In February, the National Institutes of Health—the federal government’s largest funder of biomedical research—announced that it would cap the indirect costs reimbursed to universities through NIH grants. The move, part of the Trump administration’s broader push to rein in unaccountable spending, drew sharp criticism from academic leaders, who warned about stalled medical progress and endangered lives. In “Racist—but Underfunded?,” Heather Mac Donald shows how indirect costs—meant to cover overhead, such as administrative and other expenses—sustain vast university bureaucracies devoted to policing perceived bigotry. The administration was right to go after this bloated system, she argues.
Donald Trump’s return to the White House—and the GOP’s sweep of Congress—has thrown Democrats into turmoil, with the party’s approval ratings at historical lows. But as Park MacDougald observes in “Can Democrats Pivot to the Center?,” breaking with the activist Left may prove impossible, given the power of well-funded advocacy groups and donors. Trump’s victory, meantime, has prompted Martin Gurri to reevaluate a man he once underestimated.
Republicans may run Washington in 2025, but Joe Biden’s legislative legacy will endure—and not for the better. In “Biden’s Worst Law,” Judge Glock dissects the deceptively named Inflation Reduction Act, passed in 2022, which channels hundreds of billions into green subsidies and industrial-policy boondoggles. Touted as a tool to fight inflation and reduce deficits, the law, Glock says, will be remembered mainly for fueling both.
Trump’s first term produced a surprising policy: the most sweeping federal eviction moratorium in history. As Steven Malanga explains in “The War on Landlords,” the measure—initially a Covid-era safeguard—unleashed a wave of state and local laws that upended landlord–tenant relations. Small property owners absorbed billions in unpaid rent, while tenants, shielded by extended protections, often declined to pay—even when able. With Trump back in office, Malanga argues, he should reverse course—tying housing aid to policies that promote supply, protect property rights, and restore market balance.
In “The Wisdom of Youth?,” Rob Henderson challenges the romanticization of young people. Far from embodying moral clarity, they consistently score highest on the “Dark Triad” traits: psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism. A healthier culture, he maintains, would look to adults offering something “steady and timeless in a world that feels increasingly unmoored.”
Nearly a half century after New York City’s brush with bankruptcy, E. J. McMahon’s “The Fading Lessons of New York’s Fiscal Crisis” recounts how the city once recovered through painful budget cuts and structural reform. Today, though, with deficits rising, and welfare rolls expanding, New York leaders are repeating the mistakes of the 1970s. The city has clawed back much of what it lost during the pandemic—but as Nicole Gelinas shows in “New York, Five Years Later,” crime remains elevated, retail is struggling, and “normal” often means learning to live with less. Better leadership is needed.
In “Marijuana and the Mentally Ill,” Stephen Eide explores another urban crisis: the effect of pot legalization on community mental health. With nearly half of the seriously mentally ill now using cannabis, clinicians struggle to stabilize psychosis in patients consuming a drug that actively worsens it. The result: more suffering and street disorder in America’s cities.
Elsewhere in this issue, among numerous other compelling pieces: Sanjana Friedman explores San Francisco’s bus life, and Allison Schrager charts the return of economic trade-offs—a painful, if necessary, development.
—Brian C. Anderson
