Of all the arguments for protectionism, the infant industry argument probably has the strongest theoretical appeal. By protecting a new industry from its more developed foreign competition, the story goes, tariffs give domestic producers the time to grow, learn, and become efficient enough to stand on their own. Domestic consumers feel the short-term pains of higher prices, but they enjoy the long-term gains of job growth and lower prices as the new industry blossoms.

It's no secret that tariffs have driven significant price increases over the last year and a half. A study from the New York Federal Reserve finds that tariffs "contributed 2.9 percentage points to goods price inflation" and that without tariffs those prices would have slightly declined. Tariff defenders, looking for a new reason to claim these higher prices are only temporary, have reimagined the infant industry argument. Now it's being used to support trade barriers in industries that are over a century old, but the promise is exactly the same: Domestic firms need the protection so they can compete, innovate, and cut costs until prices come back down even further than they were before the tariffs.

Michael Brendan Dougherty recently made such an argument in National Review, arguing that "tariffs can, over time, bring prices below where they started." When economist Don Boudreaux called the argument "bizarre," Dougherty replied that critics had failed to acknowledge the dynamic process by which markets respond to tariffs "by adapting and cutting costs." Although he is light on specific details, he posits that the changed incentives of a "paradigm shift" in tariff policy will spur domestic competition, leading to the theorized price reduction. Of course, firms would still respond to the dynamic processes of domestic competition without a tariff wall, but the point stands.

From there, the reworked infant industry argument becomes the standard version advanced more than two centuries ago by Alexander Hamilton and his disciple Friedrich List. When Hamilton made this claim in 1791, his argument may have seemed suitable for a new nation seeking to firm up its economy and security against established European powers.

Others at the time pointed out that special interest groups—a manifestation of the "violence of faction" so thoroughly dissected in the Federalist Papers—had already begun to coalesce around the fledgling iron industry in Pennsylvania, clamoring for protective tariffs. Two years earlier, James Madison had warned about a "premature policy of stimulating manufactures" driving tariffs too high. In the end, Hamilton recommended and Congress enacted a far more moderate tariff schedule than his theoretical musings portended. American iron manufacturers received a consolation prize of a higher tariff on their competitors than the rate for most general imports. Hamiltonians have been touting the infant industry argument ever since.

Nearly 250 years later, those same infants apparently have yet to advance into adulthood. Steel, the direct successor to the founding-era iron manufacturers, remains a singular focus of President Donald Trump's protectionist tariff policies, just as it was under former President Joe Biden. And former President George W. Bush before him. Indeed, steel has been a recurring beneficiary of protectionism for most of America's existence.

This extended period of protectionist infancy suggests that the argument needs a new name. We propose the "Peter Pan industry argument" for companies that never grow up because tariffs make sure they never have to.

The question tariff advocates rarely ask is: Why do some American producers have higher costs than foreign rivals even in the face of lower-cost foreign competition? The answer comes down to specific rules and choices within particular firms and industries. Tariffs, and protectionism in general, address none of these. No industry illustrates this like steel, but it is far from the only one.

In 1947, United Steelworkers won a contract provision known as Section 2-B. Among other things, this barred mill managers from changing established work practices unless new technology required it. Steel companies tried to get rid of this in 1959, finding it difficult (given union incentives) to establish that technology required change. In response, 500,000 steelworkers went on strike for 116 days. This strike sent buyers abroad, causing 1959 to be the first year the U.S. imported more steel than it exported. One of the then-new technologies that was delayed was basic oxygen furnaces, which could produce steel far faster and cheaper than the open-hearth furnaces that were so common. In 1965, only about 17 percent of steel made in the U.S. was made using the basic oxygen furnace. Japan produced 55 percent of its steel with this faster, more efficient method.

Change finally came from a steel customer. Vulcraft, a maker of steel joists, grew tired of paying Big Steel's prices and waiting for Big Steel's deliveries. In 1969, free from steel unions and preconceived notions, the company looked for new steel-producing technologies and found the answer in the electric arc furnaces that had been adopted in much of the world throughout the 1950s and '60s. Vulcraft's parent company later renamed itself Nucor, and minimills like the ones it pioneered now make most of America's steel.

