Three major issues for Think tanks

Three major issues for Think tanks

Dhruv Singal

1)Gun Politics : With one of the defining aspects of liberty under threat, it is a critical task for free market think tanks to change public opinions on Gun rights. Gun rights and the freedom to bear arms for self-protection are pre-requisites for formation of a society that values economic liberty and self-responsibility as opposed to quasi-tyrannical interventionist policies. In principle, such an endeavor would also aim to reduce the regulations imposed on the firearm market, served by a $32 Billion Gun Industry in the U.S. A negative public opinion about gun ownership and consequent stiffer gun control laws affects an industry which employs nearly 220,000 individuals, severely.
Analyzing the situation under the lens of the Overton’s window model, we recognize that for successfully changing the atmosphere of plausible policies in favor of Gun rights, prospective Gun holders must be engaged. Since a significant proportion of firearms are used for sporting and hunting purposes, respective associations must be identified as potential allies in the pursuits of bringing awareness to the milleu in this matter.  Of special concern to the think tank might be, Women and Senior citizens, the security of whom is challenged directly by regulation of Gun control. With courtesy of Women rights and welfare organizations, the ideas of Gun rights can be propagated. On the other hand, while dealing directly with the respective public policy, it must be brought to light that Federal and State governments benefit directly from the tax revenues, the industry provides (nearly $5 billion).

2)Healthcare : Public Healthcare spending in the U.S is one of the costliest in the world, regardless of which the quality of overall health care is low. The relatively poor conditions of Public hospitals and low efficiency of public health care demands that changes to the existing policies be put forward. The regulation of State Governments on the content of insurance packages and insurance rates increase the price of health insurance and consequently also the number of uninsured people. Similarly complex regulations on Hospitals, nursing homes , prescription drugs and medical devices plagues the industry with rising costs. On the other hand,The hidden costs of seemingly cheap Government plan is passed to the provider as administrative cost. Medicare has wide gaps with respect to the coverage offered. With increasing regulation, millions of Americans would no longer be under private coverage.

3)Education : Despite publicly spending far more than any country on Education, U.S clearly stands behind many other countries on academic measures as reflected by a multitude of surveys and studies. A large proportion of students from the Public Schools are dropping out before high school graduation. Inequality in funding and resources exists despite attempts to alleviate the same. Not only can Private schools educate students at lower costs with fewer administrative employees, they can ensure greater quality of education and teaching methodologies. Moreover private schools may be able to offer amenities like  smaller class sizes, enrichment programs, additional courses and more comprehensive athletic programs while the public schools struggle to survive on squeezed unstable budgets subject to federal grants, by imposing hidden costs at the students.