Scott Lincicome

Raleigh, Washington, D.C., United States

Vice President, General Economics and Trade at Cato Institute

@CatoInstitute Vice President (Econ/Trade), @DukeLaw adjunct, @TheDispatch newsletter-er. CH❤️RTS. You didn't read the article, did you? Go @Rangers.

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Articles

Trump's Trade Fight Is Just Getting Warmed Up

3 weeks ago | cato.org | Scott Lincicome

An Iron Law of Public Policy is that a wonk’s vacation will inevitably coincide with BREAKING NEWS that demands his attention, and my respite last week was no exception. Indeed, mere hours after Capitolism checked out to spend a few delightful days at a Texas dude ranch(!) with limited cell service, President Donald Trump lashed out at a journalist’s question about the “TACO trade” on Wall Street—the view that Trump Always Chickens Out on his tariff threats.
Trump’s Trade Fight Is Just Getting Warmed Up

3 weeks ago | thedispatch.com | Scott Lincicome

An Iron Law of Public Policy is that a wonk’s vacation will inevitably coincide with BREAKING NEWS that demands his attention, and my respite last week was no exception. Indeed, mere hours after Capitolism checked out to spend a few delightful days at a Texas dude ranch(!) with limited cell service, President Donald Trump lashed out at a journalist’s question about the “TACO trade” on Wall Street—the view that Trump Always Chickens Out on his tariff threats.
Republicans Can’t Pay for Their Tax Cuts with Fantasy Revenue Sources

3 weeks ago | cato.org | Scott Lincicome

In the spring of 2025, Washington is again engaged in a favorite bipartisan pastime: magical thinking. Last week, the House of Representatives passed a sprawling tax proposal — affectionately (and cringingly) dubbed the One Big Beautiful Bill — offering trillions in tax relief over the next decade, mainly by extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
Republicans can’t pay for their tax cuts with fantasy revenue sources

1 month ago | washingtonpost.com | Scott Lincicome

Republicans can’t pay for their tax cuts with fantasy revenue sources (washingtonpost.com) Republicans can’t pay for their tax cuts with fantasy revenue sources By Scott Lincicome 2025052610450000 In the spring of 2025, Washington is again engaged in a favorite bipartisan pastime: magical thinking.
What if AI Means More Jobs, Not Fewer?

1 month ago | thedispatch.com | Scott Lincicome

A little more than two years ago, Capitolism first looked with skepticism at claims that artificial intelligence would quickly put millions of Americans out of work and lead to heightened U.S. unemployment. Even today, with American unemployment still historically low despite far more and more advanced AI technologies, the possibility of mass joblessness continues to generate angst.
Prison education and reentry Archives

1 month ago | aei.org | Gerard Robinson |Brent Orrell |Scott Lincicome |Howard Husock

Op-Ed Column: How WWII became a fork in the road on prison policy Article Time to Do Something About the NILFs Podcast Scott Lincicome on Empowering the New American Worker Op-Ed At the Well with the Loveladies Op-Ed Keeping Public Housing Open to Ex-Cons Could Help Them Stay Out of Jail Podcast Victor Dickson on First Chances, the Success Sequence, and Safer Foundation Post A Glimpse of Life After Incarceration Podcast Prison Scholars Fund Part 1: Theresa Matheson on Community, Education and...
Manufacturing, business, taiffs, industrial policy

1 month ago | homelandsecuritynewswire.com | Scott Lincicome

U.S. MANUFACTURINGBusting ‘Manufacturing Jobs’ MythsPublished 17 May 2025A nostalgia-soaked return to the 1950s industrial workforce is neither preferable nor possible. Promises to use blanket tariffs to reengineer an industrial workforce of our parents’ distant memories are laughably out of touch. A longstanding goal of American politicians on the left and the right—including and especially the last two U.S. presidents—is to boost not just American manufacturing but American manufacturing jobs.
High-Speed Fail

1 month ago | cato.org | Scott Lincicome

One of the difficulties in writing an almost-weekly newsletter is that topics you want to cover, but aren’t necessarily BREAKING NEWS, can often fall by the wayside as newsier priorities emerge. (Incessant U.S. tariff stuff has obviously compounded this issue for Capitolism.) California’s high-speed rail system has long fallen into this category, as its problems are both well-known and well-covered (and the butt of libertarian jokes everywhere).
High-Speed Fail

1 month ago | thedispatch.com | Scott Lincicome

One of the difficulties in writing an almost-weekly newsletter is that topics you want to cover, but aren’t necessarily BREAKING NEWS, can often fall by the wayside as newsier priorities emerge. (Incessant U.S. tariff stuff has obviously compounded this issue for Capitolism.) California’s high-speed rail system has long fallen into this category, as its problems are both well-known and well-covered (and the butt of libertarian jokes everywhere).
What the U.K. Deal Reveals About Trump’s Trade Strategy

1 month ago | theatlantic.com | Scott Lincicome

Last week, the Trump administration announced a “historic trade deal” with the United Kingdom. If by this the White House meant that the agreement is the first instance of a country reaching a deal to get out of President Donald Trump’s worldwide “Liberation Day” tariffs, then yes—it is, technically, historic. In colloquial terms, however, the only historic thing about this agreement is its flimsiness.