By Kerry Jackson and Wayne Winegarden Since the earliest days of the coronavirus pandemic, Washington has authorized nearly $6 trillion in new outlays. Much of it was directed toward helping small businesses. But are America’s entrepreneurs better of...
01 December, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
Listen to PRI’s Dr. Wayne Winegarden discuss inflation and how the government’s pandemic spending may have hurt lower-income Americans, and the latest paper in PRI’s Breaking Down Barriers to Opportunity series on “The Jimmy B...
30 November, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
Dr. Wayne Winegarden, PRI senior fellow in business and economics, discusses inflation, infrastructure and the latest Breaking Down Barriers to Opportunity study on how government pandemic policy negatively impacted entrepreneurs with host Paul Yeage...
30 November, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
Manhattan Institute senior fellow Mark Mills joins us to discuss his new book “The Cloud Revolution,” which explores how the convergence of new technologies centered around the Cloud has the potential to unleash the next great American economic boom ...
29 November, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
Listen to Dr. Wayne Winegarden, PRI senior fellow in business and economics, discuss the federal infrastructure bill and the impact of higher spending on future entrepreneurship on “Insight with Vicki Gonzalez” on Capital Public Radio in ...
29 November, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
Listen to Dr. Wayne Winegarden, author of PRI’s Breaking Down Barriers to Opportunity series on entrepreneurship, discuss how government pandemic “relief” policies actually hurt entrepreneurs on “Mornings on Main Street”...
29 November, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
‘Crazy’ or ‘much ado about nothing’? How Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan could affect inflation By Paul Davidson The White House says its sprawling Build Back Better legislation will create a new foundation for Americ...
20 November, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
“Everything is going up” on Thanksgiving Menu By Breana Noble and Candice Williams Michiganians should expect to pay more for Thanksgiving dinner this year as labor shortages, inflation, and other supply-chain issues lead to increasing pr...
19 November, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
Wayne Winegarden, Ph.D., talks about the $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure package impacts American debt and government spending. Winegarden also explains the impact of the U.S. Federal Reserve buying up American debt during the pandemic and how m...
18 November, 2021 | Evan Harris
The California State Legislature’s Assembly Select Committee on Ports and Goods Movement hearing recently gave us a 240-minute summary of where things stand with the supply chain backlog in California. It provided insight from executives at the port ...
16 November, 2021 | Evan Harris
Book examines growing homeschool appeal to minority communities, special needs students, families fleeing conventional schools Examining the growth of homeschool enrollment in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the nonpartisan Pacific Research Instit...
15 November, 2021 | Lance Izumi
By Sarah Downey | Nov 9, 2021 As Californians and families nationwide struggle with rising prices, concerns persist about the extent to which federal relief programs have increased barriers to economic opportunity and contributed to historic inflatio...
11 November, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
PRI senior fellow in business and economics Dr. Wayne Winegarden joins us to discuss the final paper in his “Breaking Down Barriers to Opportunity” series on entrepreneurship. Wayne discusses how well-intentioned government policies enacted during t...
08 November, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
Been There, Done That on “Making it Rain” in High Tax, Big Spending States Democrats in Congress representing high tax, big spending states like California are pushing for restoration of the State and Local Tax (SALT) Deduction in the bud...
04 November, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
Small business owners and entrepreneurs have plenty of barriers to success without considering the costs from the COVID-19 pandemic. High and excessively complex tax laws, the anti-growth reconciliation bill, and regulatory burdens like the pending c...
03 November, 2021 | Wayne Winegarden
The latest scheme to fund Pres. Biden’s multi-trillion social spending plan is to impose a 15 percent corporate minimum tax. Taxpayers might be wondering why it matters, since former Pres. Trump already lowered the corporate tax rate to 21 percent f...
02 November, 2021 | Rowena Itchon
Government actions to “help” small businesses in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic have worsened pre-pandemic government-imposed burdens to entrepreneurship, finds the final paper in the Breaking Down Barriers to Opportunityseries released today by t...
01 November, 2021 | Wayne Winegarden
We’ve all heard about it by now – the supply chain crisis and the bottlenecks at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Last month, the “dwell time” – the time a container stays on a terminal between unloading from a ship and removal......
27 October, 2021 | Rowena Itchon
Enjoy this recent conversation between Jon Miltimore of the Foundation for Economic Education and PRI’s Evan Harris for our Young Leaders Circle Speaker Series. They discuss socialism, progressive politics, economic news, and the latest pandemic res...
25 October, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
If Willie Phillips, President Biden’s nominee to serve on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Democrats will take a 3-2 majority on this important body that oversees the delivery of reliable and affo...
21 October, 2021 | Wayne Winegarden
Not surprisingly, Gov. Newsom signed controversial legislation (Assembly Bill 1346) to ban the sale of gas-powered lawn equipment. The new law will be another costly burden on the estimated nearly 8,300 landscaping businesses in the state, many of wh...
18 October, 2021 | Tim Anaya
This week, President Joe Biden announced that California ports will operate non-stop to relieve the container ship bottleneck. Major companies like FedEx, UPS, Walmart, and The Home Depot, among others, also announced they will expand their hours unl...
15 October, 2021 | Evan Harris
It was recently uncovered that back in July, Sen. Joe Manchin outlined his views on the $3.5 trillion social spending package in a memo to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. In that document, Manchin specified that no funds should be distributed ...
14 October, 2021 | Rowena Itchon
Not quite a year ago, California voters rejected a ballot measure that would have partially unwound Proposition 13, the landmark initiative that set off an “entrepreneurial and commercial explosion” and “a second California gold rush.” Supporters of ...
08 October, 2021 | Kerry Jackson
Small businesses have still not fully recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic. A new survey from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies shows that California minority-owned small businesses have been struggling most of all. According to the ...
07 October, 2021 | Tim Anaya
How The Debt Ceiling Debate Impacts The Average American If you’ve been watching the news lately, you have probably heard all about the “debt ceiling,” and how disastrous it will be if Congress doesn’t raise it. Fortunately, t...
06 October, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
Very late to the party, last month I made my first financial transaction using Venmo. It’s hard to write to the next line and not come off like President Bush 41 being wowed by seeing scanners at a grocery store, but I was amazed at......
04 October, 2021 | Tim Anaya
States with competitive electricity markets saw cheaper energy prices, more energy infrastructure investment to improve efficiency and reliability, and greater emission reductions compared to monopoly states, finds a new study released today by the n...
28 September, 2021 | Wayne Winegarden
I recently read an eye-popping article by business writer Andy Serwer, who reported that nearly one-third of working-age men in America “aren’t doing diddly squat. They don’t have a job, and they aren’t looking for one either.” All total, that’s nea...
27 September, 2021 | Rowena Itchon
In August, I detailed the $42 billion broadband grant program proposed in the $3.5 trillion infrastructure package. Not to be outdone, California is pursuing its own broadband grant program expansion. Connectivity to the internet is a must for educat...
23 September, 2021 | Evan Harris
By Kerry Jackson and Wayne Winegarden DOWNLOAD THE STUDY Documenting California’s growing outmigration problem, a new study released today by the nonpartisan Pacific Research Institute found that harmful policy choices have increased economic ...
23 September, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
When states claim to be first at something, it’s usually cause for pride. But in California, it’s often a signal to head for the hills – or rather, to other states. In another first in the nation, the California Legislature passed a bill last week.....
16 September, 2021 | Rowena Itchon
‘Giveaway to the rich’: Dems reject means-test for electric vehicle tax credits By Haris Alic House Democrats blocked an attempt by Republicans to means-test the electric vehicle tax credits in President Biden’s $3.5 trillion social welfare and clima...
14 September, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
Toddlers are funny little creatures – simultaneously overly dependent and highly independent. With the newfound discovery of willpower, the tiny humans constantly experiment in testing boundaries. My toddler is characteristically sweet and obedient. ...
09 September, 2021 | McKenzie Richards
Who is going to be first in line to buy if Elon Musk is able to build a humanoid robot in the future? A best guess would be owners of the California companies whose businesses are threatened by the state’s steep minimum wage and other......
06 September, 2021 | Kerry Jackson
Next Round’s guest is economist Wayne Winegarden, PRI senior fellow in Business and Economics. Dr. Winegarden discusses some of the key issues being debated in Washington and Sacramento, from the infrastructure bill to the $3.5 trillion budget resol...
