Welfare for Farmers Creates Dependency
Critics of welfare for the poor argue that too much “helping” creates dependency. Books like When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor . . . and Yourself explain that poverty...
Economic Thinking Posts on Debate Topics
Time to Sunset Federal Farm Programs
Federal agriculture subsidies, taxes, and regulations confuse and distort farming and ranching across the country. This 2021 article in The New Republic Abolish the Department of Agriculture is subtitled: The USDA has become an...
Oysters, Agriculture, Aquaculture, Health and the Environment
Next year’s Stoa league policy topic calls for reforming federal agriculture policy. American industrial agriculture and aquaculture have long been blamed for heavy water, soil, and air pollution. Environmentalists have called for reforms to...
IP, Agriculture, Infrastructure: Notes on New Resolutions
Here are Stoa policy debate resolution choices: intellectual property, infrastructure, or agriculture. Resolution wording and overview here. Economic principles and history provide insights for economic freedom reforms. Reforming IPEconomic Thinking talks on IP reform...
Central/South America cases I like list…
After judging many Central/South America debate rounds over the last few months, I appreciate the many challenges debaters face advancing meaningful reforms for USFG programs and policies. Everyday people in Central and South America...
For Central and South America: Who Decides on Energy Sources?
Economies burn energy, and so do plants, animals, and people. Energy for homes, factories, and fisheries is big business, and so is food for animal and human energy. Students gain insight into energy policy...
US Policy Reform to Protect Central and South American Fisheries
Recent news stories highlight the damage Chinese distant fishing fleets are doing to South American fisheries: • China is the pariah of the seas (The Hill, December 18, 2025) Chinese fishing fleet off Chilean...
Reform Congress at the Root of Federal Debt
Economist Dave Hebert’s Wall Street Journal letter (Ditch the Debt Ceiling but Bring Back 1917, February 2, 2026) offers a powerful reform Congress case for NCFCA debaters: In his Jan. 30 [WSJ] op-ed “The...
Are Charter (and Refugee) Cities Just Theoretical?
Well, yes and no. Charter cities like Hong Kong, Singapore, Monaco, Andorra, Dubai, Lübeck, and Hamburg (and others across the Hanseatic League, Venice, Genoa, and ancient Greece) have existed through centuries. Google AI Overview...
For 2026: Boost Economic Freedom for the Americas
Most North, South, and Central Americans face everyday economic challenges: costs increase for housing, health, food, energy, and transportation. For some reason people living in the United States and Canada earn on average far...