The Issues

Economic Freedom

The Rise of the Aspirational City

Joel Kotkin and Wendell Cox have introduced the concept of the “inspirational” city — cities to which people move “to change their circumstances and improve their lives.” These are cities...

Jefferson Forum
August 8, 2013

New "Buy America" Rules Delaying Highway Projects

(This article first ran in Surface Transportation Innovations). A protectionist measure known as Buy America has long been applied to many federally aided public works programs, including highways and transit....

Bob Poole
August 8, 2013

Scary Economics this Summer

Considering the June, 2013 Jobs’ Report, the economic alarm bell still rings loudly in my ears. For this observer, there seems no return to the land of economy comfort zone....

Jefferson Forum
July 24, 2013

Post High School Education Important to Life Long Earnings

Many high school graduates and rising high school seniors are making plans that will impact their work-related opportunities when they graduate from college. While interest is certainly an important component...

Jefferson Forum
July 24, 2013

Can Virginia’s Local Governments Learn from Spain?

Spain’s economy is a wreck, or so we surmise from the dismal drum beat of news about the European Union. The country is in recession, unemployment is nearly 27% and...

Jefferson Forum
July 24, 2013

Better Government through Better Metrics

Richmond Mayor Dwight Jones wants to tackle the city’s entrenched poverty, and he wants to do it by investing smartly in community revitalization efforts. The big question is, what works?...

Jefferson Forum
July 10, 2013

Cycling Championship to have Large Economic Impact

(This column first ran in the Richmond Times Dispatch.) Two years from this September, the Richmond region will take center stage for the entire world. That’s when the area will...

Jefferson Forum
July 10, 2013

Taxpayers Underwrite IRS Full-Time Union Workers

Did you know that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) actually pays the salary (no, we taxpayers pay the salary) of 200 employees who work full time on labor union business?...

Jefferson Forum
July 10, 2013

Slower Recovery due to Sequestration

The Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy released its fourteenth annual Virginia Economic Forecast last week .  It was again authored by Dr. Christine Chmura and her team at Chmura...

Mike Thompson
June 27, 2013

Jefferson Forum concentrates on policies that affect everyday life in Virginia

Economic Freedom

Lower taxes and fewer regulations

Education Freedom

More choices for Virginia families

Energy Freedom

Reliable, affordable energy

Worker Freedom

Protecting Virginia’s right-to-work tradition

These are the building blocks of a more competitive and prosperous Virginia.