30 August, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
At PRI, we can’t claim to be foreign policy experts or military strategists, but as Californians, we do know something about bureaucratic nightmares. All we need look to is the scandal at the Employment Development Department, which paid out more th...
27 August, 2021 | Rowena Itchon
President Biden’s American Families Plan promises expansive benefits to families such as free universal preschool, two years of free community college, child tax credits, and a paid family leave program amongst many other attractive (but expensive) i...
25 August, 2021 | McKenzie Richards
Of the Senate’s $1.1 trillion infrastructure bill, California expects to receive at least $39.4 billion over the next five years to help rebuild its roads and bridges, and to improve public transportation. The problem is, writes Reason’s Adrian Moore...
19 August, 2021 | Rowena Itchon
Judging from the reaction to Larry Elder’s comment that the appropriate minimum wage is zero, one would think he had suggested harvesting California’s iconic giant sequoias or closing the Golden Gate Bridge. But what the radio talk show host an...
11 August, 2021 | Kerry Jackson
Experts Offer Market-Based Solutions on Issues from Health Care to the Economy SACRAMENTO – With the September 14 recall on the horizon, the nonpartisan Pacific Research Institute today released Saving California, a new book offering realistic,...
09 August, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
These days, many of us have been glued to the screen, watching unfold the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. However, there is one human drama that’s getting little attention – Olympic fashion. I don’t mean the gold lamé cape worn by Angola...
02 August, 2021 | Rowena Itchon
At long last, it’s finally “Infrastructure Week.” On Wednesday, a group of Republican and Democrat senators resolved their final differences with President Biden and reached a long-elusive agreement on a bipartisan infrastructure bill authorizing $55...
30 July, 2021 | Tim Anaya
Whether it is investing in infrastructure or addressing the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, President Biden and the Democratic Congress continue to believe that the government is the main driver of growth and innovation. This errant belief threatens ou...
29 July, 2021 | Wayne Winegarden
COVID-19 launched a whole host of trends, from house remodeling to restaurant delivery to working from home. But who knew that tax relief would become in vogue? Thanks to revenue windfalls and the prospect of employees working from anywhere, state ...
28 July, 2021 | Rowena Itchon
The SEC, under former Chairman Jay Clayton, issued a rule that improved the proxy advisory services market by promoting transparency and holding proxy firms more accountable for inaccuracies. Rather than implementing the necessary improvements to the...
26 July, 2021 | Wayne Winegarden
A couple of weeks ago, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that the White House was working with Facebook and other social media companies to target accounts spreading misinformation. Reaction to her comments and answers from reporters varied,...
26 July, 2021 | Evan Harris
DOWNLOAD PDF Two waves have rolled through California in 2021. One so hot that high temperature records were set throughout the state. The other so chilling that stores have shortened their hours and even closed altogether to avoid it. By now, the vi...
23 July, 2021 | Kerry Jackson
The same city that requires employers to pay workers at least $16.32 an hour, far more than twice the federal minimum wage, also limits how much some businesses can charge for their services. It’s enough to send some companies seeking relief from the...
20 July, 2021 | Kerry Jackson
The latest Washington buzz has the Senate likely voting on the bipartisan infrastructure deal and the federal budget resolution that will fuel President Biden’s big spending plans by sometime in August. But the debate over the repeal of the state and...
13 July, 2021 | Tim Anaya
Next Round features Carol Roth, New York Times bestselling author and PRI fellow and economist Wayne Winegarden. They discuss Ms. Roth’s new book, The War on Small Business, the economic recovery, Federal Reserve policy, and what’s next for American...
12 July, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
University of Tennessee law professor and Instapundit founder Glenn Reynolds – author of an Encounter Intelligence book on space policy – joins us for a fascinating conversation about America’s future in space, which will be dominated by the private ...
05 July, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
Student athletes got a big win on Monday, June 21, 2021, when the United States Supreme Court ruled that the National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA, cannot limit education-related benefits like graduate scholarships, computers, paid intern...
01 July, 2021 | Evan Harris
Handing out taxpayer dollars in the form of basic incomes is the latest policy rage. The Los Angeles Times reports there’s “a growing enthusiasm for basic income programs.” Vox says “guaranteed income is graduating from charity to public policy.” At ...
29 June, 2021 | Kerry Jackson
Ronald Reagan famously remarked that “the most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’” Eater San Francisco reports that the City by the Bay “became the first city in the country to pass a permane...
25 June, 2021 | Tim Anaya
A new state law in Colorado attempted to close gender pay gaps. Instead, the “Equal Pay for Equal Work Act” is excluding Colorado candidates from remote work positions. The main issue with SB 19-085, passed in the Colorado State Legislature in 2019, ...
24 June, 2021 | Evan Harris
In a budget hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee, Attorney General Merrick Garland assured Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, “I promise you, it will be at the top of my list.” Tops on the Justice Department’s To Do List pledged Garland, is t...
23 June, 2021 | Rowena Itchon
DOWNLOAD PDF Not too terribly long ago, the Legislative Analyst’s Office said that to meet demand, each year the state needed 100,000 new housing units in addition to the 100,000 to 140,000 that are expected to be built annually, an impossibility in ...
17 June, 2021 | Kerry Jackson
We were sixth in line when the banker came outside to address the long line which stretched down the street for half a mile. He spoke in Spanish, “we are all out of money, come back next week!” I shook my head in frustration, wondering......
16 June, 2021 | McKenzie Richards
Back in February, Tim Anaya and I interviewed for PRI’s Next Round podcast Cynthia Ariosta and Carl Dene, small business owners in Napa Valley, to get their perspective on Gov. Newsom’s COVID restrictions on small businesses. This heart-wrenching int...
01 June, 2021 | Rowena Itchon
By Wayne Winegarden and Tim Anaya After hiring defeated Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs as a special advisor and flush with a $75.7 billion budget surplus, it was probably inevitable that universal basic income would be included in Gov. Newsom’s massive...
27 May, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
Inflation is seen as the stock market’s boogeyman as the economy recovers. We asked 3 experts if the fears are warranted – or if concerns are overblown. By Will Daniel On April 29, new data showed that a key measure of inflation monitored...
25 May, 2021 | Wayne Winegarden
This podcast features Venezuelan Jorge Galicia, a lawsuit student who escaped his country and is now speaking to college students nationwide about his experience. Jorge recounts Venezuela’s path, beginning with socialist policies such as free colleg...
24 May, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
Living in San Francisco is a dollar-burning experience. It’s the most expensive housing market in the country, and the cost of living is higher only in Manhattan. But what about building a business in the city that fancies itself as The City? Don’t e...
18 May, 2021 | Kerry Jackson
DOWNLOAD PDF Even before it was a state, California was the New World’s new world. Everything that the Western Hemisphere promised was condensed and amplified in what became the 31st state. Not only was it arguably the greatest land of opportunity in...
12 May, 2021 | Kerry Jackson
The Biden administration’s multi-trillion-dollar stimulus and spending policies are exclusively demand-side measures aimed at supporting the consumer. But this focus is blinding the Biden team from mounting economic crises that are resulting from thi...
10 May, 2021 | Wayne Winegarden
The New York Times has a summary of the Biden Tax Plan claiming to explain “some of the main provisions included in the plan and how they’re intended to work.” While the Times may have accurately explained how the Administration “intends” for the tax...
06 May, 2021 | Wayne Winegarden
California policymakers have spent years debating how to pay for road and highway repairs. President Biden’s current infrastructure plan brings that debate to the national stage. Like its peers, California relies on a gas tax and registration fees to...
05 May, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
By Wayne Winegarden and Tim Anaya Last month, Right by the Bay reviewed the findings of a new study touted by former Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs reportedly showing the success of the city’s universal basic income scheme. Reviewing the report’s findi...
28 April, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
Julian Morris, Senior Fellow at Reason and a Senior Scholar at the International Center for Law and Economics, joins us for a discussion on environmental topics as we mark Earth Day 2021. We discuss the Biden Administration's "green infrastructure" ...
20 April, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
This past week, Politico reported that our fellow think tankers (albeit left-leaning) at the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute were forming unions. I assumed that these think tanks were breaking ground, but it appears that they’re just p...
