Civil forfeiture laws permit law enforcement to seize property allegedly connected to criminal activity. These laws have been heavily scrutinized. Congress enacted the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act (CAFRA) to curb erroneous forfeitures and make claimants whole “after wrongful government seizures.” Under CAFRA, a property owner may recover reasonable attorneys’ fees and other litigation costs if he or she “substantially prevails.”

Richard Ross is an attorney who holds client funds in a trust account at a bank. On October 6, 2021, a business wired $29.6 million into that account after receiving a fraudulent email instructing it to do so. The business soon discovered the fraudulent nature of the email and reported this to the authorities. Ross, believing the funds came from a client who settled a copyright matter, distributed them as instructed. When the bank flagged the transaction for fraud, Ross directed it to recall all pending transfers. By acting promptly, Ross prevented the fraudster from stealing $1.5 million dollars.

Our Wharton School Pension Research Council working paper, “Social Security’s Role in the Federal Debt Explosion: Past, Present, and the Reform Imperative,” is now available on SSRN.

Below is the paper’s conclusion.

Access the full paper

According to the 2026 Social Security Trustees Report, the Social Security Trust Fund is projected to hit zero by the end of 2032. Under current law, that means a 22 percent benefit cut for all existing and future beneficiaries. 

It sounds horrific. Yet this outcome might be the most realistic option available.

Social Security collects taxes from the working-age population and pays benefits to the “retired” population. The taxes flow into, and the benefits out of, a trust fund. Thus, the system’s financial condition depends, under existing law, on the status of this trust fund.

As we continue our special “AI in Education” series, it’s time to consider the funding side. On Tuesday, my colleague Jennifer Huddleston examined why AI in the classroom matters and the importance of parents and teachers deciding how kids use it. Yesterday, she and Christopher Gardner looked at how teachers can benefit from AI. 

School choice is an important element that relates to both topics. It’s easy enough to say parents should decide how much their children interact with AI in school. But how realistic is that in practice? In our current system, parents are generally mandated to send their children to assigned public schools. If they want something different, they must pay twice for education—once in taxes and again in tuition or homeschooling costs. Similarly, as public schools have a near monopoly on education in most areas, that’s where the vast majority of teachers work.

In the so-called AI manifesto war, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has adopted an offensive posture that stands out from those issued by his peers. “We propose a philosophy based on individual empowerment as the source of prosperity, invention as the primary purpose of superintelligence, and balance of power as the foundation of safety,” he writes. Whether Meta will practice what it preaches—and spur others to do so—is an open question. 

On Sunday, President Trump unexpectedly ordered a scaling back of the US–Republic of Korea Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercises scheduled for August 17–27. Invoking his “very good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, he wrote that the drills would send an “inappropriate and hostile” signal to an “unthreatening and respectful” North Korea. And today, the Wall Street Journal reports that he has asked his advisors to try to arrange a meeting with Kim, possibly as soon as November, when Trump next visits Asia.

The move reflects a desire to reboot the US–Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) talks of Trump’s first term, when he became the first sitting US president to meet with a North Korean leader. The two sealed a landmark joint statement of principles in Singapore in 2018. Draft agreements were drawn up that would have regularized US-DPRK relations and declared an end to the Korean War, but the process foundered on the DPRK’s unwillingness to accede to US demands that it rapidly relinquish its nuclear weapons and production capabilities. 

The technologies used in classrooms are constantly evolving. Teachers have worked on chalkboards, whiteboards, and smartboards. They have gone from grading exams by hand to using Scantrons to now using entirely digital formats. This evolution has been occurring since the dawn of education, as has the concern about the potential impact of each technology on teachers and the quality of education. After all, Socrates expressed concern that the written word could tell without teaching. But wise teachers have adapted to these technologies, using them not as replacements but improvements that can allow them to use their skills more judiciously.