Science Funding

This US survey examines: The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, currently before Congress, includes proposed legislation on manufactured housing: https://bipartisanpolicy.org/explainer/whats-in-the-21st-century-road-to-housing-act/; (a) Legislation to remove the federal requirement that manufactured homes be built on a permanent chassis would substantially improve the supply of affordable single-family housing

The European Commission recently presented the European Technological Sovereignty Package, a set of measures intended to strengthen Europe's capacity in semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), cloud and open source: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_26_1187; (a) EU countries' current reliance on non-European digital infrastructure – including cloud computing, AI, microchips, software and data centres – carries substantial economic risks in the medium term; (b) By securing critical supply chains (such as advanced semiconductors), scaling local cloud data centres and funding open source alternatives, the EU's technological sovereignty package will substantially reduce economic risks in the medium term; (c) By securing critical supply chains (such as advanced semiconductors), scaling local cloud data centres and funding open source alternatives, the EU's technological sovereignty package will substantially increase the long-term productivity and innovation capacity of European tech firms

This Finance survey examines (a) The large demand of passive investors for shares in SpaceX in the days after the IPO will cause substantial overvaluation of the stock; (b) Rebalancing of investors' portfolios to make room for SpaceX will cause measurable price pressure on other large growth or technology stocks in the days after the IPO

This US survey examines (a) Requiring most green card applicants to apply for permanent residency from overseas would lead to a substantial reduction in the numbers of skilled immigrants in the US; (b) Requiring most green card applicants to apply for permanent residency from overseas would have a measurably adverse impact on a substantial number of US businesses

This European survey examines (a) Over the past 25 years, the income of the median European citizen has declined substantially relative to the income of the median American citizen; (b) The living standards of the median European are not substantially lower than those of the median American

This US survey examines:  There is draft legislation in Congress to increase the supply of human kidneys by encouraging donations to strangers: https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/2687 ; It is summarized here: https://www.hawaiibusiness.com/bipartisan-bill-aims-to-prevent-kidney-deaths-by-compensating-donors/; (a) Existing matching markets for kidney exchange have extended the lives of thousands of Americans with kidney disease; (b) A one-time $50,000 tax credit for kidney donation to strangers (with the transplants allocated at zero cost to recipients on the basis of waiting times) would save thousands of lives and pay for itself through a reduction in the cost of providing medical care to people suffering from renal failure; (c) Allowing hospitals to pay people for kidney donation to strangers would be at least as effective at saving lives and more cost effective than a tax credit