20 April, 2021 | Rowena Itchon
The stock market is at record highs. More than 900,000 Americans found jobs in March. Flapper models sashay down the runways of Paris and Milan. In a moment of weakness, even I turned my head at a “For Sale” classic Mercedes convertible (the last an...
13 April, 2021 | Rowena Itchon
Prominent conservative scholar Charles Kesler discusses his new book Crisis of the Two Constitutions – The Rise, Decline, and Recovery of American Greatness with PRI senior fellow Steve Hayward. Prof. Kesler is the editor of the Claremont Review of ...
12 April, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
Any comedy lovers and fans of stand-up comedians know that the number one rule of improv, or “improvisation,” is to say yes. The United States Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough is doing her best improv impersonation by saying yes (again) to...
12 April, 2021 | Evan Harris
According to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, it is important to work with other countries to end the pressures of tax competition and corporate tax base erosion… to make sure the global economy thrives based on a more level playing field in th...
07 April, 2021 | Wayne Winegarden
Much of the political energy in Sacramento and Washington lately has focused on taxes. Speculation has focused on which taxes liberal politicians will raise, and by how much. While pundits are all but declaring it a fait accompli, two recent develo...
05 April, 2021 | Tim Anaya
There’s a great parable relayed in the movie Charlie Wilson’s War between Rep. Charles Wilson and CIA agent Gust Avrakotos, played by Tom Hanks and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. It’s about a Zen master and a boy. The Zen master repeats the phrase, “we’ll...
31 March, 2021 | Evan Harris
Neither political party has been fiscally responsible as of late. The last fiscally responsible President was Bill Clinton who, in his 1996 State of the Union Address, declared that “the era of big government is over”. Today, it is the era of small g...
29 March, 2021 | Wayne Winegarden
On Monday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments for Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid, a case regarding a California regulation that allows union organizers onto private farm property 120 days a year for three hours a day. The regulation specifies that...
25 March, 2021 | McKenzie Richards
Joe Biden’s Big Tax Plan: 98% of Americans Won’t Pay More By Rachel Bucchino President Joe Biden has made it clear that he’s going to raise taxes for the most wealthy Americans—specifically, those making more than $400,000—while also pled...
24 March, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
It was just a matter of time. Last week, President Biden announced his intention to hike the taxes of the “rich” to fund his progressive agenda. But will it? History has shown that revenue projections from tax increases don’t often turn out to be the...
23 March, 2021 | Rowena Itchon
Tidal Wave of ESG Funds Brings Profit to Wall Street By By Michael Wursthorn March 16, 2021 Sustainability has been good for Wall Street’s bottom line. Exchange-traded funds that explicitly focus on socially responsible investments have 43% higher fe...
17 March, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
California progressives’ plan to impose a wealth tax on state residents died in committee last year. Right by the Bay’s Kerry Jackson and Tim Anaya wrote about why it would hurt everyday Californians far more than its rich and famous. Unfortunately,...
17 March, 2021 | Rowena Itchon
Pacific Research Institute’s Wayne Winegarden sits down with The Roth Effect with Carol Roth to discuss his new gig economy study, “The Small Business Gig,” the Biden administrations $1.9 trillion stimulus bill, and what the future ...
16 March, 2021 | Wayne Winegarden
Here is the simple truth, that is in the richest country in the world we can no longer tolerate millions of our workers being unable to feed their families because they are working for starvation wages. Senator Bernie Sanders Senator Sanders asserts ...
15 March, 2021 | Wayne Winegarden
With Congress on Wednesday giving final approval to President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan, who is the biggest winner from Washington’s biggest ever spending spree? State and local governments in California. In music to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ea...
11 March, 2021 | Tim Anaya
On this Wednesday edition of Freedom & Prosperity Radio Joe Thomas is joined by Dr. Wayne Winegarden, Senior Fellow in Business and Economics, to discuss the gig-economy. ShareTweetPinShare...
10 March, 2021 | Wayne Winegarden
Proponents of Stockton’s universal basic income (UBI) pilot project – known as the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration, or SEED – released a report last week detailing its first year findings. The report’s main claim is receiving UBI boosted ...
10 March, 2021 | Tim Anaya
Pacific Research Institute’s Wayne Winegarden, Ph.D., joins NTD News to discuss the congressional and anti-gig economy PRO Act and his new study on the many benefits for gig workers. Wayne’s segments begins at the 3:24-minute mark. Share...
09 March, 2021 | Evan Harris
This week, the House will vote on the so-called PRO Act, which the National Law Journal calls “the most significant labor law reform since the World War II-era Taft-Hartley Act and the 1935 Wagner Act . . . which first granted private-sector employee...
08 March, 2021 | Wayne Winegarden
Study finds gig economy grows amid COVID pandemic; ‘Benefits people as consumers of goods and services and the income-earning opportunities created’ By Sarah Downey As gig economy restrictions have been reintroduced at the federal level, a new analys...
04 March, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
Pacific Research Institute is proud to present a virtual debate on free speech and the role of social media in moderating online content. PRI brings together an unmatched team of experts including former Congressman Chris Cox, one of the original aut...
02 March, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
Late Friday, the House took its first vote to pass President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package, the first step toward their goal of enacting the plan into law before a March 14 deadline when some unemployment benefits will expire. Much of last w...
02 March, 2021 | Tim Anaya
In this podcast, PRI Senior Fellow Wayne Winegarden discusses his new study “The Small Business Gig.” The gig economy is one of the fastest growth sectors in the U.S. But entrenched union power has been leading the charge for more and more restricti...
01 March, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
When United Farm Workers organizers swarmed over a private farm in Dorris, Calif., during the 2015 harvest, it’s likely they had no fear of consequences. After all, unions enjoy a well-stocked basket of government-granted privileges and protections. ...
01 March, 2021 | Kerry Jackson
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer has told House Democrats that earmarks are coming back in 2021. According to Punchbowl News, which originally broke the scoop on earmarks, Rep. Rosa DeLauro and Sen. Patrick Leahy – Congress’ lead appropriators – are...
25 February, 2021 | Evan Harris
Dr. Wayne Winegarden, PRI’s senior fellow in business and economics, joins the Andy Caldwell Show to discuss his new study, “The Small Business Gig,” on steps policymakers can take to help gig economy workers. Winegarden talks about...
22 February, 2021 | Wayne Winegarden
Watch PRI’s Dr. Wayne Winegarden discuss the last report in the “Breaking Down Barriers to Opportunity” series on gig entrepreneurship with host Paul Greaney on “NTD Business.” ShareTweetPinShare...
22 February, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
With Californian Kamala Harris as vice president, it’s clear the new Biden administration is taking its cues from the once-Golden State on labor policy. In one of its first acts in office, the Biden Administration placed a regulatory freeze on a Depa...
22 February, 2021 | Wayne Winegarden
At first, we were relieved to find that Pres. Biden’s proposal to include a $15 minimum wage hike in the COVID-19 relief package was just a bad nightmare. But when Californians woke up the other day, the idea was back on track. Unlike Bill Murray,....
18 February, 2021 | Rowena Itchon
Amid a renewed push in Congress and states to enact new gig economy restrictions following California’s controversial AB 5, a new study released today by the nonpartisan Pacific Research Institute finds that enacting these harmful laws would hinder i...
17 February, 2021 | Wayne H Winegarden
One of the big policy stories coming out of Congress is Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar’s introduction of the Competition and Antitrust Law Enforcement Reform Act, a broad measure aimed at strengthening antitrust regulation in the United States. What...
11 February, 2021 | Evan Harris
The argument for an economic stimulus seems persuasive. The economy contracted 3.5 percent in 2020, which is the largest annual decline in the national economy since 1946. The latest employment numbers, which were a disappointment to many, seem to fu...
10 February, 2021 | Wayne Winegarden
Last month we covered the story of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors deciding it was within the scope of their duties to reward pandemic “front-line” workers with other people’s money. As we noted then, Long Beach was considering a similar ...
08 February, 2021 | Kerry Jackson
Last week, California should have celebrated an important step to help small business owners and Californians reclaim some sense in of normal. Instead, Governor Gavin Newsom’s announcement to lift stay-at-home restrictions across the state was met wi...
01 February, 2021 | Evan Harris
Media reports that some California businesses have gone underground during the pandemic lockdown should surprise no one. When politicians ban activities, both those accepted by society and those considered less honorable, they drive them into black m...
