Perceptions of crime and criminal justice tend to be heavily related to partisan identity—but what does the data say? Kristian Fors and I investigated the crime rates of red and blue states (taking the effect of cities versus rural areas into account). We found that, although red and blue states show wide variation in public safety outcomes, there is a lack of evidence to suggest that either has a meaningful difference in crime rates.

September 17th also marked Constitution and Citizenship Day. To commemorate the day, Bill Watkins writes of the importance of the Constitution and originalist interpretation, calling for an emphasis on strict constructionism to restore constitutional sanity.

Allen Gindler calls attention to a system that treats personal income as perpetually state-owned.

Craig Eyermann discusses how SCOTUS striking down tariffs in court would necessarily alter the fiscal policy outlook. On the flip side, Andrew Locke highlights how tariffs gifted us the “Too Big to Fail” notion, ultimately, shifted the cost of their bailouts onto taxpayers, and weakened market discipline.

Alex Tokarev and Kristin Tokarev explain that the Big Beautiful Bill is a potpourri of polices, some good, others not so much.

Scott Beyer checks in on the YIMBY coalition which aims to lower living costs by increasing the housing stock, noting that the movement’s message faces an uphill battle. Progressives tend to distrust market mechanics, conservatives tend to dislike density, and both sides find reasons to stall reform.

Finally, we honor the late Steven Margolis, the revered free-market economist who tragically passed from Alzheimer’s disease. In memorium, Stan Liebowitz has written his reminiscences of Margolis as a lifelong friend and co-contributor.

Enjoy.

Jonathan Hofer
Managing Editor