While President Donald Trump sparked optimism last week by temporarily walking back steep tariffs on China, on Friday he deepened uncertainty by threatening a new 50 percent tariff on the European Union. Economist and former US Senator Phil Gramm and Donald J. Boudreaux warn that history shows the president and the Republican Party will pay a severe political price if they do not reverse course on protectionism.

Even if the president continues to de-escalate the trade war with China, the United States’ broader relationship with China will continue to be defined by geopolitical and economic competition. In a new Foreign and Defense Policy working paper, Nicholas Eberstadt assesses China’s efforts to develop its population’s “knowledge capital” and its important implications for future growth and the global balance of power.

The US education system’s struggles since the COVID-19 pandemic pose a significant challenge to our historical advantage in highly skilled human capital. In a new AEI report, Nat Malkus and Sam Hollon reveal a troubling relationship between COVID-driven chronic absenteeism and graduation rates.

COVID underlined the importance of in-person social interaction for productivity, mental health, and personal development in not just education but also the workforce. Christine Rosen reflects on the rise, fall, and future of remote work.

Pandemic isolation was just an extreme example of how technology and the internet have increasingly displaced real human connections, friendship, and romance, especially for young people. Christine Emba highlights one of the most damaging aspects of this phenomenon: the widespread availability of internet pornography.