Institute for Policy Studies

As kids return to school this month they will be met with school resource officers that roam their campuses, zero tolerance policies that threaten severe punishment, and state laws that criminalize youthful misbehavior. This punitive infrastructure, collectively known as retributive justice, often leads children to youth incarceration. Institutions need to look to alternatives for achieving justice.

On July 11, 2026, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act became law, making it the most significant federal housing package enacted in more than three decades. Many are celebrating the bill for “simply existing”. However, for many working-class tenants, the bill is not enough.

Most bookstores are organized around a familiar, “basic economics” retail formula. New releases occupy the front tables, bestseller lists anchor prominent displays, and space is intentionally designed to encourage purchase before customers leave. Bol Bookstore, a worker-owned cooperative in Washington, D.C., feels different as soon as you walk in.

President Donald Trump’s social media post on August 16 calling for a substantial reduction in U.S.-South Korea military exercises triggered panic across partisan lines. Instead of just pointing to the high costs of the exercises and unnecessarily hostile approach towards North Korea, Trump also highlighted his “very good relationship with Kim Jong Un” and chastised South Korea for refusing to join the disastrous U.S.-Israel war on Iran. Attacks came from Republicans, including North Carolina Sen.

The debate over capitalism vs. socialism often looks like a battle of cartoon caricatures: Monopoly Man versus the Marx Monster. Across the planet there are countless flavors of capitalism and socialism, unique mashups of free markets and government policies. Into this muddle wade the right-wing ideologues who fear the red “socialist” demon hiding in every corner.

The world needs to burn less carbon. But while many countries have moved to limit the emissions produced within their own borders, some are also grappling with the emissions produced by their imports. The resulting policies walk a line between environmentalism and protectionism — and may end up punishing some of the Global South countries most impacted by, yet least responsible for, climate change.

In a fit of pique, Donald Trump recently scaled back the big annual military exercise between the United States and South Korea. He would have canceled it altogether if the 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield training hadn’t already started. The U.S. president cited as the reasons for his action the cost of the exercise and that it was “totally inappropriate and hostile” toward North Korea.

Introduction Less than halfway into Trump’s second presidential term, families confront an affordability crisis that threatens the well-being of millions across the country. Inflation is up, utility costs are soaring, and the cost of food, housing, and healthcare continues to rise. Americans are wondering how they will build stable lives for their families, as nearly half cannot afford the rising cost of living.

Before we became the “model minority,” Indian Americans were once considered the “problem minority.” Accounts from the late 19th and 20th centuries, for example, called early Punjabi and Bengali migrant farm workers everything from “undesirable” to “effeminate, caste-ridden, and degraded.” From being barred from naturalization and citizenship rights in the 1920s to holding positions at the forefront of political and corporate power today, Indian Americans have come a long way.

Remember that photo from Donald Trump’s first overseas trip as a president back in 2017? The new president was in Riyadh. Instead of going to Europe or Japan or Canada, Trump was making his first presidential trip to Saudi Arabia. And there he was, at the opening of a new World Center for Countering Extremist Thought, flashing his trademark smirk as he put his hands on a glowing orb that represented the globe.