By Caleb Taylor Should Arkansas follow Missouri’s lead on occupational licensing? ACRE Policy Analyst Alex Kanode and ACRE Scholar and UCA Associate Professor of Economics Dr. Thomas Snyder discussed in “Show-Me the way” (published in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on October 22) a recent occupational licensing reform bill passed by the Missouri legislature, known as universal […]
2 Essay Contest Winners Are ACRE Undergraduate Fellows
By Caleb Taylor Tanner Corley and Zakree Massey, 2019–2020 ACRE Undergraduate Research Fellows, are two winners of the 2020 Carl Menger Essay Contest announced this week. The third winner is from Hillsdale College. Corley and Massey will each receive $500 after attending and presenting at the Society for the Development of Austrian Economics meeting at […]
Improving Access to Mental Health Care for Arkansans
By Caleb Taylor How can Arkansas improve access to mental health care? Zak Massey, a former ACRE Research Fellow, discussed the benefits to Arkansas’s mental health outcomes of expanding scope of practice for nurse practitioners in an op-ed published in Arkansas Business on July 27 entitled “Free Nurse Practitioners.” Massey writes: Nurse practitioners can provide […]
Reducing Barriers to Health
By Ryan Jackson According to the Center for Disease Control, 65 year old adults have lower life expectancy in Arkansas than in the vast majority of other states. Given the plight of our elderly, our state’s seniors would benefit from policies that improve the healthcare they receive. For instance, a state policy that reduces the […]
Dry Counties Left Thirsty For Revenue
By Ryan Jackson For most Americans the idea of not being able to go to a store and purchase alcohol seems very foreign. However, the idea is not foreign to many Arkansas residents as dry counties are very prevalent in the state. Nearly half of Arkansas’ counties are dry, 34 out of 75 counties. Not […]
Barber Licensing in Arkansas Could Use a Cut
By Tanner Corley We all hate when we get a bad haircut, but should the State of Arkansas be mandating that barbers receive 1,500 hours of training, pass an exam, and pay a fee? In Arkansas, anyone who would like to cut hair must meet these requirements. In March of 2019, State Sen. John Cooper […]
Undergraduate Research Fellow Presents at Virtual Conference
By Caleb Taylor ACRE Undergraduate Research Fellow Tanner Corley presented his research at the virtual Knee Center Occupational Licensing Conference on May 29. Corley received feedback from other conference participants and economists from a variety of policy groups including Dr. Morris Kleiner, a nationally recognized expert on occupational licensing, professor, and AFL-CIO Chair in Labor […]
ACRE Student Spotlight: Zakree Massey
By Caleb Taylor Does expanding the scope of practice of nurse practitioners improve mental health outcomes in certain populations? ACRE Undergraduate Research Fellow Zakree Massey and UCA Associate Professor of Economics and ACRE Director Dr. David Mitchell answer this question and more in a forthcoming paper entitled “Expanding the Use of Nurse Practitioners and Young […]
How Arkansas Can Address Its Shortage of Primary Health Care
By Caleb Taylor How can Arkansas improve its access to medical care? Let nurse practitioners practice to the full extent of their education and training, according to ACRE Economic Policy Analyst Dr. Maryam Almasifard in an op-ed “Improve access” published in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on March 9. Almasifard says: Residents in rural areas are even […]