Higher interest rate assumptions make the long-term Social Security shortfall look smaller without reducing the actual funding gap.

The Jones Act means that a Louisiana fertilizer plant can ship phosphate rock from Peru for nearly half the cost of moving it from Florida. It’s just one of numerous examples of how the protectionist shipping law hinders domestic fertilizer shipments.

In 1965, Congress explicitly prohibited discrimination based on national origin in issuing immigrant visas, but it should go further to protect Americans’ right to associate freely with people born in other countries, regardless of their countries of origin.