26 January, 2021 | Kerry Jackson
It was 38 years ago this weekend when during Super Bowl XVIII, Apple debuted one of the most powerful and provocative ads of all time. “1984” opens with an army of clone-like humans marching into a theater to watch on a giant screen a menacing......
21 January, 2021 | Rowena Itchon
On the second business day after the state’s higher minimum wage took effect, employers in Los Angeles County had another weight dropped on them. The County Board of Supervisors approved a $5 an hour increase in “front-line” workers’ wages. It applie...
20 January, 2021 | Kerry Jackson
By Maryalene LaPonsie, Contributor DURING THE 2020 Democratic presidential primary race, candidate Andrew Yang proposed sending $1,000 each month to all U.S. citizens age 18 and older. Dubbed a Freedom Dividend, his idea garnered him devoted supporte...
15 January, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
Offering a temporary pay increase to grocery workers, often referred to as “hero pay”, makes a lot of sense when grocers voluntarily provide this additional compensation to their employees. Grocery workers are taking on additional health risks, suffe...
15 January, 2021 | Wayne Winegarden
Last month, Californians may very well have begun the process of saving their state, reversing a move by the state legislature. They voted by a large margin via Proposition 22 to preserve the ability of people to pursue flexible working arrangements ...
14 January, 2021 | Bartlett Cleland
Michael Thom, professor at USC’s Sol Price School of Public Policy, discusses his new book Taxing Sin. Prof. Thom reviews the history of sin taxes, which goes back for hundreds of years, and the traditional sin taxes, such as alcohol and tobacco tax...
11 January, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
Way back in August, in what seems like an entirely different historical era, when California was open relative to the restrictions we’re under today, 44% of small business owners said they were at risk of permanent closure in the next six months, unl...
06 January, 2021 | Kerry Jackson
It’s not hard to argue that California has the country’s harshest pandemic restrictions, though New York and Michigan are close enough to call it a tie. This would be news to anyone visiting from elsewhere, though. Aside from a few exceptions, things...
05 January, 2021 | Kerry Jackson
Listen to PRI’s recent webinar featuring an all-star panel of experts representing legal, regulatory, and policy industries discussing state and federal changes to data privacy and cybersecurity during 2020 and what the future holds for tech, digital...
04 January, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
New federal COVID stimulus package could help in short term; longer-term impact less clear By Sarah Downey As final agreements on the new COVID-19 stimulus package were negotiated last week, crucial help for businesses and families was approved along...
04 January, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is considering a rule (i.e., Fair Access to Bank Services, Capital, and Credit), which would ensure that banks provide equal access to financial services, without discrimination. Such clarification ...
04 January, 2021 | Wayne Winegarden
In mid-December, the U.S. Supreme Court signaled their intent to wade into the student athlete compensation debate. The Supreme Court combined two cases, National Collegiate Athletic Association v. Alston and American Athletic Conference v. Alston, a...
30 December, 2020 | Evan Harris
Uber customers might have noticed a new fee that’s appearing on their charges. Now, who do we have to thank for that? Oh, yes, the lawmakers who tried to destroy the gig economy and its millions of jobs. Uber added a “California Driver Benefits Fee”....
29 December, 2020 | Kerry Jackson
The ill-winds of populism are again blowing across the American political landscape. This thin veneer of ideology only seeks to divide people, diving a wedge between “the people,” presented as the forces of good, against “the elite,” portrayed as evi...
23 December, 2020 | Bartlett Cleland
Dr. Wayne Winegarden, PRI senior fellow in business and economics, today submitted comments to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency responding to their proposed rule on “Fair Access to Bank Services, Capital and Credit.” In the l...
22 December, 2020 | Wayne Winegarden
A Sign the ESG Movement Is Too Big to Ignore: There’s Backlash In the waning days of the Trump administration, several agencies are pushing back on the notion that corporations should prioritize anything other than profits. By Peter Coy, December 22...
22 December, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
A Sign the ESG Movement Is Too Big to Ignore: There’s Backlash By Peter Coy The legal principle that corporate boards must focus exclusively on maximizing value for shareholders wasn’t always taken for granted. It was enshrined in a 1919 court decisi...
22 December, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
By Henry Miller, M.S., M.D. and Andrew Fillat NASDAQ recently proposed new diversity requirements for the corporate boards of companies listed on the exchange. “Successful companies must cultivate diversity to fuel innovation and to thrive in today’s...
22 December, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
One of the more surprising results from November’s election was the surprise defeat of Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs in his bid for re-election to a Republican upstart Kevin Lincoln, a pastor and former George W. Bush administration official who is bo...
16 December, 2020 | Tim Anaya
On this webinar, PRI welcomes back an all-star panel of experts representing legal, regulatory, and policy industries to discuss state and federal changes to data privacy and cybersecurity during 2020 and what the future holds for tech, digital priva...
15 December, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
Dr. Leslie Lenkowsky, an expert on philanthropy and public affairs, offers his insights into American civil society’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and what increased restrictions on personal freedom mean for our democracy. Dr. Lenkowsky is a pr...
14 December, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
Several possibilities have been offered for how the Biden administration will shift U.S. trade policy including scrapping the Trump trade negotiations with China through executive order and working with Asian allies to pressure China. Much of the Tru...
14 December, 2020 | Evan Harris
Coronavirus relief funds are back on the negotiation table, but the three sides have a huge chasm to close. Speaker Nancy Pelosi originally proposed a $3.4 trillion package, then $2.2 trillion, and has now settled on $900 billion. Treasury Secretary...
09 December, 2020 | Rowena Itchon
It is with much sadness that I learned of the recent passing of one of my favorite and most respected economists, Professor Walter Williams. Walter was a prolific writer, author, educator, and defender of freedom. He died on December 3rd at 84, hav...
08 December, 2020 | Sally C. Pipes
Steve Moore, a member of President Trump’s economic task force, discusses the domestic policy implications from the 2020 election with moderator PRI senior fellow Steve Hayward. Steve Moore offer his insights into what lies ahead for our nation amid ...
07 December, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
Lance Izumi, senior director of PRI’s Center for Education, joins us to discuss his new book, which profiles the journey of Mia Giordano, who overcame learning disabilities through science and school choice. He discusses the promise show by advanced...
30 November, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
Recent Census Bureau data tell a story that surprises no one who keeps up with current events in California: The state is losing residents like few others. According to economist Mark J. Perry, only four other states – New York, Illinois, New Jersey,...
30 November, 2020 | Kerry Jackson
Just Published: Follow the Journey of One Young Woman Who Overcame Learning Disabilities Through Science and Choice in new book, A Kite in a Hurricane No More In A Kite in a Hurricane No More, a new book just published by the nonpartisan Pacific Rese...
25 November, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
Majority of Voters Think Coronavirus Stimulus Package Should Be Top Priority During Biden’s First 100 Days By Rachel Bucchino Amajority of registered voters think President-elect Joe Biden should focus on issues relating to tackling the coronavirus p...
19 November, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
The Department of Labor finalized a rule last month that, as the Wall Street Journal editorial page noted, should not be controversial. The rule states that private pensions cannot let ancillary issues distract them from their primary mission of secu...
18 November, 2020 | Wayne Winegarden
Ronald Reagan once described the government’s view of the economy like this: “If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.” From his last point, even the Gipper couldn’t imagine that government would tax...
17 November, 2020 | Rowena Itchon
San Francisco voters have told CEOs and their businesses to take a long walk off a short pier into the bay. Not in those exact words but in their own way, by overwhelmingly approving Proposition L. Under the Overpaid Executive Tax, passed by a 65-35....
13 November, 2020 | Kerry Jackson
As of this writing, we don’t know who has won the 2020 presidential election. Whoever wins, America’s next chief executive has many important policy decisions to make in the coming weeks. Here’s a preview of some of the big issues that the presiden...
04 November, 2020 | Tim Anaya
Free marketers often assume that between the two political parties, Republicans are better for the stock market. It makes sense. Republicans believe that economic growth can be achieved by reducing regulation and costs for businesses and relying on ...
03 November, 2020 | Rowena Itchon
During the first presidential debate in September, both candidates answered where they think the economy is headed. Trump believes in a V-shaped recovery, basically a quick rebound, while Biden prefers a K-shaped recovery, with the rich recovering wh...