So the modern steel industry was built by a frustrated steel buyer who found a way around protected companies. In other words, the U.S. steel industry has lagged behind the technologies found around the world.

We could go on, but the broad point here is that the "relatively higher domestic production costs that made the tariff 'necessary' in the first place," as one critic put it, are often the result of preventing competition in the first place. It's odd to suggest that further preventing competition through tariffs will somehow alleviate the ills of already-prevented competition.

Tariff advocates fail to acknowledge that the ability to import steel also comes with the benefit of access to cheaper steel for steel-using industries, such as manufacturing. A 50 percent tariff on steel further closes the release valve that imported steel offers. Buyers of steel are then left to purchase more of the more expensive domestic steel. Because new steel mills take years to bring online, this causes delays and longer delivery times for manufacturers.

We don't have to wonder what happens when a country lowers its tariffs on materials used by manufacturers. India did this in the '90s, and researchers found that newly available inputs accounted for 31 percent of the new products that Indian manufacturers introduced. And what happens when the U.S. imposes tariffs on steel? Downstream U.S. firms become less competitive. This is why American businesses clamor for exemptions to tariffs, especially for tariffs on materials like steel.

Perhaps all this could be forgiven if tariffs advanced national security concerns, as tariff advocates assert. They point out that an adversarial nation could cut off supplies of critical materials during wartime and cripple America's ability to defend itself. Unfortunately, tariffs fail there too.

First, this conflates production with access. While domestic production does ensure domestic access, access can be secured without production. In the case of steel, the Commerce Department reports that in 2025, the U.S. imported steel from 79 countries, with Canada being our top foreign supplier. The top 10 sources of steel are responsible for 77.8 percent of America's steel imports. None of those countries were considered adversaries—at least not until the tariff crusades pushed these friends away. What's more, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute, only 23 percent of finished steel in the U.S. was imported in 2024. Far from being exposed to foreign states' whims, American access to steel is incredibly resilient.

Second, this view ignores the positive effects of trade and globalization on national security. The Center for Strategic & International Studies finds that increased trade between countries reduces the likelihood that they'll go to war against one another. Globalization helps ensure that domestic access continues unabated should war break out, thanks to the diversity of trading partners.

When Hamilton made the infant industry argument, he at least assured us that the industry would at some point advance to adulthood and stand on its own. Steel, like so many other Peter Pan industries, has proven Madison right. These industries have refused to grow up, and it's time to stop pretending that tariffs will fix that.

The post Peter Pan Tariffs for Companies That Never Grow Up appeared first on Reason Magazine.

A passenger’s death in June became the impetus for the City Council to ban the practice, but the bill will likely face a court challenge before being implemented in 2028.

© Eduardo Munoz/Reuters

Chi deciderà di andare in pensione a partire dal 1° gennaio 2027 rischia di percepire un trattamento mensile più leggero rispetto a chi lascia l’attività entro la fine del 2026, a parità di età anagrafica e di anzianità contributiva.

A determinare la contrazione dei futuri cedolini è l’aggiornamento dei coefficienti di trasformazione pubblicato dal Ministero del Lavoro, che ricalcola il rendimento del capitale accumulato sulla base del nuovo incremento dell’aspettativa di vita.

Cosa sono i coefficienti di trasformazione e perché cambiano

Nel sistema contributivo, ormai applicato alla quasi totalità dei lavoratori prossimi al riposo, l’importo della prestazione si ottiene moltiplicando le somme accantonate durante la carriera (il cosiddetto montante contributivo) per una percentuale denominata coefficiente di trasformazione.

Il valore di questo moltiplicatore cresce con l’avanzare dell’età di uscita, garantendo un rendimento annuo più elevato a chi lavora più a lungo. Tuttavia, i parametri vengono aggiornati a cadenza biennale per adeguarsi all’evoluzione demografica. Poiché la speranza di vita media continua a salire, le tabelle per il biennio 2027-2028 subiranno una revisione al ribasso: la medesima riserva finanziaria dovrà infatti garantire la copertura di un periodo di erogazione stimato più esteso.

