Balsa Policy Institute Inc.

Our first target continues to be the Jones Act. With everything happening in 2025, it is easy to get distracted. We have decided to keep eyes on the prize.

We’ve commissioned two studies. Part of our plan is to do more of them, and also do things like draft model repeals and explore ways to assemble a coalition and to sell and spread the results, to enable us to have a chance at repeal.

We also are networking, gathering information, publishing findings where there are information holes or where we can offer superior presentations, planning possible collaborations, and responding quickly in case of a crisis in related areas. We believe we meaningfully reduced the probability that certain very damaging additional maritime regulations could have become law, as described in this post.

Other planned cause areas include NEPA reform and federal housing policy (to build more housing where people want to live).

We have one full time worker on the case and are trying out a potential second one.

I don’t intend to have Balsa work on AI or assist with my other work, or to take personal compensation, unless I get substantially larger donations than we have had previously, that are either dedicated to those purposes or that at least come with the explicit understanding I should consider doing that.

Further donations would otherwise be for general support.

The pitch for Balsa, and the reason I am doing it, is in two parts.

I believe Jones Act repeal and many other abundance agenda items are neglected, tractable and important, and that my way of focusing on what matters can advance them. That the basic work that needs doing is not being done, it would be remarkably cheap to do a lot of it and do it well, and that this would give us a real if unlikely chance to get a huge win if circumstances break right. Chances for progress currently look grim, but winds can change quickly, we need to be ready, and also we need to stand ready to mitigate the chance things get even worse.

I also believe that if people do not have hope for the future, do not have something to protect and fight for, or do not think good outcomes are possible, that people won’t care about protecting the future. And that would be very bad, because we are going to need to fight to protect our future if we want to have one, or have a good one.

You got to give them hope.

I could go on, but I’ll stop there.

Donate here, or get in touch at donations@balsaresearch.com.