27 October, 2020 | Evan Harris
Next COVID-19 relief bill remains stalled in Washington; ‘Adverse impacts on the economy and individuals will be longer-lasting than they could have been’ By Sarah Downey With the outcome for a new COVID-19 financial stimulus package still in flux, c...
26 October, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
California can end its decades-long water wars and meet the state’s water needs by promoting abundance rather than managing scarcity, writes veteran journalist Steven Greenhut in Winning the Water Wars, published today by the nonpartisan Pacific Rese...
19 October, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
Last week, I wrote about a proposition on the California ballot that would give 17-year-olds the right to vote in some California elections. California’s push for the youth vote got me thinking about how recent college graduates and others entering t...
14 October, 2020 | Evan Harris
Pick nearly any state in the union and likely it has a large swath of rural area and population. Even California, which is rarely thought of as a “rural state,” is still physically more than half rural, with about four million residents living in tho...
13 October, 2020 | Bartlett Cleland
At the end of last month, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill establishing quotas for minorities on the boards of every publicly traded company in the state. That’s on top of a law enacted in 2018 that implemented quotas for women on corporate...
12 October, 2020 | Sally C. Pipes
State Board of Equalization Member Ted Gaines joins us to discuss one of the most controversial issues on the November ballot, Proposition 15, which would create a new split roll property tax system for commercial property. He shares his thoughts on...
02 October, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
Most of the California business community is at the mercy of California’s progressive state legislature. It is easy to forget, especially with Silicon Valley pumping out inflated IPOs, that small businesses are the backbone of the economy. The U.S. S...
23 September, 2020 | Evan Harris
Few topics are hotter these days than mail-in ballots and the role of the U.S. Postal Service. John Barger, a member of the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors appointed by President Trump, joins us to discuss the Postal Service’s plans to move w...
22 September, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
Last month, the Trump Administration announced a “historic deal” to normalize relations between the United Arab Emirates and Israel. Did the Trump administration solve Middle East conflict? No. While the merits of the deal will be debated in think ta...
16 September, 2020 | Evan Harris
Right by the Bay has been following Sacramento’s tax raising schemes here, here, and here. But the state’s tax marauding politicians aren’t the only ones we should be worried about. Presidential candidate Joe Biden also wants Washington’s share of ...
02 September, 2020 | Rowena Itchon
There are no state taxes on wealth in the U.S., but California is a good bet to be the first. The idea carries some political popularity, and its promises sound sweet, but what would be the reality if the legislation, Assembly Bill 2088, becomes law?...
26 August, 2020 | Kerry Jackson
Just prior to the pandemic, many states were finally recovering from the fiscal crises created by the 2007-09 recession. But, as with so many things, the pandemic has derailed these gains. If history is a guide, no matter how long the current recessi...
25 August, 2020 | Wayne Winegarden
President Trump’s signature was barely dry when cash-strapped governors nationwide cried foul over his executive order to provide $400 of additional unemployment benefits a week for the country’s jobless, after negotiations on a new coronavirus stimu...
25 August, 2020 | Rowena Itchon
Here’s Why Democrats Have An Edge Over Republicans in Stimulus Negotiations By: Jenni Fink, Newsweek The White House and Democratic Party leadership both cast blame for the stalemate over a stimulus package on the opposing side, but, in the bat...
20 August, 2020 | Wayne Winegarden
This week’s podcast is a special presentation of PRI’s recent Young Leaders’ Circle webinar, which brought together distillery owners, craft brewers, and licensing experts to examine the impact that COVID-19 has had on the production of our favorite ...
17 August, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
When the 2020-21 state budget was enacted a few months back, I made the case that the majority party’s spending plan essentially sets the stage for an upcoming battle over tax increases. Back in 2011, former Gov. Jerry Brown pushed a budget plan that...
17 August, 2020 | Tim Anaya
Listen to PRI Business and Economics Fellow Damon Dunn on the Bottom Line with host Roger Marsh discuss details from his new book Punting Poverty, the danger of universal basic income, and his upbringing from rural Fort Worth, Texas, to Stanford, the...
13 August, 2020 | Damon Dunn
Title: Are second $1,200 stimulus checks coming? Here’s what we know By: Lorie Konish, CNBC Capitol Hill has come to a standstill following heated discussions last week on what to include in the next coronavirus stimulus package. One thing they did s...
12 August, 2020 | Wayne Winegarden
The Hon. Dan Kolkey – former legal advisor to Gov. Wilson, former appeals court justice, and PRI board member – joins us to discuss how this year’s key public policy issues, such as the state’s response to COVID-19, the housing crisis, and efforts to...
10 August, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
Now that the California Public Employees’ Retirement System has decided to become a lender, it follows that the taxpayers who finance the pension fund have the right to know what types of loans will be made and to whom. The process, though, will unli...
10 August, 2020 | Kerry Jackson
Congress and the Administration continue to debate the next stimulus bill. It will be much more effective, however, if we heed the lessons from the trillions of dollars that have already been spent battling the current recession. Some of the programs...
06 August, 2020 | Wayne Winegarden
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05 August, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
PRI’s Business and Economic Fellow Damon Dunn joined Carol Roth on the Roth Effect Podcast to discuss his new book, Punting Poverty, and universal basic income, poverty, and capitalism. Dunn is a former Stanford and NFL football player turned s...
05 August, 2020 | Damon Dunn
This week in Washington, Democrats and Republicans are squabbling over the next economic stimulus package. Republicans have proposed a roughly $1 trillion plan, while Speaker Pelosi is pushing a $3 trillion plan. The partisan haggling and negotiati...
28 July, 2020 | Tim Anaya
Listen to PRI Fellow in Business and Economics Damon Dunn discuss the growing push for universal basic income and his new book Punting Poverty on “Alabama’s Morning News with JT”. ShareTweetPinShare...
27 July, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
The COVID-19 recession has fueled volatility in the financial markets. Investment portfolios saw sharp drops in March and April but have rebounded recently as the economy opened up in some areas. This volatility has negatively impacted public pensio...
27 July, 2020 | Tim Anaya
The federal government’s emergency unemployment benefits are set to expire this week. Set at $600 a week by the CARES Act — the economic rescue package Congress passed back in March — the emergency benefits were intended to suppleme...
25 July, 2020 | Sally C. Pipes
Taxing billionaires would be a great way to fund the fight against coronavirus like AOC says — but only if the US government were drastically different By: Taylor Nicole Rogers, Business Insider The United States needs to find a way to cover the spir...
20 July, 2020 | Wayne Winegarden
Last week, presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden unveiled his economic platform in Pennsylvania, calling for an end to the “era of shareholder capitalism.” It seems that Jack Lew, former treasury secretary and a member of the Biden brain trust, n...
15 July, 2020 | Rowena Itchon
By Rod Richardson and Wayne Winegarden As the nation grapples with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. Senate may soon consider another federal stimulus package. Some politicians favor trillions in additional federal spending and lending, but...
14 July, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
Watch PRI Fellow in Business and Economics Damon Dunn respond to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey coming out in support of universal basic income with host Paul Greaney on NTD TV. ShareTweetPinShare...
14 July, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
Recently, I attended a webinar hosted by the Legatum Institute, a UK-based think tank, where they discussed the results of their latest “Prosperity Index”. According to the Index’s executive summary, Legatum hopes that “nations around the world (will...
14 July, 2020 | Tim Anaya
This podcast is a special rebroadcast of a recent webinar featuring Damon Dunn, PRI fellow in business and economics, discussing his new book Punting Poverty: Breaking the Chains of Welfare. The former collegiate and pro football player turned entr...
13 July, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
These are incredibly tough times for Texas and all Americans. On top of the economic pain from months of shelter-in-place orders, the violence and unrest we’ve seen arising from the death of George Floyd has brought economic inequality to the top of ...
10 July, 2020 | Damon Dunn
Policy experts: California needs to reform its tax system By Krystina Skurk California’s reliance on a notoriously fickle tax system has exacerbated the state’s budget problems in light of Covid-19, an economics professor said. The state of Californi...
09 July, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
Labor Groups, San Francisco Push Bogus Taxpayer-Funded Survey to Support Anti-Gig Law By Collin Anderson A liberal advocacy group’s own researchers raised red flags about a taxpayer-funded study used to justify a union campaign against the Cali...
