Federal withholding may among the most insidious of government policies. It hides the full scale of what government takes from us, and makes you feel like you're getting a bonus when you get your own money back. Cato’s Adam Michel makes the case.
Cato's Adam Michel ran a bracket of the worst offenders among "tax expenditures," or special benefits for some taxpayers. Turns out people like their own tax benefits and dislike the ones that benefit someone else.
The federal government has been tracking the weather for more than 150 years. But the rise of the Internet and big tech have made weather forecasting a more crowded space. Today on the show, the value of an accurate forecast and how the Trump administration's early moves are clouding the government's future forecasting. This piece originally aired in November 2024.
Introducing WBEZ's latest podcast series, Making: Stories Without End. Host Natalie Moore takes you on a journey to learn about daytime soap operas and their broad reach on television. From the early radio days in the 1930s through the invention of TV to streaming, this way of telling immersive stories has endured. There are intergenerational family stories, discussions about divorce and abortion, groundbreaking storylines dealing with queer representation. And all these threads go back to one Chicago woman, Irna Phillips. The queen of soaps originated, wrote or supervised more than a dozen daytime serials for more than 40 years… and left a lasting mark on the television industry. You’ll hear the story behind the stories from scholars, actors, writers – from the past and now – as well as fans.
That?s the question at the heart of The Price of Life, a book by journalist Jenny Kleeman.
It turns out that there?s not just one price, there are many - depending on exactly how that life is being created, traded or destroyed.
Tim Harford talks to Jenny about what she discovered.
Presenter: Tim Harford
Producer: Tom Colls
Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound mix: Neil Churchill
Editor: Richard Vadon
The case for tariffs hinges critically on a misunderstanding of the relevant data. Contrary to the claims from the President and Vice President, free trade has substantially enriched most Americans. Cato's Norbert Michel counters the false rhetoric.
