Suppose you are reading this brief on an iPad. Apple is an American company, so your tablet must have been produced in the United States. Maybe not. Today, many corporations are headquartered in one country but manufacture in others and buy supplies from many more. This practice is called offshoring. Offshoring allows companies to lower their costs. However, offshoring also moves jobs from the United States to other countries. Is offshoring a good thing or a bad thing for Americans?

One potential strategy for mitigating climate change is shifting how Americans generate and use energy. Federal tax credits are intended to incentivize individuals and businesses to make these changes. Energy tax credits are expensive, but how much of an effect do they have? Are there other drawbacks to these programs?

Gerrymandering, named after Founding Father and 5th U.S. Vice President Eldridge Gerry, is the process of creating legislative districts that benefit one party more than the other. Districts must be redrawn as a state’s population changes and because of shifts in population concentrations within a state. This process is often a political one because the very elected officials who have an electoral stake in the outcome of redistricting are often able to draw lines that benefit themselves and their co-partisans. Is there a way to keep politics out of drawing legislative districts?