Pope Leo’s AI Manifesto

His defense of human agency is welcome but not his faith in the state

WSJ editorial. Excerpts:

"When it comes to AI, his encyclical mostly recites the most pessimistic prophecies. He largely dismisses AI’s potential benefits, such as faster and less expensive drug development and medical cures. His call for more government regulation of AI echoes opponents of capitalism like Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez."

"We’ve been around a while and don’t recall when anyone relied “solely” on the free market. Western governments now snatch as much as half of GDP and regulate nearly every part of business life."

"Throughout history the diffusion of technology has democratized information and improved living standards, especially for the poor. The internet and social media have enabled people living under repressive regimes to share information"

"He calls for regulation of algorithms that “influence credit distribution, personnel selection or access to services and opportunities” and “measures to ensure equity: taxation, social protection and industrial policies.”"

"government control is likely to result in an even greater concentration of power. Regulation tends to protect incumbents and retard competition." 

Republicans Shill for Solar Subsidies

Tim Pawlenty was against them in 2012. Now he’ll head the industry association

By Isaac Orr and Sarah Montalbano They both work at Always On Energy Research. Excerpts:

"Minnesota’s electricity prices were 18.5% below the national average in 2007, bolstering the state’s energy-intensive industries like agriculture, manufacturing and mining. By 2017, when Minnesota met its 25% renewable mandate eight years early, the state’s all-sectors electricity prices were only 2% below the national average."

"new solar costs [in Indiana] increase from $76.79 a megawatt-hour to $159.24 a megawatt-hour once firming costs to maintain reliability are included. This is without generous federal subsidies."

"the cost for new natural-gas combined-cycle plants is only $65.03."

"In his 2011 presidential campaign, Mr. Pawlenty said that the government needs to get out “of the business of handing out favors and special deals” and allow “the free market, not freebies” to work." 

The Academy Rethinks the SAT

University of California faculty say that when tests were dropped, student learning fell

WSJ editorial. Excerpts:

"in . . . 2020 . . . the University of California . . . [decided to] drop standardized tests as an admissions requirement . . . The experiment has been a failure, as more than 750 professors in STEM disciplines . . . now admit"

"preparation gaps so severe that instructors must reteach middle-school mathematics"

"Test scores “add substantially to UC’s ability to predict student success” beyond high school grades, especially for minority groups, the faculty report said."

"the university “does not appear to use standardized test scores in a way that amplifies racial disparities.” Without test scores, admissions would hinge on inflated grades, extracurricular activities and essays."

"“for three consecutive years, 20-30% of UC Berkeley first-semester calculus students who participated in mathematical diagnostic testing displayed severe preparation deficits.”"

"current admissions standards cannot “reliably distinguish readiness for university-level STEM majors"

[they were] "admitting students to STEM programs “without a reliable measure of whether they are prepared to succeed."

"UC San Diego . . . found one in eight of the school’s freshmen had math skills below high-school level" 

That was "a 30-fold increase since 2020" 

Britain’s Lost Generation of Workers

Nearly a million youth aren’t working, in school or job training

WSJ editorial. Excerpts:

"one in eight of its working-age youth currently aren’t employed, in school or in job training."

"Nearly 60% of these youth aren’t even looking for work, and more than half have never held a job."

"Nearly half of Britain’s idle youth now claim to have a work-limiting disability. And more than 42% cite mental health problems as their primary condition"

"The U.K. spent £52 billion in the 2024-2025 fiscal year on overall working-age, health-related benefits, up from £36 billion five years earlier" 

"the cumulative annual cost of a million idle youth at £125 billion, or nearly $168 billion—more than Britain spends on education each year."

"opportunity costs from lost revenue and economic potential."

"Steadily rising payroll taxes for employers—and a minimum wage that has increased by as much as 84% since 2019 for some younger age cohorts—are pricing young, inexperienced workers out of the job market." 

Capitalism Delivers for Zohran Mamdani

His budget-balancing cuts to pension payments are made possible by strong stock-market returns

By Austin Berg. Excerpts:

"the single largest line item in his deficit-reduction plan: cutting the city’s payment to its pension funds by $2.3 billion over the next two years."

"The justification for changing this payment schedule is that New York City pension-fund investments have been booming"

"Investments held by New York City’s five pension systems have exceeded expectations for 10 years running, earning 10% returns last year and 7.7% over the past decade, compared with a 7% benchmark."

"What could have produced a boom of that scale? Not socialism."

"continued outperformance of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ stocks" (Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla)

"Democratic socialists decry the evils of capitalism, yet they depend on strong economic growth as a magic beanstalk to pay down legacy debt" 

 

Jeff Bezos Earned His Fortune

The Amazon founder’s innovations save customers 22 hours a year on average, giving them the gift of time

By Marian L. Tupy. Excerpts:

"Amazon didn’t become valuable by force. It became valuable because hundreds of millions of people chose to use it."

"Amazon saved them [consumers] time, money, effort or uncertainty. Sellers weren’t forced to use Amazon’s marketplace. They did so because it gave them access to demand."

"The value Amazon created is harder to see because it is dispersed. A mother who doesn’t drive to a store to buy diapers doesn’t appear in an economic headline. A small business that reorders supplies in two minutes doesn’t make the evening news."

"Suppose an hour of labor is worth about $64, roughly the average gross domestic product per hour worked in the countries in which Amazon operates. If Mr. Bezos’ fortune corresponded to the total value that Amazon created, his $275 billion would represent about 4.3 billion hours of saved time. Divided among Amazon’s more than 300 million active customers, the saving comes to about 14 hours per customer over Amazon’s life."

"entrepreneurs don’t capture all the value they create. The Nobel Prize-winning economist William Nordhaus estimated that innovators keep only a small share of the social value—roughly 2%—produced by their innovations."

"A single avoided trip to a store can save 30 minutes. Finding a product online instead of driving to three retailers can save an hour. Reading reviews can reduce the chance of buying the wrong product."

"Amazon Web Services lowered the cost of starting and scaling companies. It gave firms computing capacity without the old capital expense."

"Amazon also forced competitors to improve." 

Privilege Shapes Progressive Education Choice

Black Americans are far more supportive of school choice than affirmative action

Letter to The WSJ. 

"Jason Riley is right that Democrats and their teacher-union allies often claim to champion disadvantaged minority students while defending an education system that leaves those same students trapped in failing schools (“School Choice Is a Winning Issue for Republicans,” Upward Mobility, May 13).

But there is another political irony here. Black Americans are far more supportive of school choice than affirmative action. In YouGov’s 2024 Cooperative Election Study, about two-thirds of black Americans said that their state should provide “school voucher subsidies for families to send their children to private or charter schools.” Yet less than one-third of white Democrats supported expanding the kind of school choice favored by black voters.

Democrats talk constantly about white privilege, yet one of the clearest examples occurs inside their own coalition: white progressives defending a public-school monopoly less favored by minority families than by teachers’ unions. Apparently, some forms of privilege are more politically inconvenient than others.

Michael T. Hartney

Fellow, Hoover Institution"