-
Childcare Is Expensive for Parents – and Still Pays Poverty Wages. Here’s Why.
Childcare is a classic market failure: families can’t afford it, providers can’t sustainably supply it, and workers are underpaid. Evidence, tradeoffs, and reforms.
-
Jobs Added vs. Jobs People Want: Why the Numbers Don’t Match Reality
Headline job growth can look strong while job quality deteriorates. Here’s what the top-line jobs report misses, and what to watch instead.
-
Student Debt Explained: Causes, Consequences, and Solutions
Student debt became a national balance-sheet problem. Here’s how we got here, who is hurting most, and what reforms actually fix the system.
-
Why Grocery Prices Still Feel High Even as Inflation Cools
Inflation falling does not mean prices fall. Here’s why groceries still feel expensive, how wages compare, and what real relief would look like.
-
Housing Crisis: Supply, Demand, and Zoning Reform
The housing crisis in the U.S. stems from persistent supply constraints rather than just demand issues. Zoning laws and lengthy approval processes restrict construction, driving prices beyond typical incomes. The result is widespread affordability…
-
Impact of Tariffs on Supply Chains and Consumers
The 2018 tariffs imposed by the Trump administration aimed to protect American manufacturing but resulted in increased costs throughout supply chains, affecting many businesses and consumers. While some industries may benefit, the negative impact…
-
Research Resources
The Rational Moderate relies on transparent, verifiable data to ground every piece of analysis. This page brings together the government datasets, statistical portals, and long‑running research series we use most often in our work.…