09 July, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
As Americans struggle to recover from a deep recession fueled by the COVID-19 crisis, and respond in horror to the violence in many communities following the death of George Floyd, economic inequality and lack of opportunity have risen to the top of ...
09 July, 2020 | Damon Dunn
As if small businesses weren’t hurting enough, California’s senate voted last week to pass Gov. Newsom’s proposal to mandate job-protected family leave for businesses with as few as five workers. If SB 1383 becomes law, very small business would be ...
09 July, 2020 | Rowena Itchon
Private equity firms are an important source of financing for both new businesses and existing firms. States with more private equity investment experience more business start-ups, more innovation, and generally have a more efficient business sector....
08 July, 2020 | Wayne Winegarden
PRI fellow in Business and Economics Damon Dunn discusses his new book Punting Poverty with host Joe Thomas on WCHV Radio in Charlottesville, VA. ShareTweetPinShare...
07 July, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
Listen to PRI fellow in Business and Economics Damon Dunn discuss his new book Punting Poverty with host Larry Marino on “Politics, Issues, and Candidates” on AM 870 The Answer, KRLA Radio in Los Angeles. The interview begins at the 37:4...
07 July, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
Political partisanship can be found in every part of society. What you say, or even what you do not say, is ripe for political criticism these days. It is no surprise then that social media, where a majority of the world devotes multiple hours each.....
07 July, 2020 | Evan Harris
PRI Senior Fellow in Business and Economics Dr. Wayne Winegarden joins us to discuss the latest study in the “Breaking Down Barriers to Opportunity” series, which makes the case that future medical innovation will be hindered unless state and federal...
06 July, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
Listen to PRI’s Damon Dunn discuss his new book Punting Poverty on the Andy Caldwell Show on KUHL AM 1440 in Santa Maria, AM 1290 in Santa Barbara, and K-News 98.5 in San Luis Obispo. The interview begins at the 22:00 minute mark. The Andy Cald...
29 June, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
California’s mask order tests the limits of Newsom’s executive power By: Phil Willon Gov. Gavin Newsom’s order June 18 requiring all Californians to wear face masks came as welcome news to those in the state concerned by the recent surge in COVID-19 ...
29 June, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
As Americans have benefited from tele-health and other innovations thanks to COVID-19 regulatory relief, future medical advances will be stymied unless policymakers remove road blocks that make it difficult for entrepreneurs to develop new technology...
25 June, 2020 | Wayne Winegarden
Elon Musk is not alone in his frustration with the way California treats businesses. But he makes the news, and the announcement that SpaceX is abandoning plans to build rockets in Los Angeles and will instead make them in Texas and Florida is anothe...
23 June, 2020 | Kerry Jackson
In the new book Punting Poverty, released today by the nonpartisan Pacific Research Institute, former collegiate and pro football player turned entrepreneur Damon Dunn pushes back against the universal basic income movement to give Americans between ...
18 June, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
This podcast features Erik Jaffe, a partner at Schaerr-Jaffe and a PRI fellow in Legal Studies. A constitutional attorney, Erik has been involved in over 100 Supreme Court matters. We discuss some of the high court’s decisions involving COVID-19, a...
15 June, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
According to a new analysis from the Congressional Budget Office, the next coronavirus relief package could spell disaster for our economy. In a letter to the Senate Finance Committee, the nonpartisan CBO warned that extending unemployment benefits w...
15 June, 2020 | Sally C. Pipes
Across the state, main streets have gone from being closed to being boarded. For California entrepreneurs, doing business in the state has hit a new low. It’s too early to get insurance data on what the vandalism, arson, and looting has cost business...
10 June, 2020 | Rowena Itchon
The University of California Board of Regents just announced that “the endowment, the pension and all of our working capital pools are fossil-free at the University of California”. The Regents justify the divestment based on their belief that “contin...
09 June, 2020 | Wayne Winegarden
California’s Assembly Bill 5 has not been broken, but given a couple of recent developments, it might soon be showing some cracks. On May 20, Assembly Bill 1850, which would exempt some professions from AB5, a law that virtually outlaws independent c...
02 June, 2020 | Kerry Jackson
Former Connecticut State Treasurer and founder and president of the Institute for Pension Fund Integrity Christopher Bancroft Burnham recently cited Dr. Wayne Winegarden’s study showing how environmental, social, and governance (ESG) funds unde...
28 May, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
Nearly 39 million Americans have filed for unemployment, as of May 21, since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, pushing unemployment closer to levels not seen since the Great Depression. So far, Congress has allocated over $239 billion in stimul...
26 May, 2020 | Sally C. Pipes
PRI Senior Fellow in Business and Economics Dr. Wayne Winegarden joins us to discuss his latest study “Legislating Energy Prosperity,” which makes the case that if lawmakers acted to alleviate the unnecessary costs from state energy mandates, Califor...
26 May, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
Year to date, the Dow Index of the U.S.’s 30 largest companies is down 14 percent; the S&P 500, which tracks 500 large-cap companies, is down 8 percent; and the NASDAQ, an electronic system that trades many of the world’s fastest growing companie...
21 May, 2020 | Rowena Itchon
Policies intended to force Americans into electric vehicles, and taxpayer-financed subsidies that have propped up the EV industry aren’t consistent with those who believe government has limits. But this doesn’t mean that a company such as EV maker Te...
19 May, 2020 | Kerry Jackson
Even as House members consider themselves non-essential workers (they’ve decided to vote from home), it hasn’t stopped some lawmakers from coming up with bad ideas for the next stimulus package, including relief for states and municipalities with pre...
14 May, 2020 | Rowena Itchon
Public affairs professional and noted wine blogger David White of Terroirist.com joins us to discuss how the wine industry is faring during the global coronavirus crisis. He also shares his advice on organizing a virtual Happy Hour and gives recomme...
11 May, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
There’s been a growing debate in California and nationally about extending workers’ compensation benefits for workers who are impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Some states are moving to make front line workers battling COVID-19 to be eligible for...
11 May, 2020 | Tim Anaya
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has officially filed suit against Uber and Lyft for violating Assembly Bill 5 (AB 5). The action is a clear signal that the state’s policy leaders are determined to maximize the economic damage from this ill...
06 May, 2020 | Wayne Winegarden
Roughly 30 million people have filed for unemployment since the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on the nation’s economy. Economists estimate that the unemployment rate now ranges from 15 to 20 percent – numbers not seen since the Great Depression...
05 May, 2020 | Rowena Itchon
Listen to a special presentation of PRI’s webinar featuring a panel of business experts and entrepreneurs analyzing how California can recover economically from the coronavirus pandemic. The panel looks at the current economic outlook resulting fro...
04 May, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
“Healthy people have rights too,” complained my 89-year old mother, who’s miffed because we’ve refused to take her to her favorite grocery store. Mom has joined the tens of thousands of people across America who believe that enough is enough. From C...
29 April, 2020 | Rowena Itchon
Earlier this month, Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledged that the COVID-19 pandemic could be the crisis that his party has been looking for to permanently establish a progressive “nation-state.” “There is opportunity for reimagining a progressive era as it...
27 April, 2020 | Kerry Jackson
Watch Pacific Research Institute’s inaugural panel webinar featuring a panel of business experts and entrepreneurs analyzing how California can recover economically from the coronavirus pandemic. The panel looks at the current economic outlook result...
22 April, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
PRI Senior Fellow in Business and Economics Dr. Wayne Winegarden joins us to evaluate the response by state and federal governments to boost America’s economy amidst the coronavirus pandemic. We discuss the “phase 3” $2 trillion stimulus package ena...
20 April, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
The United States and China are engaged in a no-holds barred attempt to salvage their economies during the coronavirus pandemic. We’re all familiar with the actions taken in the recent weeks by the United States. The Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury...
13 April, 2020 | Evan Harris
Voters will likely have a chance in November to decide if Proposition 13 will remain as it has since its passage in 1978, or if it will turn it into a chimera that treats homes and businesses differently, bleeding the latter for tens of billions......
08 April, 2020 | Kerry Jackson
Public banks, it seems, are the next wrongheaded progressive movement in state overrun with them. The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors voted last month “to reach out to nearby jurisdictions proposing a viability study, the first step in the cre...
