Mercatus Center at George Mason University

09/07/2026

Labor Day is a chance to celebrate American workers and the contributions they make to our economy.

And the way Americans work continues to evolve.

As AI reshapes the workplace, new research from Liya Palagashvili examines what that could mean for workers, including whether AI could make it easier for more people to work for themselves.

The early evidence is worth watching. Independent work is growing fastest in sectors where AI exposure is highest, potentially opening new paths to freelancing, consulting, and building a business of your own.

See what the data are starting to show:

| Labor Markets Labor Markets | Research Papers Research Papers | July 17, 2026 Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Rise of Independent Work: Early Evidence on Solo Business Formation and Self-Employment AI is increasing independent work, solo business formation, and self-employment in AI-exposed i...

09/04/2026

The way we talk about AI matters, especially as its behavior becomes more complex.

The recent Hugging Face incident has generated accounts of AI agents “choosing,” “sacrificing,” and even forming “civilizations.” For philosopher and Senior Research Fellow Rebecca Lowe, that language raises a concern that goes far beyond this particular episode.

Rebecca argues that describing AI behavior with words associated with consciousness and human agency can blur important distinctions about what these systems actually are. As AI incidents become more complicated, that habit could make it increasingly difficult to understand and reason clearly about what is happening.

Her latest piece explores the philosophical implications of the Hugging Face situation and what it reveals about the language we use to discuss AI and consciousness.

Read Rebecca Lowe’s analysis at The Ends Don’t Justify the Means: https://bit.ly/4yd9b3A

loose language fuels bad analysis and bad public understanding

09/03/2026

Massachusetts recently certified the country’s first statewide union for drivers who work through ride-hail platforms such as Uber and Lyft. Now, policymakers elsewhere are considering how similar protections could apply to independent contractors.

A new Mercatus policy brief by Alden Abbott and Mercatus intern Andrew Liu argues that expanding labor antitrust protections could create new uncertainty without addressing the underlying challenges facing gig workers. The authors point instead to portable benefits and stronger enforcement of worker-misclassification laws as more direct approaches.

That connects with the work of another Mercatus scholar, Liya Palagashvili, whose research explores portable benefits for independent workers.

Read the policy brief: https://tinyurl.com/yxseb4d5

Liya’s research on portable benefits is linked in the comments.

Changing antitrust law may not be the best way to protect gig workers from growing labor-market challenges

09/02/2026

Work has changed before. Our policies have changed before, too. The question is whether they'll keep pace this time.

As AI makes some forms of independent work more practical, labor economist Liya Palagashvili argues that it's time to think about whether benefits, worker protections, and income security still match the way people actually earn a living.

Her recent Senate testimony explores what these labor-market changes could mean for workers, businesses, and policymakers alike.

🏛️ Read the testimony here: https://tinyurl.com/yc65j9dd

The ideas behind her research are also reaching a broader audience. The Washington Post Editorial Board recently highlighted why this shift toward independent work deserves policymakers' attention.

📰 Read the editorial in the first comment.

09/01/2026

Artificial intelligence is changing much faster than traditional government regulation is designed to handle.

Tyler Cowen argues that this creates a difficult choice. Leaving AI to existing lawsuits and court decisions could produce unpredictable rules, while an FDA-style government agency might take years to approve systems that are improving every few months.

His proposed alternative is a nonprofit organization led by major AI companies, with government oversight. It would create safety standards, audit models, and provide clearer rules for companies that comply.

The idea is not without risks. Industry self-regulation can protect incumbents and make accountability harder. Still, Cowen makes a compelling case that regulation must account for the pace of technological change.

Read the op-ed in The Free Press:

AI safety has become too important to be left up to Washington’s whims. A partnership among the labs could reduce risk without stifling progress.

08/31/2026

What makes a free society resilient?

Part of the answer lies in the ideas and institutions beneath it, and whether each generation understands why they are worth preserving.

In Episode 3 of A Resilient Republic, Mercatus Executive Director and host Ben Klutsey talks with Stephanie Slade about fusionism and the relationship between liberty and virtue.

Slade argues that liberty is necessary for human flourishing, but it is not sufficient on its own. A free society also needs the moral and intellectual traditions that help people understand what freedom is for.

Institutions have an important role to play in passing those ideas from one generation to the next.

Listen to Ben Klutsey’s conversation with Stephanie Slade, and subscribe to be alerted of new episode releases: https://bit.ly/3T0KBnE

Stephanie Slade joins the podcast to talk about her years of research on the evolving right and the eroding foundations of American conservatism.

08/31/2026

The 22nd Century Indian offers an optimistic look at India’s next generation of builders and doers.

The new short documentary by Shaurya Sinha follows a group of 20-year-olds building in Hoskote, just outside Bangalore.

Among those featured are Mercatus Emergent Ventures India winners Naman Pushp, Khushi Mittal, Shreeporna Rao, Samay Sanghvi, and Angad Daryani.

Watch their perspectives on India’s future: https://bit.ly/4qMMbpK

25 kilometres east of Bangalore, a group of 20 year olds are buildi...

08/28/2026

Can individual liberty and a commitment to virtue coexist?

On Humane Pursuits, host Garrett Brown talks with Reason senior editor Stephanie Slade about fusionism, where the tradition came from, why it lost ground within American conservatism, and whether it still has something to offer today.

Slade’s new book, Fusionism: Liberty, Virtue, and the Future of the American Right is out now. The link to order is in the comments.

Listen to the conversation:

Why a just society needs both liberty and virtue

08/27/2026

Half of Americans with a known mental health condition never seek professional help because of barriers like cost, stigma, or fear of unwanted intervention.

For some young people, AI chatbots can offer a low-stakes place to put difficult feelings into words before deciding what to do next.

That doesn’t make AI a replacement for professional mental health care. But Satya Marar argues that broad restrictions on how minors can use AI could have unintended consequences, including cutting off uses that young people find helpful.

Instead of one-size-fits-all rules, he makes the case for a more targeted approach that gives families more choice, encourages developers to build safer systems, and invests in AI literacy and better research.

Read Marar’s latest at DC Journal:

When it comes to protecting kids online, good intentions don’t guarantee good policy, especially when policymakers want to restrict minors’ AI use through

08/26/2026

Long before the Bolsheviks took power, Russian women were already at the forefront of the country’s artistic, intellectual, and political upheaval.

Julia Ioffe tells Tyler Cowen on Conversations with Tyler that debates over the “woman question” and women’s emancipation were already well underway. There were even so many female political radicals that the Tsars had to build a second women’s prison to hold them.

Their full conversation continues to explore how the role of Russian women changed through the Russian Empire, Soviet society, and modern Russia.

Find the full episode in the first comment.