Le simulazioni sugli assegni

Dalle stime elaborate, la riduzione lorda varia in proporzione diretta all’età del pensionato e all’entità del capitale maturato. Di seguito la comparazione omogenea dell’impatto atteso per diverse fasce di contribuenti nel 2027 rispetto al 2026:

Profilo di uscita	Capitale accumulato	Assegno mensile lordo stima (2027)	Taglio mensile lordo	Taglio annuale lordo (13 mensilità)
Pensione di vecchiaia (63 anni)	250.000 euro	~ 935 euro al mese	-19 euro al mese	-247 euro l’anno
Pensione di vecchiaia (67 anni)	250.000 euro	~ 1.060 euro al mese	-18 euro al mese	-234 euro l’anno
Pensione di vecchiaia (67 anni)	300.000 euro	~ 1.272 euro al mese	-22 euro al mese	-286 euro l’anno
Pensione di vecchiaia (67 anni)	500.000 euro	~ 2.120 euro al mese	-36 euro al mese	-468 euro l’anno

Perché un mese di lavoro in più non basta a evitare il taglio

L’aggiornamento dei parametri si inserisce in un contesto segnato dal riavvio degli automatismi di adeguamento dei requisiti alla speranza di vita. Dal 1° gennaio 2027, la soglia minima per accedere alla pensione di vecchiaia salirà di 30 giorni, attestandosi a 67 anni e 1 mese, mentre per la prestazione anticipata contributiva occorreranno 64 anni e 1 mese.

Tuttavia, un’ulteriore contribuzione versata in un solo mese apporterebbe un beneficio marginale al capitale complessivo: per neutralizzare l’effetto delle nuove tabelle occorrerebbero tra i 5 e i 7 mesi di attività in più. Di conseguenza, chi maturerà i requisiti nel 2027 percepirà dall’Inps un importo strutturalmente inferiore rispetto a chi ha lasciato la professione l’anno precedente a parità di percorso.

Andy Burnham has announced "big changes" to welfare to get one million NEETs back into work – but only once he's "rebuilt the education system". Sounds expensive, says Mary Gilleece. It’s clearly never going to happen.

The post Andy Burnham Will Never Cut Welfare appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

More seven year-olds are on disability benefits than 50 year-olds amid a surge in payouts for childhood ADHD and other mental health conditions, official figures show.

The post More Seven Year-Olds on Disability Benefits Than 50 Year-Olds Amid ADHD Surge appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Four in five new jobs created in Britain since 2014 were taken by migrants while the number of British people on out-of-work benefits increased by 2.3 million, according to a report from the Centre for Social Justice.

The post Migrants Taking Four in Five New Jobs appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

More than half of Europeans believe hens should no longer be caged, according to new data released on Tuesday (13 October). 

And 75 percent of Europeans wanted the last hen in the EU out of its cage by 2035 at the latest, according to a poll conducted by Savanta on behalf of Humánny pokrok, an animal rights non-profit.

Pollsters asked 25,080 adults across 25 member states for their views on keeping hens in cages.

The results show that 16 percent of people were not sure when or if putting hens in cages should be banned, while 7 percent of Europeans supported hen-caging until at least 2045.

The survey comes five years after 1.4 million citizens signed the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) to ‘End the Cage Age’ and the European Parliament voted to endorse it.

‘Now is the time’

“This data shows millions of Europeans care about animal welfare,” said Barry Andrews, an Irish Renew MEP.

“Over 1.4 million signed the ECI, which was also supported by MEPs. Now is the time for the Commission to finally make a legislative proposal,” he added.

The delay in tabling legislation came after Copa Cogeca, a farming lobby group, insisted that banning hen cages could take up to 15 years.

But the new data says 52 percent of Europeans wish a hen cage ban was already in place.

