Here at The Center for Growth and Opportunity, we have a unique way of confronting challenges. Relentless optimism. Bold commitment. Fearless innovation. We want to leave the world a better place than when we got here. Whether it’s our award-winning students, or our world-class researchers, we look to work together to find creative solutions to today’s most pressing issues. We’re committed to turning ideas into action.
On this week’s episode of The Great Antidote podcast with Juliette Sellgren, she is joined by guest Tevi Troy. In their discussion, Juliette and Tevi cover the U.S. presidency, executive staff, and presidents of the past. Tevi Troy is a best-selling presidential historian, and a former senior government official. His latest book is Fight House: […]
Last week, BioNTech and Pfizer announced that their COVID-19 vaccine had shown efficacy in human trials, and this Monday, Moderna did the same. No one was sure this point would ever be reached. Both groups have submitted applications to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency approval, paving the way for the vaccines to be distributed beginning […]
On this week’s episode of The Great Antidote podcast with Juliette Sellgren, she is joined by guest Eli Dourado. In their discussion, Juliette and Eli cover economic stagnation, regulations, technology, and innovation. Eli Dourado is a senior research fellow at the Center for Growth and Opportunity at Utah State University. He focuses on the […]
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has now filed its long-awaited case against Google, taking aim at the company for its “anticompetitive tactics to maintain and extend its monopolies in the markets for general search services, search advertising, and general search text advertising.” The primary focus of this case is narrower than expected, alleging that Google “entered into […]
Give geothermal the same permitting concessions as oil and gas on public lands It’s hard to overstate the importance of the shale revolution. Unconventional oil and gas wells have made the United States a net energy exporter for the first time since the 1950s. The revolution has been a rare bright spot in U.S. economic […]
Recently, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed a new rule regarding the administration of critical habitat designations for endangered species. Critical habitat designations on private land can discourage property owners from maintaining or restoring habitat for protected species. Because private lands provide essential habitat for endangered wildlife, it’s important that reforms boost the incentives […]
Alternatives are better for public health and taxpayers For most, COVID-19’s emergence has meant some level of distancing from friends and families. Yet for immigrants detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), social distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19 has been difficult. Immigrant detention centers across the country have been hotspots for COVID-19. ICE […]
Policymakers should stop trying to force them to The battle over how gig economy workers should be classified continues to rage on in California. Last month California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill that exempts more workers from the requirements of AB5 — a controversial law that went into effect at the beginning of this year that […]
Photographers often lament taking pictures in Romania. Taking a clear photo of centuries-old homes and city centers is difficult because of the wires. Everywhere they are strung, breaking up the views. Part of the reason for these dense nests of wires comes as a result of Romania’s wired broadband networks, which had their genesis in […]
How much is rooftop solar worth? This simple question has stimulated a raging debate between electric utilities and solar advocates, both in Utah and around the country. The issue comes down to how utilities should account for electricity that rooftop solar owners feed onto the electrical grid. Utah’s largest utility, Rocky Mountain Power (RMP), wants to pay […]
The U.S. economy is among the six topics selected for the first presidential debate on September 29, 2020, in Cleveland, Ohio. When it comes to the economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic President Trump and his Democratic opponent former Vice President Joe Biden are likely to agree on the basics. Listen to CGO Academic Director […]
Who do you blame when something goes wrong? Have you ever experienced a blue screen of death? Nobody likes it when his computer crashes, but the BSoD, the screen that is displayed when Windows crashes, features a particularly frustrating problem: It is difficult to know who is to blame for the crash. An operating system […]
Arecent paper published in the American Economic Review has reignited interest in data property rights. In “Nonrivalry and the Economics of Data,” economists Charles I. Jones and Christopher Tonetti generate insights on data property regimes by beginning first with a simple model of data. After articulating the idea within a model of the economy, the authors can […]
In March, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission proposed some changes regarding the disposal of radioactive waste in the US. Two months later, an article from The Guardian asserted these proposed changes could “allow dangerous amounts of radioactive material to be disposed of in places like municipal landfills, with potentially serious consequences to human health and the environment.” This […]
In1717, Lady Mary Montagu was living in Turkey as the wife of the British ambassador. There, she witnessed Turkish women practicing variolation, a method of smallpox inoculation that involved transferring fluid from an infected person’s smallpox pustules into an uninfected person’s open wound. Though the practice was common throughout Africa and Asia, it was uncommon in Europe. Before moving […]