We apologize for yesterday's Briefing being missing, as a consequence of a plane with malfunctioning wifi. We apologize for the inconvenience. 

On the plus side, speaking of house news, we hope you notice our new website design, which we are particularly fond of. We are also moving to a new CMS and backend as we do so, and so publishing may be touch-and-go.

What's this business about a plane? We are in San Francisco. Because we could not find flights to Sodom. But also to investigate everything having to do with the overlap between tech and policy. 

To that end, this week, we will be attending the Reboot Conference put on by the Foundation for American Innovation, which we will be covering, and hoping to do as many interviews of useful thinkers and policymakers as we do.

This is a new experiment, to try to keep up with our usual posting schedule while doing on-the-ground reporting. We'll see how it goes. As always, we welcome your feedback.

Onward to your morning news...

Policy News You Need To Know

#PermittingReform – Kamala Harris has hired Camila Thorndike, a former Bernie Sanders staffer, as her “climate engagement director.” Sanders was one of only four members on the Senate ENR committee to vote against the Energy Permitting Act of 2024. So this suggests that if Harris wins, permitting reform is dead. (Via FAI's Thomas Hochman)

#DrugPolicy – Manhattan Institute's Charles Fain Lehman: "States that legalized pot for recreational use saw double-digit increases in addiction, chronic homelessness and arrests, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City."

#Energy #China – One problem with the Biden Administration's plans to promote green energy is that a lot of solar panels (and wind turbines) are made in China. And one problem with that, among many, is that many things in China are made with forced labor.

#Life – In Canada, euthanasia is now the fifth-leading cause of death. In the WSJ, Nicholas Tomaino points out that that's not encouraging.

#TaxPolicy – Tyler Cowen: Taxing unrealized capital gains is a terrible idea.

#TaxPolicy – Tax Foundation has a new study on the costs of complying with tax rules for businesses. Key quotes: “tax complexity and compliance costs are on the rise, with much of the compliance burden attributable to business income taxes.” Furthermore: “evidence points to economies of scale in tax compliance costs, meaning smaller companies are disproportionately burdened and disadvantaged by tax complexity.”

#CriminalPolicy – This is a state issue, but a tragic one: there seems to be an unfolding scandal of sexual abuse in American juvenile detention centers.

#Trade #AdministrativeLaw – In the WSJ, Hudson Institute's Thomas J. Duesterberg argues that Loper Bright could be good for free trade.

Chart of the Day

Via EPPC's Patrick Brown: Sometimes the simplest charts tell the best stories - median age at first marriage, itself correlated with so much about culture+family life, is a very good predictor of Trump's 2020 vote share.

Meme of the Day