The country most supportive of a hen cage ban was Austria, where 65 percent of people believed the last hen should have already left its cage, and 2 percent said cages for hens should never be banned.

Thomas Waitz, an Austrian Greens-group MEP, said an EU ban on animal cages is “long overdue” and urged Olivér Várhelyi, commissioner for health and animal welfare, to deliver an “ambitious timeline”.

“This long period of indecision is not just an affront to the European consumers who want better Animal Welfare, it also harms European farmers and producers who need reliable information for their investments,” Waitz said.

In Bulgaria, the member state which polled as least supportive, 33 percent of people believed the last hen should have already left its cage whereas 9 percent said cages should never be banned.

This article continues, but the full version is available only to EUobserver.com subscribers. Visit account.euobserver.com/membership

You need 35 years of National Insurance contributions to get the full state pension. Ah, says David Craig, but the unemployed get 'pension credit', which pays exactly the same and comes with piles of freebies thrown in.

The post Want the Highest State Pension? Don’t Bother Working Too Much appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Nei comuni piemontesi più piccoli e in calo demografico la spesa sociale è più concentrata sugli anziani. Non si tratta tanto di scelte politiche. A pesare di più sono le rigidità dei contributi per l’assistenza e i limiti organizzativi degli enti.

L'articolo Dove i comuni si svuotano, il welfare locale “invecchia” proviene da Lavoce.info.

Anche quest’anno, Lavoce.info collabora con il Festival Internazionale dell’Economia di Torino dal titolo “Salvare lo stato sociale”. I nostri redattori e collaboratori parteciperanno a eventi che seguono per lo più il format dello scorso anno, chiamato “I dialoghi della voce”. Si confronteranno con rappresentanti di istituzioni legate a sanità, pensioni e welfare in generale. Per […]

L'articolo Lavoce.info al Festival Internazionale dell’Economia di Torino 2026 proviene da Lavoce.info.

A leading Belgian animal park has just welcomed a new arrival: Kali the giraffe.

Kali’s arrival at Pairi Daiza is no coincidence: transfers between European zoos are carefully coordinated, taking into account genetics, age and breeding recommendations.

Rothschild's giraffe Kali was born on 15 February 2024 at Knuthenborg Safaripark (Denmark).

On the evening of Tuesday 15 September, she arrived to join the two Rothschild's giraffes already living at Pairi Daiza: PoléPolé and Oliver.

Kali’s journey of several hundred kilometres, and this new phase in her life, began with a decision taken at European level.

The Rothschild's giraffes in European zoos are part of a European Endangered Species Programme (EEP – Ex situ Programme). The programme maintains detailed records of each animal’s ancestry and demographics to manage this population in the long term. Based on this data, it is possible, amongst other things, to determine which animals can form a breeding pair, whilst preserving the genetic diversity of the population as effectively as possible.

A park spokesman told this site: “Kali is therefore not simply coming to Pairi Daiza because a space happened to be available.

“The recommendation for her transfer took into account her age, two and a half years, as well as her genetic background and that of the giraffes already there.”

She will live alongside Oliver, a male who was born on 1 August 2016 at Safari Park Dvůr Králové (Czech Republic) and who has been at Pairi Daiza since 2018. Oliver has already sired two daughters at the Garden of the Worlds: Zuri, born in 2021 and transferred to Bellewaerde (Belgium) in 2024, and Masika, born in 2023 who left for the Zoo du Bassin d’Arcachon (France) on 10 September 2026.

PoléPolé also lives alongside Oliver.

She was born on 10 May 2021 at WILDLANDS Adventure Zoo Emmen (Netherlands) and has been living at Pairi Daiza for three years.

The departure of Zuri and Masika and the arrival of Kali are therefore not isolated events, but different parts of the same coordinated population-management process.

The spokesman added, “At a European level, these transfers make it possible to manage a population, taking into account the age, sex and kinship ties of each individual, the needs of the population and the situation at each institution.”

