All in Opinion

John Hood - Let a Thousand Billboards Bloom

RALEIGH — Put me down as entirely unsurprised that media companies are adding commercials back into their streaming services as a means of making them profitable. Advertising has never been as unpopular as its critics imagine — a truth that North Carolina policymakers should embrace as they try to finance new infrastructure without irritating taxpayers.

OPINION Recession: Not if, but when

In reaction to an array of economic indicators pointing toward an upcoming recession, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell stated during an August press conference that the Federal Reserve would be shifting its focus from quelling inflation to promoting employment. This change in language signals a transition toward interest-rate cuts soon.

John Hood: Campus peace for everyone

Now that fall term has begun for most colleges and universities, we’re about to witness one of the most predictable phenomena in modern American politics: for every raucous or violent campus protest that gets significant media attention, Democratic candidates will lose voters.

John Hood: Downtowns Change, Like It or Not

Four years ago, communities in North Carolina and beyond were reeling from the COVID-induced Great Suppression. After spiking into double digits in April 2020, the state’s headline jobless rate was still a painful 7.3% by August, with some 376,000 fewer North Carolinians employed than on the eve of the pandemic.

John Hood: Push for Liberty Began in Rowan

RALEIGH — If you look at North Carolina’s state flag, you’ll see two dates: May 20, 1775 and April 12, 1776. Each signifies a moment when North Carolinians played a key role in the emerging American Revolution. Each strengthens the claim that our state was, in this context, “First in Freedom.”