Many public workers are overpaid relative to their private sector counterparts, especially in large, unionized states such as Wisconsin, Ohio and California. This may sound like a controversial claim, but it shouldn't. A consensus is building about the need for reform.

Nationwide, as governors and legislators seek to rein in labor costs, public-employee unions are protesting that their members are actually underpaid. But a growing body of evidence strongly suggests that their protests have no basis in fact.

A new CBO study shows that federal-government employees receive significantly higher compensation than private-sector workers with the same levels of education and experience. It confirms many of the findings of a 2011 study written by Andrew Biggs and Jason Richwine and helps rebut union claims that federal workers are underpaid.

A new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) study finds that federal government employees receive significantly higher compensation than private sector workers with the same levels of education and experience. The CBO report confirms the conclusions of AEI economist Andrew Biggs's 2010 study, and helps rebut claims that federal workers are underpaid

There is undoubtedly a need for better solutions to control illegal immigration, but in the meantime, changes in the laws for legal immigrants that would shift the focus away from granting visas based on family ties and toward a system based on employer demand is a pro-growth step that we should embrace.

Changes in Social Security policy have reduced the willingness of employers to provide accommodations and rehabilitation and their workers to seek them by making access to DI benefits much easier for workers and failing to make their employers more directly pay for their movement onto the rolls.

For decades, conservatives have won elections by wooing white, working-class swing voters with positions they approved of on crime, foreign policy and cultural issues. Economic growth allowed Republicans to expand most government spending programs while simultaneously keeping taxes stable. For both economic and political reasons, this balancing act is no longer possible.