Kali’s first few days at Pairi Daiza

Kali arrived at Pairi Daiza late on Tuesday and spent her first night alone in an enclosure within her indoor quarters. The keepers gave her time to recover from her journey and began observing her behaviour in this new environment.

The spokesman said, “Kali was introduced to PoléPolé this morning, under the supervision of the zoological team. The meeting with Oliver will take place later.

During these first few days, the keepers will get to know Kali: how she explores her surroundings, how she reacts to PoléPolé, and her habits and preferences. The next steps in her integration will be tailored to these observations and her behaviour.”

Her Danish keepers describe Kali as curious and gentle. The keepers at Pairi Daiza will now get to know her personality on a daily basis and, based on their observations, determine the most suitable time and circumstances to introduce her to Oliver.

Visitors can already observe Kali in her indoor enclosure through the porthole of the boat Mersus Emergo.

Photo: Pairi Daiza 

As the European Commission considers its final response to the Fur Free Europe European Citizens’ Initiative, The Lancet Regional Health – Europe has published a commentary by leading zoonotic disease experts and academics warning that fur farming poses a preventable public health threat. The authors argue that if the Commission is serious about One Health – the principle that the health of people, animals and wider environment are interconnected – it must propose a ban on fur farming rather than welfare standards.

Lead author Dr Joanna Swabe, senior director of public affairs at Humane World for Animals Europe, says: “Fur farming is an unnecessary and preventable public health threat. The EU cannot claim to champion One Health while allowing a declining fur industry to continue cruelly breeding susceptible species, such as mink, foxes and raccoon dogs, in intensive conditions where dangerous viruses can spread, adapt and potentially spill over to people. Surveillance and spurious welfare tweaks will not remove that risk. The Commission must act decisively and ban fur farming.” 

Dr Neil Vora, director of Preventing Pandemics at the Source Coalition, adds: "Caging wild species, like mink, is dangerous to our health. These animals are like viral sponges under these awful conditions: They can contract respiratory viruses from us, incubate them, then pass them back to us in mutated form. It does not make sense to take wild species and confine them in small cages for their entire lives, only to be gassed or electrocuted, solely to produce fur for fashion. Aside from the animal abuse, the risk to our health is too great. It’s long past time to phase this industry out. The EU should ban fur farming, as many of its citizens want, and show the world what true prevention looks like."

The European Commission was due to respond to the Fur Free Europe ECI by the end of March 2026, but its decision has been delayed by apparent disagreement within the College (the EU’s executive leadership body) over whether to ban fur farming or introduce welfare standards. A document leaked to the media in March suggested the Commission was leaning towards standards. This came despite an unequivocal EFSA opinion by independent EU science agency, the European Food Safety Authority, that the most serious welfare problems for mink, foxes, raccoon dogs and chinchillas cannot be prevented or substantially mitigated in the cage systems used for fur farming.

The Lancet piece argues that the EU’s commitment to One Health is undermined by its hesitation to ban fur farming, despite clear zoonotic disease risks and strong public support for action. It highlights how fur farms create ideal conditions for pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2 and H5N1 to spread, adapt and potentially spill over to humans, with past outbreaks in the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland and Spain demonstrating the danger. The authors note that the fur industry is in steep economic decline, imposes wider public health and environmental costs, and cannot resolve its core welfare or disease risks through minimum standards. They conclude that an EU ban on fur farming would be a practical, preventive One Health measure and a clear example of upstream pandemic prevention.

• The Lancet commentary entitled If the EU is serious about One Health, it must ban fur farming was co-authored by Dr. Joanna Swabe (Humane World for Animals), Prof. dr. Chris Walzer (University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna/WCS), Dr. Benjamin Roche (MIVEGEC, Université Montpellier/ Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)), Prof. dr. Arnaud Fontanet (Institut Pasteur, Université Paris-Cité), Prof. dr. Thijs Kuiken (Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam), Dr. Manon Lounnas ((MIVEGEC, Université Montpellier), Prof. dr. Andrea S. Winkler (Technical University of Munich, Germany/University of Oslo), Prof. dr. Sarah Cleaveland (University of Glasgow), Prof. dr. Dirk U. Pfeiffer (Royal Veterinary College, London/ City University of Hong Kong),  Prof. dr. Latiffah Hassan (University of Missouri), Prof. dr. Raina K. Plowright (College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University), Dr. Neil M. Vora (Preventing Pandemics at the Source Coalition).
• The European Food Safety Authority published its scientific opinion on the Welfare of American mink, red and Arctic foxes, raccoon dog and chinchilla kept for fur production in 2025.

