommendations in its 1st year.

Here’s what’s in the 2025 edition: niskanencenter.org/project-2025-u… First, the Mandate would effectively close many avenues of legal immigration by:
❌Halting H2 visa programs
❌Closing the H-1B visa program to most recent grads
❌Leveraging entire visa categories as collateral in foreign policy negotiations
Apr 6, 2023 • 12 tweets • 4 min read
NEW PAPER: Manufactured housing is an affordable option in rural areas where land prices are low. They even promise to ease the housing crunch in coastal cities where land prices are high!

But, as always, housing discrimination is getting in the way. niskanencenter.org/manufactured-h… To clarify, we’re not talking about vacation trailers, or 1970’s-era mobile homes. Modern manufactured homes have strict standards for structural integrity and safety. They often look like homes built on-site, but they were assembled in a factory, like a car or an airplane.
Apr 4, 2023 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Critics of Welcome Corps (the new U.S. private refugee sponsorship program) have been complaining loudly that it's vulnerable to fraud.

We’ve looked into 3 of the main concerns and have found that all but one are completely unsubstantiated. 1/ niskanencenter.org/is-there-any-t… CONCERN 1: “The vetting process for refugees is being expedited and is therefore less thorough.”

FACT: Privately sponsored applicants must still go through the same USRAP pipeline as everyone else and have often been waiting years to travel. 2/
Feb 28, 2023 • 13 tweets • 5 min read
THREAD: Why do housing supply restrictions persist? Conventional wisdom says it's because incumbents are defending their property values.

The reality is way more complicated. That's an opportunity for YIMBYs.

Introducing our agenda for abundant housing: niskanencenter.org/an-agenda-for-… Image Before we enact any reform, we have to understand the political economy of our system: whom it empowers, whom it enriches, etc.

Answering these questions will rally opinion shapers around reform, protect reforms against backlash, and help avoid unintended consequences.
Feb 24, 2023 • 9 tweets • 6 min read
THREAD: The cost of building public transit is out of control. We can do something about that:

Stop relying on outside consultants to do the work of government agencies. slate.com/business/2023/… In the name of cutting costs, we’ve hollowed out government agencies, asking full-time employees to handle impossible tasks.

The result? Chaos. And lots of wasted taxpayer dollars. (After all, government contractors arguably cost even more money).
Dec 6, 2022 • 16 tweets • 7 min read
THREAD: The U.S. far exceeds the murder rates in all of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea COMBINED.

And if the left and right continue clinging to their current policy positions, Americans will keep dying.
niskanencenter.org/taking-violenc… The lowest rate of murder in the U.S. since WWII is higher than the highest rates of murder in Canada, Germany, Britain, and Spain.
Dec 5, 2022 • 4 tweets • 3 min read
We estimate that the historic immigration framework negotiated by Senators Tillis and Sinema would potentially offer 2.3 million Dreamers citizenship, contributing $1.2 trillion to GDP over ten years and $235 billion in net fiscal contributions.

niskanencenter.org/press-release-… "This balanced framework strengthens border security, offers 2.3 million Dreamers citizenship, and modernizes the immigration system to address our current challenges," says @kdpindc
Oct 17, 2022 • 17 tweets • 5 min read
THREAD: Labor shortages are interrupting Americans’ access to necessities, including food and healthcare.

The Department of Labor can provide instant relief by updating Schedule A (a list of occupations that don’t have enough workers). 1/
niskanencenter.org/the-case-for-u… Let’s take a look to see how bad things have gotten. Labor shortages and inflation have cost employers and American families billions. 97% of small businesses said the shortages impacted their bottom line. 2/
niskanencenter.org/labor-shortage…
Mar 24, 2022 • 16 tweets • 8 min read
NEW PAPER AND THREAD: Why are climate economists' favorite tools (carbon pricing/emissions trading) so despised?

@dolanecon shows where economists have missed the mark or failed to make themselves understood - and how they can do better. niskanencenter.org/are-economists… Are economists are wrong when they advocate carbon taxes/emissions trading as central elements of climate policy? Plenty of dedicated climate activists (some of whom are economists themselves) say "yes."
Mar 21, 2022 • 8 tweets • 7 min read
The U Visa backlog is out of control.

The bigger it gets, the more danger immigrant crime victims are in. And the worse U.S. public safety gets.

Congress must increase the cap & clear the backlog.

NEW COMMENTARY: niskanencenter.org/a-broken-syste… The #Uvisa backlog as of the end of FY 2021 stands over 170,000. It grew by an average of 16,000+ applications annually between FY 2011 - FY 2021.

Using these numbers, if NO NEW U visa petitions were filed, it would take over 17 years to completely clear the backlog.

17 years. Image
Mar 7, 2022 • 13 tweets • 6 min read
THREAD: NYC's framing of/response to violent crime as a recent problem is driven by politics and emotion.

