At its heart, the American Dream is a promise that this is a nation where everyone can build a better, richer, and freer life. This is a country where hard work and an entrepreneurial spirit makes prosperity a possibility for all. But when government regulations put up barriers that limit opportunities to work, that dream is vio...
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For decades, Tennessee has claimed to be an income tax-free state, even passing a constitutional amendment banning taxes on income. And for decades, this has been a lie – the state has continually taxed income derived from savings, stocks, and bonds since 1929 through its grandfathered-in "Hall Tax." But last year Beacon Center...
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For the first time in the history of modern Mexican democracy a credible, relevant, and effective anticorruption legal infrastructure exists. It holds Mexican politicians accountable and keeps them honest from the get-go, all thanks to Instituto Mexicano para la Competitividad (IMCO)’s revolutionary “3for3” campaign. As of July...
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Awarded since 2004, the Templeton Freedom Award is named for the late investor and philanthropist Sir John Templeton. The award annually honors his legacy by identifying and recognizing the most exceptional and innovative contributions to the understanding of free enterprise and the public policies that encourage prosperity, inn...
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The history of Canada’s Aboriginal people is one of state dependency and a lack of opportunity. To address these challenges, Macdonald-Laurier Institute for Public Policy (MLI)’s multi-year Aboriginal Canada and the Natural Resource Economy project has made the case that Indigenous engagement in the booming Canadian resource eco...
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What began as a modest attempt to create a new dialogue in an otherwise closed and illiberal Brazilian state in 1988 has become a treasured cultural icon and international fixture – Instituto de Estudos Empresariais (IEE)’s annual Fórum da Liberdade has been described as “the Super Bowl of liberalism.” With its audience growing...
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Unrealistic campaign promises are a staple in elections across the world, and nowhere has that been truer than in Ghana – until now. Last year, Accra-based IMANI Center for Policy and Education launched its 2016 IMANIFesto Campaign, which estimated the costs and rated the feasibility of all campaign promises. For the first time...
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Georgia leads the country in the number of people under correctional supervision – currently 1 in 13 statewide, starkly higher than the 1 in 31 nationwide rate. And two-thirds of those eventually released from prison are likely to be rearrested within three years of their release. Georgia Center for Opportunity (GCO) has engaged...
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For decades, Tennessee has claimed to be an income tax-free state, even passing a constitutional amendment banning taxes on income. And for decades, this has been a lie – the state has continually taxed income derived from savings, stocks, and bonds since 1929 through its grandfathered-in "Hall Tax." But last year Beacon Center...
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Tennesseans celebrate as the Beacon Center of Tennessee gets another win under its belt. The Beacon Center, a Nashville-based Atlas Network partner, continues its lawsuit-winning streak by shutting down two overly bureaucratic licensure programs. These victories sound a sigh of relief for independent contractors, free-market ent...
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The 2017 Lights, Camera, Liberty! training program brought together 56 participants to workshop the messaging, marketing, and video storytelling of their respective think tanks. Lights, Camera, Liberty! is one of the signature offerings of Atlas Leadership Academy, Atlas Network’s training and mentoring program. Held in Los Ange...
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Airbnb is a popular and growing part of the new sharing economy, allowing people to earn extra money by renting out their homes for temporary use by others. This business model provides new competition to hotels, though, so governments face industry pressure to fine and regulate the home-sharing industry out of existence. Despit...
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Occupational licensing requirements put government in the business of picking winners and losers, artificially propping up current practitioners at the expense of newcomers. In Tennessee, for instance, the state Board of Cosmetology requires 300 hours of training and up to $3,000 in tuition simply for a license to shampoo hair....
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Freedom of association is a fundamental cornerstone of the ideas of liberty, but mandatory union fees for school teachers have long held many of those teachers captive to an ideological system that they don’t support. The U.S. Supreme Court is currently hearing testimony in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association (CTA), a...
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Atlas Network and its allies were front and center at the recent Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Md., just outside Washington, D.C.
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Funding from the federal government can seem like “free money” to state officials who don’t have to take a personal role in levying higher taxes to hand out extra services to their constituents. The federal push to expand Obamacare’s Medicaid eligibility is therefore proving to be a tempting initiative even among politicians who...
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A new package of health care reform proposals released this month from the Beacon Center of Tennessee includes a comprehensive analysis of the benefits of “Right to Try” legislation, which would allow terminally ill patients the option of trying experimental medication that has not yet received full approval from the Food and Dr...
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