Mercatus Center at George Mason University

06/24/2026

Mercatus summer interns recently attended a House Committee on Education and Workforce hearing to watch Mercatus labor economist Liya Palagashvili testify on healthcare workforce shortages.

Liya discussed how independent clinicians can help healthcare providers respond to staffing shortages and expand access to care.

At Mercatus, internships extend beyond the office. They had a front-row seat to how research moves from the page to the hearing room.

06/23/2026

How do we know whether another being is conscious?

Philosophers have asked this question about animals for a long time. Today, many of the same questions are being raised about artificial intelligence.

On Working Definition, host Rebecca Lowe and philosopher Tim Crane discuss consciousness, sentience, and what the "other minds" problem means for debates about AI.

06/22/2026

The Mercatus Principles Award recognizes those who exemplify our core values: integrity, humility, a commitment to our mission, and intellectual honesty.

Nominated by their peers, recipients are recognized not only for what they accomplish, but for how they contribute to the Mercatus community.

Congratulations to our most recent recipient, Sam Alburger!

Known for his collaborative spirit and dedication to helping scholars share their work, Sam embodies what it means to be a Mercatian.

06/19/2026

The Fed's new chair just stopped telling markets what to expect, and one former Fed president thinks that's exactly right.

At FinRegRag, former Kansas City Fed President Tom Hoenig argues that Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's decision to move away from forward guidance is a step toward reducing market dependence on the Fed and encouraging markets to make their own judgments based on economic data.

Read more: https://bit.ly/4aVmqg0

Chairman Warsh appears determined to get the markets behaving as markets and not as wards of the Fed.

06/19/2026

What holds a free society together?

At a recent Philosophy Working Group open to all staff, Mercatus scholars and colleagues discussed the Declaration of Independence, not only as a founding document, but as a statement about human flourishing, moral truth, and the principles that support self-government.

These discussions are part of what makes Mercatus unique. Alongside research on policy, economics, and institutions, we also spend time engaging with the philosophical questions that shape how societies function and flourish.

06/18/2026

The recent debate over nonprofit hospitals has focused on one striking number: nearly $45 billion in net income reported in 2023.

Mercatus scholars Veronique de Rugy and Jack Salmon argue that there is a larger tax policy question underneath that discussion. When nonprofit organizations earn income that would otherwise be taxable if earned by a for-profit company, exempting that income represents a policy choice that should be measured and disclosed.

📖 Veronique de Rugy and Jack Salmon on why nonprofit business exemptions should be treated as tax expenditures: https://bit.ly/4fQyra7

Research from Scott Hodge shows how large that omission may be. Using IRS data from more than 350,000 organizations, he estimates that nonprofits earned roughly $2.8 trillion in business-related income in 2023, resulting in about $51 billion in forgone federal revenue that does not currently appear in Congress's official tax expenditure accounting.

📊 Scott Hodge's analysis of nonprofit business income, nonprofit hospitals, and federal tax expenditure accounting: https://bit.ly/49cMjb5

The current conversation is about nonprofit hospitals, but the underlying issue is how the tax code measures and reports nonprofit business exemptions across the economy.

06/18/2026

After spending more than eight years researching his Beatles biography, Bob Spitz was exhausted.

The project had taken longer than expected. He was moving out of his house, his marriage had fallen apart, and he was ready to leave the book behind.

So he did something he still regrets.

He threw away the research archive.

In this clip from Conversations with Tyler Cowen, Spitz reflects on the years of work behind the book, the editing process that cut 1,700 pages from the manuscript, and why losing those interviews and notes remains one of the biggest mistakes of his career.

06/17/2026

Worried about AI taking jobs?

Mercatus Research Fellow Revana Sharfuddin points to a different trend that may shape the future of work: millions of small-business owners are nearing retirement.

Baby boomers own 2.9 million businesses that employ 32 million Americans, and most lack a formal succession plan. Meanwhile, approximately 4.5 million businesses may need to change hands by 2033.

For some young workers, the opportunity may not be finding the perfect job, but owning and operating an existing business.

Read the full commentary: https://bit.ly/4oIA9N1

If splashy headlines are to be believed, artificial intelligence is already consigning new graduates to a life of unemployment. The anxiety is not unfounded. Entry-level roles are disappearing and economists

06/17/2026

Portable benefits are no longer just an idea being discussed in policy circles.

States across the country are testing new approaches to benefits for independent workers, people whose jobs often don't fit the traditional one-employer model.

So what does that look like?

Take a look at the map and see where momentum is building.

06/16/2026

Most Americans significantly overestimate how extreme their political opponents actually are, and that misperception shapes how we treat each other.

On Humane Pursuits, host Garrett Brown talks with Mercatus Executive Director Ben Klutsey about pluralism, political polarization, and what a healthy marketplace of ideas actually requires

Drawing on years of work understanding pluralism and civil discourse, Ben discusses the difference between disagreeing over issues and the more corrosive shift toward seeing political opponents as existential threats, and why free societies depend on the habits and institutions that keep that distinction intact.

🎧 Listen to the main episode: https://bit.ly/4erpFgj

In a bonus conversation, Garrett and Ben discuss resilience and what America's approaching 250th anniversary can teach us about adaptation, entrepreneurship, and civil society.

🎧 Listen to the bonus episode: https://bit.ly/4vKYGTU