John Hood: Fiscal Storm Is About to Hit Us
RALEIGH — You may not be interested in federal deficits, but federal deficits are very interested in you.
John Hood
John Hood: Bigger Congress Would Be Better Congress
RALEIGH — With the 2026 primaries rapidly approaching, you may well live in a jurisdiction where Democrats or Republicans are actively contesting nominations for Congress, state legislature, or local office. All voters can, of course, play a role in setting the table for this year’s U.S. Senate contest.
John Hood: Without Us, the Sun Also Rises
RALEIGH — I’m an early riser. I have been since early adulthood — long, long before any hungry children, or a certain German Shepherd, came along to command my early-morning attention.
John Hood: Three Wishes for the Telehealth Genie
RALEIGH — According to folklore, extraordinary beings resent being confined within ordinary spaces. In “The Fisherman and the Jinni,” one of the stories Sheherazade tells her misguided husband in One Thousand and One Nights, the being in question is so angry at being imprisoned for centuries in a bottle that he has to be tricked into granting wishes rather than killing his lowly liberator outright. In Disney’s Aladdin, the genie isn’t so vengeful but still describes his confinement as “phenomenal cosmic powers” uncomfortably crammed into an “itty bitty living space.”
John Hood: Keep Recent Economic News in Perspective
RALEIGH — Here are three stories about North Carolina’s economy that made headlines last week — each undeniably newsworthy and yet each requiring more information to put in proper historical context.
John Hood: Swing Voters Aren’t Necessarily Ticket-Splitters
RALEIGH — Like it or not, the 2026 election cycle is in full swing. For North Carolina’s March 3 primary, voters are already mailing in absentee ballots to help determine party nominees for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, the state legislature, state courts, and many local offices. The deadline for registering to vote in the primary is February 6. Early in-person voting begins on February 12 and lasts until February 28.
John Hood: Transparency Will Help, Not Harm, Campuses
RALEIGH — I admit that I am not a career academic. But I have taught at the university level for many years, and leadership classes for decades. I can’t imagine any scenario in which sharing my course outlines or syllabi with the general public would impair my freedom, effectiveness, or reputation.
John Hood: Property Tax Merits Reform, Not Repeal
RALEIGH — North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall (R-Caldwell) had created a 23-member select committee to evaluate potential reforms of the state’s property-tax system. That is a fine idea, a sensible reaction to surging property values and changing fiscal conditions. But members ought not be distracted by out-of-state chatter about repealing the property tax entirely. That is a bad idea, destined to fail.
John Hood: Do Sternly Worded Letters Win Wars?
RALEIGH — It was 250 years ago this week that a displaced governor issued a proclamation intended to restore him to power in North Carolina. Instead, it led to the first major engagement of the Revolutionary War in the Southern colonies — and a decisive defeat for his cause.
John Hood: Bookstore Rebirth Teaches a Crucial Lesson
RALEIGH — One benefit of getting married on New Year’s Eve is that our anniversary is unlikely to slip my mind. If you doubt my capacity to forget so important a date, just ask my wife.
John Hood: Choke Points Limits Economic Success
RALEIGH — While our state continues to best most others in economic performance, not all our households and communities are sharing in North Carolina’s prosperity. Some are struggling to replace lost jobs with new ones. Other folks are gainfully employed but see their real incomes being eroded by the rising costs of housing, health care, transportation, and other necessities.
John Hood: When Think Tanks Lose Their Way
RALEIGH — Think tank is a funny term for a serious enterprise. For more than a century — the first one was the Brookings Institution, founded in 1916 — think tanks have played important roles in American politics and government. They’ve developed and promoted ideas.