“As cities and states chart a course for recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent response, the call for local leaders to do something will almost certainly lead to policies that, while meaning well, could make matters worse,” writes Greg Brooks, founder and president of Better Cities Project. “We see a chance—maybe a once-in-a-generation chance—to help hundreds of American cities quickly implement market-oriented, low-regulation policies for fast economic turnaround. And that’s why we developed Getting Back To Work: An Economic Recovery Playbook for America’s Cities." Listen to Greg discuss the importance of cities on the AtlasNexus podcast.

South Carolina is one of 30 states with certificate of need (CON) laws—government-controlled regulations for establishing or expanding healthcare facilities. Earlier this year, the Palmetto Promise Institute produced the Healthcare Freedom Agenda, which called for a market-focused healthcare system and the elimination of CON requirements. Thanks in part to their research and advocacy, an executive order was signed in March temporarily suspending CON laws—an EO that Palmetto Promise hopes to make permanent. 

In Burundi, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), few free-market publications are widely available. Starting in 2018, CDE launched the ProLibertyWriters Project, which was designed to focus media attention on issues that will help countries in the Great Lakes region of Africa boost their scores on the World Bank’s Doing Business index. Writers associated with the project publish between four and six articles every week and have produced more than 840 articles in 2019, reaching 87,000 people in Burundi, Rwanda, and DRC.

More than 350 enthusiastic participants tuned in to Africa Liberty Forum Online for an engaging program in English, French, and Arabic that was filled with history, new success stories, and engaging conversations with practical advice for building organizations. The fan-favorite session featuring South African podcaster Big Daddy Liberty and Atlas Network’s Magatte Wade is available here, and video recordings of each session are available in the Day 1 and Day 2 recaps.

"Liberal economies, with their presumption of decentralized decision-making, allow fast-acting, widespread, uncoordinated experimentation and learning," write Atlas Network's Matt Warner and Tom Palmer for Foreign Policy. "That model takes advantage of centralized knowledge and expertise, to be sure, but it also integrates the dispersed knowledge the rest of us possess about our individual circumstances. People close to the problems can find solutions that actually work, long before a large and distant bureaucracy ever could."
Photo Credit: Foreign Policy | Fabrice Coffrini/AFP Via Getty Images

Twenty authors from 15 different environmentalist and free-market organizations from around the world have come together to offer a pro-market perspective on environmentalism. Green Market Revolution: How Market Environmentalism Can Protect Nature and Save the Planet looks at the environmental debate through a classical liberal lens, offering real solutions to keep our economy and planet healthy.
 

In Cookeville, Tennessee, the recidivism rate is over 86 percent; something needs to change. In the second episode of our new series Upward Globility, we meet with a group of women who are completing a re-entry program where they learn life skills as well as work on job preparedness, sobriety, and other necessary tools for success. The Beacon Center of Tennessee is partnering with local groups such as This is Living Ministries to identify existing problems within the criminal justice system, pinpoint policies that work, and end the cycle of recidivism. 

As Americans across the country get back to work, some West Virginians will have a smoother transition thanks to a rollback in occupational licensing requirements spearheaded by the Cardinal Institute. Along with the Knee Center, Cardinal conducted extensive research and outreach to develop an in-depth review of the state’s licensing laws and offer recommendations for reform.

In a special episode of the AtlasNexus podcast, Tom Palmer talks about his discovery of the philosophy of freedom, a generous bookseller who had a profound impact on him at a young age, and the early freedom movement. Other recent episodes feature Rejoice Ngwenya on property rights in Zimbabwe; Clark Neily on qualified immunity; and Connor Boyack on parental rights in education and his successful Tuttle Twins series.
 

Ecuador’s socialist government has become increasingly divided as a result of corruption scandals and a collapsing economy. Libre Razón’s new book examines the country’s economic, social, and political structure in order to educate people on how Correísmo, current president Lenin Moreno, and the local form of socialism have negatively impacted Ecuador and the region.
Photo Credit: Luis Argüello / PlanV.