Pacific Research Institute | Business and Economics Blog

Words Mean A Different Thing When It Comes to Socialism, Says America’s Top Pollster

June 05, 2019

Business Economics

In the classic work Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll, the character Humpty Dumpty says that “When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less.” Responding, Alice (of Wonderland fame) says, “The question is whether...

Addressing Low Home Ownership Rates Key to Eliminating Inequality, Future Growth

May 23, 2019

Business Economics

There have decades of bipartisan rhetoric about the virtues of home ownership, with politicians competing with one another to see who can propose the worst ideas for responsible homeownership. Some policies, like preferential tax treatment and credit-enhancements offered through the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) are distortionary...

Workers Of California Unite . . . Against Minimum Wage Hikes

May 16, 2019

They were warned. They wouldn’t listen. But they should have. A university study confirms what so many of us already knew -- and what several other studies have corroborated: Minimum wage hikes kill jobs. Scholars at the University of California, Riverside, looked at the labor market...

Helping More Americans Climb the Economic Ladder by Encouraging More Savings

May 09, 2019

Business Economics

A central theme of my previous columns has been the importance and primacy of the individual. Economic policymakers cling to their blackboard models but forget that even for unambiguously “net-positive” interventions, there are millions of people being actively punished by their supposedly representative government. Government does...

It’s Raining IPOs, Hallelujah!

April 30, 2019

Silicon Valley and Wall Street aren’t the only ones celebrating IPOs this year – Sacramento is doing its share of the partying. That’s because the state is expected to receive a deluge of tax dollars over the next several years thanks to capital gains generated...

The Haves vs. The Have-Nots

April 11, 2019

Business Economics

A dominant narrative in recent American politics, on full display as the Democratic presidential candidates race left to do battle in their upcoming primaries, is that America is a land of inextricably fixed “haves” and “have nots.” The challenge of our generation is to tackle...

It’s Taxfest in Sacramento

April 08, 2019

Will Rogers said, “The only difference between death and taxes is that death doesn't get worse every time Congress meets.” But Rogers never came up against the current California legislature, which these days isn’t just holding a legislative session but an all-out Tax Hike Convention. Today,...

New Study: Costly Regulations Hurt Entrepreneurship, Reform Needed to ‘Break Down Barriers’ for Jobs, Innovation

April 03, 2019

Business Economics

Costly regulations serve as a barrier to entrepreneurship, small business growth, innovation, and job opportunities to lift people into the middle class, concludes the first paper in a new series from the California-based, free-market think tank, the Pacific Research Institute. Click here to download the first...

Estate Tax Bill Will Do Nothing to Reduce California’s Wealth Gap

March 28, 2019

You would think that California’s current $21.4 billion budget surplus would be plenty of money to fund the spending wish list of those thwarted over the past 8 years by former Gov. Jerry Brown’s adherence to the principle of subsidiarity. Think again. In fact, much of...

California’s War on Entrepreneurs

March 26, 2019

California is proving once again that it’s the worst place to do business in America. This time, the state is attempting to collect up to eight years of back taxes from Amazon sellers whose products were temporarily stored in Amazon warehouses throughout the state. Not content with...