![Statue of Liberty and flag](https://www.goodmaninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Statue-of-Liberty-and-flag.jpg)
What’s New
![Are US retirees foregoing large sums of Social Security benefits?](https://www.goodmaninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Money.jpg)
Are US retirees foregoing large sums of Social Security benefits?
90% of Americans are likely to benefit if they wait until age 70 to claim their Social Security benefits. Yet only 6% do so. If you add up the loss of benefits from these decisions over the remainder of a retiree’s lifetime, the typical retiree is leaving $182,370 (in present-value terms) on the table by claiming benefits too soon. More
![Health Care in the Senate Next Year](https://www.goodmaninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/VisioninSenate.jpg)
Health Care in the Senate Next Year
The committee chair will be Bernie Sanders and Bill Cassidy will be the ranking member. Ironically, both believe in universal coverage that could be achieved with no increase in health care spending. Sanders will need help from Cassidy if anything is to be done in a closely divided Senate. The problem: their visions for health care are so different, there is almost no overlap. More.
![Can There Be Too Many Trees?](https://www.goodmaninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/mesa-verde-view-3631220_1280-850x569-1.jpg)
Can There Be Too Many Trees?
![Economic Freedom IS good for the environment](https://www.goodmaninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/CSE_Part_2_3_Exhibit10-1.png)
Economic Freedom IS good for the environment
Yes, data from the Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy and the Fraser Institute’s Economic Freedom of the World Index send a resounding message: Economic freedom brings about environmental protection. Why? Because economic freedom leads to prosperity and only prosperous countries can truly protect their environment. Are you skeptical? More.
![What Can We Learn from the Election?](https://www.goodmaninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Election-Learning960x0-1.jpg)
What Can We Learn from the Election?
![Why Do Progressives Support Democrats? Part II](https://www.goodmaninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/ProgressivesSupportDemocrats-II.jpg)
Why Do Progressives Support Democrats? Part II
![Why Do Progressives Support Democrats? Part I](https://www.goodmaninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/ProgressivesSupportDemocrats-I.jpg)
Why Do Progressives Support Democrats? Part I
The words “progressive” and “Democrat” have become virtually synonymous in modern parlance. But did you know that the most important progressive reform ideas of the last half-century have not come from the left? They have come from Republican politicians and right-of-center intellectuals and think tanks. More.
![Hidden Traps in the IRA Bill’s Drug Provisions](https://www.goodmaninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/prescriptionbottles_medicine_pills_istock_1014-1080x675.jpg)
Hidden Traps in the IRA Bill’s Drug Provisions
In the near future, the elderly and the disabled will face a double whammy: higher premiums for Part D drug insurance and higher prices at the pharmacy. This is on top of negotiated prices (and the consequent drop in new drug production) which will kick in later in the decade.
John Goodman and Linda Gorman explain why this will happen in The Hill.
![Social Security COLA Still Fails To Keep Up With Inflation](https://www.goodmaninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/SocialSecurity-COLA.jpg)
Social Security COLA Still Fails To Keep Up With Inflation
The COLA is supposed to keep our (I’m also a recipient) benefits even with inflation. Unfortunately, it doesn’t. The COLA is calculated based on the rise in the Consumer Price Index between September 30th and October 1st of the previous year. Hence, we’re getting compensated for past annual inflation, with a three-month lag to boot! This leaves us perpetually behind the eight ball. More
![The US is a Waning Economic Superpower](https://www.goodmaninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/ximodi.jpg)
The US is a Waning Economic Superpower
The U.S. is a waning economic hegemon. But far too few Americans, including politicians, realize this. The eventual new and very big kid on the block is, under all but extreme scenarios, China; and, after China, India. By 2100, the U.S. will be in third place, when ranked by GDP — producing only 12 percent of global output compared with China’s 27 percent and India’s 16 percent. More