• Despite rising almost 30% since the start of the pandemic, food prices have stabilized, particularly over the past year. Energy costs are concerning, though, because they can increase the costs to farm, process, and ship food. Energy is just one factor behind food prices.
• Short-term cyclical factors, such as shipping and supply disruptions, geopolitical energy shocks, extreme weather, and disease outbreaks, drive dramatic price swings that resolve relatively quickly.
• Longer-term structural factors include workforce challenges, farmland loss, trade policies, industry regulations and compliance systems, and growing populations that create upward long-term price trends that build over time and change slowly.

By: Patrice Onwuka

• In Meyer v. Nebraska (1923), the Court recognized that the liberty protected by the Fourteenth Amendment encompasses the rights of teachers and the rights and responsibilities of parents concerning their children’s education.
• In Pierce v. Society of Sisters (1925), the Court held “the child is not the mere creature of the State,” and parents have liberty “to direct the upbringing and education of children under their control.”
• In Troxel v. Granville (2000), the Court emphasized that it recognizes the “care, custody, and control of their children” as “perhaps the oldest of the fundamental liberty interests.”

By: Beth Parlato & Neeraja Deshpande

• Although unions helped achieve important worker protections in the early 20th century, increasingly, Americans have been rejecting them. Today, only 10% of American workers belong to a union.
• Unions are highly politically active, and throw their support almost solely behind Democratic candidates and policies, which also repels potential union members.
• Americans deserve transparency about who unions align with, the potential for foreign interference from China, and the true goals of the union.

By: Patrice Onwuka

• More than one in ten American teenagers now skips school out of fear of being there.
• The “restorative justice” approach to classroom management does not reduce suspensions for violent offenses, reduce suspensions in middle schools, or reduce arrests; it actually worsened academic outcomes in grades 6–8, with black students’ test scores taking a statistically significant hit.
• Ultimately, disciplinary policy is safety policy, and schools that will not enforce standards of behavior cannot protect the students and teachers inside them.

By: Meaghan Mobbs & Neeraja Deshpande

• The U.S. spends over $1 trillion annually on over 80 anti-poverty programs. Four programs take up the majority of spending: Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Supplemental Security Income, and the Earned Income Tax Credit.
• Welfare is highly vulnerable to fraud, waste, and abuse. Medicaid, Medicare, the EITC, and SNAP made up 67% of the $186 billion in government-wide improper payments in 2025.
• Federal programs must verify eligibility before granting benefits and use technology to expedite this process. One pilot program identified 14 million cases of duplicate participation in Medicaid, SNAP, and TANF.

By: Patrice Onwuka & Kamryn Crane