Welcome back to Fraser Insight, the Fraser Institute’s U.S. newsletter. This autumn issue of Insight is highlighted by Fraser Institute research on the many negative impacts of tariffs.

Leading off, the In Print section, as always, features a mix of op-eds, commentaries and blogs. This issue includes articles covering everything from tariffs and trade, to climate policy and missile defense.

Our In Focus section showcases in-depth research studies and scholarly reports. It features a report on the predictably problematic effects of rising tariffs on economic freedom, a collection of essays making the case for rational climate-related policies, and the latest Economic Freedom of the World report (in which the U.S. is ranked fifth).

Finally, the In Context section offers fresh info about, and links to, the Fraser Institute’s family of public-policy podcasts.

We encourage you to share Insight with friends and colleagues by inviting them to sign up for Insight here. Visit our website, which serves as a storehouse for cogent commentary and in-depth analysis—all from a free-market perspective. Follow us on X (formerly Twitter). Join us on Facebook. And check out the In Touch section for more contact info.

If we're looking at the impact of economic freedom on the average person, we may be missing the impact of economic freedom on particular subsets of the population.

Amid their debates over tariffs, taxes and regulations, Democrats and Republicans seem to have reached a quiet consensus that they should be more involved in economic exchange. They shouldn’t.

Thanks to Trump, U.S. prosperity is under attack, in ways obvious and not.

The multilateral global trading system has been upended. The U.S. has cast aside the precepts, principles and agreements that heretofore have strongly shaped American trade and foreign policies—and has embraced the core tenets associated with mercantilism.

A Department of Energy report rejects the idea that carbon dioxide (CO2) constitutes a traditional pollutant—that is, a substance which is out of its natural role/place in the environment, and is causing harm. Rather, according to the report, CO2 is more properly seen as a fertilizer: manmade CO2 additions to the atmosphere do take the “carbon” out of a natural reservoir and put it into the air, but the effect is not toxic nor harmful. Rather, additional CO2 stimulates plant growth around the world, causing a well-documented phenomenon of “global greening.”

Perhaps the best way to engage Trump and win concessions (i.e. lower tariffs) is to work with Washington on joint defense initiatives, including the proposed “Golden Dome” missile defense program.

The latest Economic Freedom of the World report finds that global economic freedom has declined for the fourth year in a row. Hong Kong is the most economically-free jurisdiction in the world (although it’s score has declined in recent years), followed by Singapore (2nd), New Zealand (3rd), Switzerland (4th) and the United States (5th). Crucially, because the data are from 2023, they do not reflect any consequences from the current trade war, though the report does include a chapter on the trade war’s potential effects on economic freedom in the U.S. The rankings of other major countries include Canada (11th), the United Kingdom (13th), Germany (15th), Japan (17th), South Korea (38th), France (44th), Italy (46th), Indonesia (65th), Mexico (70th), India (86th), Brazil (87th), China (108th), and Russia (148th).

This series of essays challenges the prevailing alarmist narratives surrounding climate change and argues for a more balanced approach to environmental policy—emphasizing the need for cost-effective solutions that prioritize human wellbeing, economic growth and technological innovation over costly, inefficient mandates.

President Trump claims that the United States has been “ripped off by virtually every country in the world.” Yet with the exception of China, every country Trump has singled out for treating America unfairly is more open to trade than the United States itself. The Trump administration’s tariffs drop the U.S. from 56th to 76th place in the world in terms of freedom to trade—and nearly knock it out of the top 10 in terms of total economic freedom.

Fraser Institute scholars host and participate in numerous public-policy podcasts, including programs focusing on: women and economic progress; policy issues and innovations; the essential scholars of free-market economics; and the real-world impacts of socialism. Peruse them all and find your favorites here.