Critics on both sides of the political spectrum have publicly questioned Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, and call it an unfair and special privilege for tech companies. In a new Mercatus Center at George Mason University working paper, Brent Skorup and Jennifer Huddleston argue Section 230 is about accelerating sound legal precedent and free speech protection, not special privilege. Section 230 not only affects social media platforms, but a far-broader range of content, and has allowed the internet as we know it to flourish.

Proposals to raise the minimum wage have been introduced by various members of Congress, and the result of raising the minimum wage to $15 carries with it good and bad news. In the Washington Examiner, Bruce Yandle explains that 1.3 million people would be lifted out of poverty, but up to 3.7 million could lose their jobs. While the average below-poverty family assisted by the law would see a $600 increase in annual income, this comes at a cost of lost income for the newly unemployed, higher consumer prices induced by the higher wages, and lower earnings for affected businesses.

Across the European Union, member nations have mostly targeted small companies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Enforcement has been inconsistent, with countries only targeting 91 data breaches out of over 41,000. GDPR has acted as a protection for the world's largest tech companies while hampering innovation and disproportionately impacting small firms and startups.

Testifying before Congress last week, Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell claimed the current labor market wasn't hot. While a 3.7-percent unemployment rate would suggest something more than a lukewarm market, it's argued that this metric only captures one aspect of the unemployment story. Economists across the country are attempting to come up with new metrics to account for important nuances, and in Creators Syndicate, Veronique de Rugy gives an overview of the comprehensive jobless rate.