06 April, 2020 | Kerry Jackson
This podcast is a recorded lecture from PRI’s second annual policy conference in Sacramento. The speaker is Judge Daniel Kolkey, a partner with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. He served as an Associate Justice on the California Court of Appeals and Legal ...
03 April, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
By eliminating government-created barriers to opportunity, state and federal lawmakers can make it easier for those who are suddenly unemployed to earn a living from home or start a new home-based business. To learn more about reforms to empower en...
02 April, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
In his “Breaking Down Barriers to Opportunity” series, PRI’s Dr. Wayne Winegarden has argued that one of the most important ways that elected officials can help to lift people up the economy ladder is by embracing policies that encourage entrepreneur...
01 April, 2020 | Tim Anaya
That’s what Pres. Trump said in a tweet on the record-shattering $2 trillion phase 3 stimulus package. Right by the Bay doesn’t question the need for government to step up to help the economy get through the coronavirus pandemic. But even during thi...
31 March, 2020 | Rowena Itchon
Dr. Mark Skousen is one of the most prominent libertarians in the country and founder of FreedomFest – the largest gathering of libertarians in the world. Dr. Skousen also teaches economics at Chapman University. In this podcast, we discuss the eco...
30 March, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
All the Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas Layin’ in the sun, Talkin’ ’bout the things They woulda coulda shoulda done… –Shel Silverstein As of this writing, the Trump Administration has pledged to spend more than a trillion dollars...
24 March, 2020 | Rowena Itchon
Until recently, terms like social distancing and even the coronavirus were nonexistent. Now these terms could come to define the beginning of a pending global recession the likes of which have yet to test modern economic markets. As parts of Californ...
23 March, 2020 | Evan Harris
This podcast is a recorded panel discussion on entrepreneurship from PRI’s second annual policy conference in Sacramento. The state’s new law re-classifying many independent contractors to employees has put the livelihoods of many entrepreneurs and ...
16 March, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
Nearly three dozen bills intended to revise or repeal Assembly Bill 5, which restricts workers’ freedom and could potentially kill the burgeoning gig economy, have been introduced in Sacramento. Here is some of the latest, and most important, news ab...
12 March, 2020 | Kerry Jackson
Baby I’ll spill the facts Well honey it ain’t your money ‘Cause baby I got plenty of that I love you for your pink Cadillac. – Bruce Springsteen If you’ve ever admired the gal who managed to steal The Boss’s heart with her pink Cadi...
10 March, 2020 | Rowena Itchon
Janice Rogers Brown, a former U.S. Court of Appeals judge for the D.C. Circuit and former Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court was the keynote speaker at PRI’s second annual policy conference in Sacramento. Judge Brown discusses the thr...
09 March, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
As a former legislative staffer in the California State Assembly, I often asked myself when reviewing legislation, “do we really need this bill?” I asked myself the same question when I came across the introduction of a bill mandating gender-neutral ...
05 March, 2020 | Evan Harris
Our colleague Wayne Winegarden wrote a marvelous piece for his Forbes column on “Bernie’s Math Problem.” To fund free health care, free housing, free college and so on, the Democrat frontrunner plans to make “billionaires pay their fair share of tax...
02 March, 2020 | Rowena Itchon
Love it or hate it, for a variety of reasons when California enacts public policy the impact is felt across the country. And so, it has been again with the January 1st implementation of California’s Assembly Bill 5 (AB5), the so called “gig employmen...
26 February, 2020 | Bartlett Cleland
Lord Jamie Borwick of the United Kingdom’s House of Lords was a recent guest at a PRI luncheon in San Francisco. Britain’s House of Lords has certain similarities with the U.S. Senate, except the members are mostly appointed, or as in Lord Borwick’s ...
17 February, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
Back in 2017, concerned over the sclerotic growth of the U.S. economy, PRI published a series of studies titled Beyond the New Normal by economist and PRI senior fellow Wayne Winegarden. Up until that point, annual real GDP growth averaged just 1.9 p...
13 February, 2020 | Rowena Itchon
In October 2019, the Pacific Research Institute released findings of a new report, titled Breaking Down Barriers to Opportunity #2 Entrepreneurship as a Pathway to the American Dream. The report, authored by Wayne Winegarden, contends that “ov...
30 January, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
The complexity of the financial markets encourages people to support positions that would be unthinkable in most other situations. Such is the case with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) proposed new regulations of proxy advisory firms. ...
27 January, 2020 | Wayne Winegarden
I have written before on the benefits and drawbacks of the various universal basic income (UBI) proposals bubbling up the last few years in the American political scene, specifically the economic, political, and moral dimensions of these policies. A...
14 January, 2020 | Damon Dunn
The United States is in the midst of the longest economic expansion on record. The U.S. economy has been growing for more than 10 years. The unemployment rate is near its lowest point ever. And yet, poverty continues to be persistent nationwide. Tens...
13 January, 2020 | Wayne Winegarden
More than 38 million Americans are living in poverty, according to the latest U.S. Census data. That’s just under 12% of the population. Not exactly what President Lyndon Johnson had in mind when he declared war on poverty in 1964, more than a half-c...
03 January, 2020 | Wayne Winegarden
In 1967 Arthur Koestler wrote The Ghost in the Machine, which was essentially a critique of the hypothesis that the human mind could be viewed as a machine, a sort of chemical computer. He went on to consider that if were a computer, then what......
02 January, 2020 | Bartlett Cleland
Two days before Thanksgiving, financial services firm Charles Schwab announced it was relocating its headquarters from San Francisco to Texas. The Wall Street Journal’s explanation: “The brokerage giant heads for a state that doesn’t punish finance.”...
16 December, 2019 | Kerry Jackson
Wayne Winegarden, PRI’s Senior Fellow in Business & Economics and Director of the Center for Medical Economics and Innovation, joined the Andy Caldwell Show on AM 1440 to discuss his most recent entrepreneurship study . Wayne’s interv...
12 December, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
PRI Senior Fellow in Business and Economics, Dr. Wayne Winegarden, submitted written comments to the Securities and Exchange Commission on their proposed rule change regarding more disclosure of conflicts of interest by proxy advisory firms, calling ...
12 December, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
California’s attorney general has become one of the most powerful political offices in the state. The powers granted to the Golden State’s top cop are numerous and impactful. The attorney general is often front and center for state and federal lawsui...
05 December, 2019 | Evan Harris
Jessica Locke, a paramedic living in Linn Creek, did some traditional mall-type shopping over Thanksgiving weekend, she said Friday night at a neighborhood social gathering in Republic. Locke, who’s lived in the United States since 2010 after m...
02 December, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
The flood of lousy legislation that has poured out of Sacramento for the last two decades or so truly astonishes in its volume. As fourth-rate as the lawmaking has been, though, nothing has been worse than Assembly Bill 5, an existential threat to bo...
02 December, 2019 | Kerry Jackson
Sacramento politicians have heralded the state’s record-low 4.0 percent unemployment figures. While this is good news, anyone living in Southern California will tell you that things aren’t as rosy as they appear to be. Take what’s going on in Imperi...
01 December, 2019 | Wayne Winegarden
Lars brings on regular guest Dr. Henry Miller, a physician, a molecular biologist and Senior Fellow at the Pacific Research Institute, and widely published in both scholarly journals and the popular press and the owner of HenryMillerMD dot ORG to dis...
25 November, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
Academics and former agency heads have called for the Food and Drug Administration to become an independent agency, out from under the umbrella of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Although the FDA has real problems, giving it more i...
25 November, 2019 | Henry Miller, M.S., M.D.
PRI senior fellow in business and economics Wayne Winegarden discusses the latest study in the Breaking Down Barriers to Opportunity series, “Entrepreneurship as a Pathway to the American Dream” on the nationally-syndicated Lars Larson Sh...
21 November, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
PRI Senior Fellow in Business and Economics Wayne Winegarden discusses California’s public pension crisis – and the new report showing that there are now more than 80,000 members of the $100K Pension Club – on Dr. Drew Midday Live w...
21 November, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
The United States tweet first, tariff second trade policy against China continues to define American -Chinese relations. As both nations pursue the “Cold War light” escalation through tariffs, the United States continues to drum up new regulations to...
19 November, 2019 | Evan Harris
When I was on vacation recently in Europe, our tour guide would tell us stories every night about her time living as a young bride in Greece with her late husband and young daughter. As we departed, she said she would love to be our......