It completely ignores neighborhoods that - due to lack of investment - never experienced safety in the first place. 1/ niskanencenter.org/as-nyc-mourns-… We're going to take a look at the history of crime prevention in the 32nd Precinct of Harlem and compare it to more privileged neighborhoods that got more attention. The discrepancies we see could provide essential clues for improving policy today.
2/
Feb 3, 2022 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
NEW from @Robert_t_Orr: Renewing the expanded #ChildTaxCredit for ALL ages is the best way forward.

But a child allowance for children ages 6 and younger is the next best option.

Why? Because young kids are the most likely to face poverty.

MORE: niskanencenter.org/why-young-fami… Workers only hit their peak earnings years between 35 and 54. So young parents tend to have fewer financial resources to invest in their child’s needs.
Feb 2, 2022 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
THREAD: #Ukrainians already in the U.S. should have a way to stay in the U.S. as tensions continue to rise. The Biden admin should prepare to protect them using two tools:

1. Temporary Protected Status (TPS)
2. Special Student Relief (SSR).
1/
 nytimes.com/live/2022/02/0… DHS can designate a country for TPS due to ongoing armed conflict, environmental disaster, or other circumstances, like threat of invasion, etc. TPS would allow eligible Ukrainians in the U.S. to remain here until they could return home safely. 2/ uscis.gov/humanitarian/t…
Jan 27, 2022 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
NEW from @AaronChalfin: In 1990, NYC experienced 2,220+ homicides. By 2011, it only had 515.

Then, against everyone's wildest expectations, homicides fell again.

What went right? Gang takedowns may be part of the answer.

THREAD: niskanencenter.org/how-a-focused-… After NYC's first major homicide decline in the '90s, NYPD continued to make a concerted effort to combat violent crimes, relying on sustained surveillance of communities. This policy was best known for brief detainments called "stop-question-frisk." Image
Sep 9, 2021 • 17 tweets • 7 min read
NEW REPORT+THREAD: The price tags of essential services like education, child care, etc., are out of control.

The progressive approach? Socialize the costs.

But cutting regulations that limit the supply of these services is the ONLY way to address the root of the problem. The problem with the progressive approach of guaranteeing affordability via subsidies is:

(1) Public debts/deficits can’t grow without limit
(2) Subsidies will cover up the bloat and waste and drive costs up further (we’ll throw out a few examples).
Aug 26, 2021 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
NEW REPORT + THREAD: Most middle-class people don’t realize it, but the eventual need for long-term care (LTC) will force many of them to drain their savings and face impoverishment.

This is arguably the biggest hole in the American social safety net. niskanencenter.org/how-to-fix-lon… Medicare doesn’t cover long term care expenses, forcing people to pay out of pocket unless they are poor enough to qualify for Medicaid or are among the few with private LTC insurance

A huge swath of the middle-class will be forced to burn through their savings in short order.
Aug 24, 2021 • 10 tweets • 4 min read
NEW REPORT w/ @cleanaircatf: To manage climate change, the U.S. must double or triple the size of its electric transmission system - and the current piecemeal approach isn’t going to cut it.

We’ve got 2 proposals to scale transmission rapidly: niskanencenter.org/report-how-are… To make progress, the U.S. must address the tension between private and public interest. It will also need to find inclusive ways to plan and develop transmission in the national interest that gets buy-in by ensuring broad enough benefits as well as compensation for burdens.
Jun 23, 2021 • 17 tweets • 8 min read
NEW PAPER and THREAD: The waiting list for green cards has grown well into the millions.

The wait times = decades.

Cost to the U.S. economy = billions.

Recapturing these green cards is possible and will add billions to the U.S. GDP.
niskanencenter.org/stop-the-incin… Administrative errors and #COVID19 have left hundreds of thousands of green card slots unused.

(Want more on how GCs work and why we have the slots that we have? See this from @chooseboundless).
boundless.com/immigration-re…
Jun 22, 2021 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
THREAD: @POTUS’s announcement that the U.S. will donate 500 million #COVID19 vaccine doses in the next year will save lives.

It will protect people abroad and make Americans safer too.

BUT we must do even more. 1/
Fighting the spread of dangerous variants means that the U.S. won't have to consider reimposing or extending travel restrictions to protect public health.

The faster the world is vaccinated, the sooner our lives and economy can return to normal. 2/
May 28, 2021 • 4 tweets • 3 min read
We applaud Sens. @amyklobuchar / @SenatorCollins for re-introducing bipartisan legislation to address physician shortages in the U.S.

The bill would allow international doctors trained in the U.S. to remain here if they practiced in underserved areas.
klobuchar.senate.gov/public/index.c… As @SpeakSamuel wrote in 2018 the U.S. "is facing a growing doctor shortage—which could reach 121,300 by the year 2030." (That was before the pandemic stretched our HC system and professionals to a near-breaking point!).

niskanencenter.org/foreign-doctor…