Adam Smith Society

05/23/2025

Last weekend, we hosted our annual Chapter Leader Retreat in Alexandria, VA—a cornerstone event that brings together incoming chapter leaders from across the country. This retreat is essential for fostering community, delivering impactful programming, and providing valuable training to empower our leaders for the year ahead.

04/01/2024

As interest rates recede, mortgage rates might not be poised to follow.

As interest rates recede, mortgage rates might not be poised to follow. As reflected in the chart below, the difference in yield between Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities (MSBs) has narrowed. However, it has not returned to its historic level. It probably will not. Homebuyers should expect a...

03/29/2024

The spread of analytics has been good for almost everyone, but it’s more important than ever to separate the signal from the noise, writes Allison Schrager.

The spread of analytics has been good for almost everyone, but it’s more important than ever to separate the signal from the noise.

03/27/2024

“With labor and housing markets still tight, the dry tinder for further inflation remains,” write Stephen Miran and Sander Ge**er.

The so-called neutral rate of interest has risen since the Covid era. The Fed should rethink its plans for rate cuts this year, write Sander Ge**er and Stephen Miran.

03/25/2024

Other than disrupting the stock market, rising bond yields should be monitored for the other implications they carry.

U.S. 10-year Treasury yields are on the cusp of breaking 2024 highs (currently around 4.31%), following CPI and PPI data that reflected larger than expected increases in inflation last week. These yield increases most immediately impacted “bond proxy” sectors of the stock market: real estate, co...

03/21/2024

Despite high rents and the shift to remote work, jobs, amenities, and density continue to attract young people to cities, writes Allison Schrager in City Journal.

Despite high rents and the shift to remote work, jobs, amenities, and density continue to attract young people to cities.

03/20/2024

We hosted our second annual Capstone Retreat in Palm Beach in early March. It featured Smith Soc members in conversation with Edward Blum, Jay Newman, Michael Greenwald, Allison Schrager, and Ilya Shapiro on topics ranging from DEI to AI and more.

03/19/2024

“The tension between high office-vacancy rates and employers’ anecdotal pullback from a fully remote workforce reflects firms and employees’ reevaluation of modern work—not just about where it is done, but how it is done most effectively,” writes Arpit Gupta in City Journal.

Rising office vacancies reflect the new reality.

03/13/2024

ICYMI: Stephen Miran joined Readers' Roundtable to discuss how the Biden administration is making it more expensive to build in the U.S. and weakening national security.

What would be the free-market solution to these problems? Miran answers:

Mounting geopolitical tensions have made reindustrialization more of a national security issue. The current administration’s approach of subsidizing unprofit...

03/13/2024

“It’s premature to say that a sustained pickup in productivity is unfolding, but all the factors seem to be coalescing,” writes Mickey D. Levy.

Improving productivity and better-than-expected growth make it risky to cut interest rates too much.

03/06/2024

Home price increases in 2023 outpaced the last 35 years of annual average home price gains.

The end of 2023 brought a sharp increase in home prices. In fact, last year, home price gains even eclipsed wage gains. Home price increases in 2023 outpaced the last 35 years of annual average home price gains. As the chart below shows, the S&P Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price Index witnessed a...

02/29/2024

Even as inflation cools, it is still becoming more expensive to eat in the United States.

Even as inflation cools, it is still becoming more expensive to eat in the United States. Compared to January 2023, last month witnessed increases of 1.2% and 5.1% in grocery costs and restaurant prices, respectively.  Companies in the dining and food industry are coping with increasing labor costs...