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Get the latest news and research from Badger Institute
- Forty-year-old vehicle emissions program under new scrutiny
- In memory of Tom Howatt, embodiment of American Dream
- The Wisconsin experiment in economic freedom
- An agenda for opportunity and prosperity in Wisconsin
- From mudslinging to Mandate
- UW System opens door to 3-year degrees, but many students already are on pace for one
- How to keep good teachers in the classroom
- In talent squeeze, independent schools respond — and seek relief
Research
The collected Wisconsin research conducted by the Badger Institute — home of the Badger State’s best work on economic freedom, educational opportunity and civil society.
Wisconsin’s crime trends in essence reveal two different states: the city of Milwaukee (and other select urban areas) and the “Rest of Wisconsin.” While most of the state is relatively safe in comparison to five years ago, troubling trends in Milwaukee — one of the primary economic engines of the Badger State and home to 10% of its citizens — are undermining the health and safety of the state in general.
Raising children, as can be fully appreciated only after you’ve done it, takes place in real time. They eat, sleep and grow whether you’re ready or not. So as parents supply children with the most crucial material treasure they ever will receive — a stable, loving home — many rely on some outside help in caring for their children while earning a living.
The surest way to improve the healthcare that Wisconsinites receive is to enable people to get the greatest satisfaction at the most favorable price via a free and transparent market.
Eight states, including neighboring Minnesota and Michigan, have authorized dental therapist programs statewide. Dental therapists are mid-level providers who perform preventive, restorative and intermediate restorative procedures.
The good things in life in this democracy — opportunity, fulfillment, upward mobility, prosperity, the redounding energy and succor that comes from free association, love of relatives and friends
As we move through 2022, the national economy is in what might best be described as a strange state.
Some people earn a lot of money. Some earn a little.
Wisconsin’s politicians prohibit over 1 million citizens from working unless they have government permission.
As a way for funding an important public good — highways — Wisconsin’s gas tax was pretty good
Wisconsin, like most states, allows individuals who have been convicted of a one-time, low-level offense to ask a judge to have the record of that conviction expunged once they’ve served their sentence and demonstrated they pose no risk to public safety
Recent and rigorous academic evaluations suggest that such policies aren’t effective at increasing employment among the formerly incarcerated.
August 11, 2022
Even before the pandemic, U.S. entitlement spending was on an unsustainable path, the growth in means-tested safety net programs far outstripping inflation.
Wisconsin could help lead the nation in empowering patient-consumers to seek care in a functioning market with upfront transparent pricing.
The estimate by the Department of Public Instruction of potential added costs to property tax payers from opening Wisconsin’s school choice programs to families of all income levels is deeply flawed.
A proposal to enhance public credibility
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