About Humane World for Animals

Together, we tackle the root causes of animal cruelty and suffering to create permanent change. With millions o supporters and work happening in over 50 countries, Humane World for Animals—formerly called Humane Society International—addresses the most deeply entrenched forms of animal cruelty and suffering. As the leading voice in the animal protection space, we work to end the cruelest practices, care for animals in crisis and build a stronger animal protection movement. Driving toward the greatest global impact, we aim to achieve the vision behind our name: a more humane world.
humaneworld.org

A leading Belgian animal park is doing its bit to save a critically endangered species.

International Orangutan Day was recently celebrated (August 19) to raise global awareness about the status of orangutans and the urgent need to protect their natural habitats.

All three species—the Bornean, Sumatran, and Tapanuli orangutans—face a high risk of extinction due to rapid habitat loss.

Widespread deforestation for palm oil plantations, illegal logging, mining, and the illegal pet trade threaten their survival.

Orangutans mainly eat fruit and are essential for dispersing seeds across the rainforest, helping the wider ecosystem flourish. They are known as gardeners of the forest.

For every captive orangutan sold in the exotic pet market, up to 11 other orangutans are killed while trying to protect the poached ape. Many captive animals also don’t survive the journey.

Pairi Daiza,  privately owned zoo and botanical garden located in Brugelette, Hainaut, Belgium is playing its part in trying to save the species.

It is home to nine Sumatran orangutans living in two family groups in the park’s “Kingdom of Ganesha.”

Ujian, Sari, Berani and Mathaï live in the Flower Temple. Just opposite them, Kembali, Rosa, Indah, Yori and Bukit have found their home in the “House of the Artisan.”

The second family arrived at the park in November last year from Frankfurt Zoo as part of the European Ex Situ Programme coordinated by the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria.

Their arrival enabled the five orangutans to remain together while contributing to the responsible management of a healthy European population of this critically endangered species.

In July, both orangutan families were outside at the same time for the very first time, “a wonderful milestone for us,” said Niels Vandemeulebroucke, orangutan care taker at Pairi Daiza.

“For Kembali and his family, almost everything was new: trees to climb, ropes and branches to explore, birds, toys, places to rest, and an entire world of movement around them.

“You could really see how stimulating their new environment was,” added Niels.

“Their neighbours in the Flower Temple were just as intrigued. At first, the whole family climbed high into the trees to get a better look at the newcomers. Interestingly, there were no striking vocalisations or direct interactions, and the initial curiosity quickly settled down.

“Today, both families are once again mainly focused on the relationships within their own group.”

As “ambassadors” for their species, Pairi Daiza’s orangutans help visitors understand the “extraordinary intelligence” of these great apes, he added.

They also provide a powerful connection with their wild relatives and the rapidly disappearing forests on which their survival depends.

Niels went on: “Our role is to keep challenging them.

“We continuously create new enrichments and opportunities to explore, think and interact, because orangutans are exceptionally intelligent animals. I’m looking forward to sharing those observations, and some of their individual personalities, with visitors during this special weekend."

The 75-hectare large animal park is located on the site of the former Cistercian Cambron Abbey, and is home to over 7,000 animals.

Negli ultimi anni c’è stata una ricalibratura del nostro welfare, malgrado il crescente peso elettorale degli anziani. Sono diminuite le spese in sanità, mentre sono cresciute quelle dirette ai giovani, per esempio per famiglia ed esclusione sociale.

L'articolo Sorpresa: la spesa sociale per gli anziani è in calo proviene da Lavoce.info.