18 November, 2019 | Tim Anaya
Recently we ran across several fascinating articles about civics, liberal arts, and climate hysteria that raise basic questions about the content taught at too many of our educational institutions: Has our society lost sight of the fundamental purpos...
14 November, 2019 | Henry Miller, M.S., M.D.
Amid an unprecedented – and excruciating – recent number of intentional power outages to mitigate the risk of fires during California’s dry, windy conditions, Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed a number of policy measures, ranging from demands for $100 r...
12 November, 2019 | Daniel Kolkey
“To observe government is to observe the absence of accountability,” James Freeman wrote in the Wall Street Journal.1 That’s certainly true of unwise regulation of many innovative technologies; and modern biotechnology, also known as “genetic engine...
06 November, 2019 | Henry Miller, M.S., M.D.
Fears that the President’s Trump’s trade war with China will lead to a recession may have faded from the headlines, but economists say it cannot be discounted. “We’re not expecting a recession anytime soon, but, that said, there are a number of headw...
05 November, 2019 | Wayne H Winegarden
PRI’s Wayne Winegarden joins us to discuss the latest study in his Building Barriers to Opportunity series. We discuss how overregulation and misguided government policies make it harder for immigrant and low-income entrepreneurs to start a business,...
04 November, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
A new study released today by the nonpartisan Pacific Research Institute finds that government has erected barriers to opportunity that make it very difficult for immigrant and low-income entrepreneurs to lift themselves out of poverty and climb the ...
30 October, 2019 | Wayne Winegarden
Many of America’s largest public corporations recently made a commitment in principle to their “stakeholders,” which included working with their communities and “protect[ing] the environment by embracing sustainable practices.” Leaders of 181 of the ...
16 October, 2019 | Henry Miller, M.S., M.D.
My last column began a conversation our nation desperately needs to have – forcefully pushing back against the dangerous and misguided myths promoting by proponents of socialism in the U.S. surrounding the supposed socialist success stories in ...
15 October, 2019 | Damon Dunn
The initial report on Stockton’s “basic income” experiment, in which 125 residents in low-income Zip Codes receive $500 a month, shows that most of the money that can be tracked has been spent on necessities. But that’s only part of the story. Forty ...
10 October, 2019 | Kerry Jackson
Now that dust has settled after the signing of perhaps the hottest bill this legislative session – Assembly Bill 5 – what’s next for those who work in the gig economy? A panel of free-market advocates and subject matter experts recently got together ...
09 October, 2019 | Evan Harris
Hillsdale College Professor of Economics and Public Policy Gary Wolfram shares his thoughts on some of the hot topics in the debate over free-market economic policy today, including the Green New Deal, electric car subsidies, the growing push for soc...
07 October, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
California continues to lead the nation in poverty, according to a recent Census Bureau report. The report (pdf), released in September 2019, measured states’ functional poverty rates, which takes into account the cost of living and other factors. Ca...
03 October, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
Biosimilars have the opportunity to bring significant savings to state Medicaid programs and consumers with commercial insurance according to a new study released today by Pacific Research Institute. “Every state would experience significant savings ...
02 October, 2019 | Wayne Winegarden
DOWNLOAD THE BRIEF California lawmakers won’t give up on their crusade to force everyone in the state into electric cars (before eventually removing us out of our cars altogether). That electric vehicles neither sell nor perform up to reasonable expe...
01 October, 2019 | Kerry Jackson
The history of failure, destruction, and death lying in the wake of nearly every socialist experiment is well-known in our country today. Modern-day proponents of socialism cannot point to a single instance of their failed dogma being successful in a...
30 September, 2019 | Damon Dunn
PRI Fellow in Business and Economics Damon Dunn joins us to discuss his new brief on the rise of socialism. He shares stories from his childhood growing up in poverty in Texas as his inspiration for striving to work his way up the economic ladder rat...
30 September, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
One of the most contentious battles of this year’s legislative session was AB 5, with labor and gig economy companies duking out over the definition of who is an employee and who is an independent contractor. In this battle over the “new economy” and...
26 September, 2019 | Tim Anaya
Listen to Damon Dunn, Fellow of Business and Economics at the Pacific Research Institute, joins the David Webb Show on SiriusXM Patriot 125 to discuss why socialism doesn’t work. Click here to listen ShareTweetPinShare...
24 September, 2019 | Damon Dunn
PRI Senior Fellow in Business and Economics Wayne Winegarden joins us to discuss his new study on the State and Local Tax cap in the 2017 federal tax reform legislation. Wayne discusses how the legislation amounted to taxpayers in low-tax states sub...
23 September, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
I have long adhered to the proposition that we should extend grace to our ideological opponents. In fact, when discussing fellow Americans, I reject wholesale the increasingly common language of combat in politics (e.g. political “enemies,” culture w...
17 September, 2019 | Damon Dunn
On Thursday night, the Democratic presidential candidates will meet for the next presidential debate in Houston. One surprising candidate who qualified for the Houston debate and has attracted a small but growing following of supporters (known as the...
12 September, 2019 | Tim Anaya
Damon Dunn sits down with Lars Larson Show to discuss his new PRI brief on why socialist policies cater to the poor and how the left takes advantage of this. ShareTweetPinShare...
06 September, 2019 | Damon Dunn
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, with one eye on California presidential primary votes and the other on the state’s rich political donors, recently wrote an op-ed in the Sacramento Bee in which she demanded someone do something about that “shameful” gig econom...
05 September, 2019 | Kerry Jackson
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-New York, recently stood in front of a home in a beautiful neighborhood in White Plains, NY, to decry — of all things — the area’s high local tax burden. “We all know that one of the biggest burde...
05 September, 2019 | Wayne Winegarden
Recalling his experiences overcoming extreme poverty, former collegiate and pro football player and successful businessman Damon Dunn makes the case for why socialism doesn’t work in a new brief published by the nonpartisan, California-based think ta...
04 September, 2019 | Damon Dunn
Ask Americans what Labor Day means, and they’ll likely say it marks the end of summer. One last chance to wear white and go for a swim before the pool is drained. But as its name suggests, Labor Day was established to celebrate labor –- organiz...
03 September, 2019 | Sally C. Pipes
It seems you can’t scroll through your social media feed or morning newsletter without reading commentary about inverted yield curve and recession. A 2020 economic recession is the talk of political pundits, financial talking heads, and presidential ...
03 September, 2019 | Evan Harris
Despite evidence of a recent slowdown, the American economy is strong according to nearly all traditional economic indicators and has been for multiple years. Nearly a decade of economic expansion has led to record highs being recorded in the stock m...
27 August, 2019 | Damon Dunn
The Business Roundtable recently released a statement announcing it had redefined “the purpose of a corporation.” Signed by almost 200 of the most powerful CEOs in America, the statement “affirms the essential role corporations can ...
26 August, 2019 | Sally C. Pipes
Last fall, Democratic congressional candidates successfully painted the 2017 federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act as a tax increase on hard working Californians to pick-up even more congressional seats. Congress, they charged, raised the tax burden of many ...
21 August, 2019 | Wayne Winegarden
The “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” (TCJA) was signed into law on Dec. 22, 2017. The Act reformed the U.S. corporate income tax code cutting the rate to a globally competitive 21%. Reforms on the personal income tax side, which are scheduled to expire in......
19 August, 2019 | Wayne Winegarden
A new study released today by the nonpartisan Pacific Research Institute, a California-based free market think tank, found that capping the State and Local Tax deduction brought broad-based tax relief to millions of Americans, while putting an end to...
15 August, 2019 | Wayne Winegarden
Sally C. Pipes offered her critique about a reported gender pay gap in the White House. “Sally Pipes of the conservative Pacific Research Institute in San Francisco argued, “You can’t just generally add up all the women and all the men. What ar...
12 August, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
CalPERS and CalSTRS – the two largest public employee pension funds in both California and the nation –just announced their annual investment returns for the 2018-19 fiscal year. Once again, it’s not good news for California taxpayers. Both funds re...
12 August, 2019 | Tim Anaya
Every other year, I always take a big trip somewhere around the world. This fall, I’m excited to be traveling to England, Ireland, and Scotland for the first time. As I prepare for my trip, the UK is in the midst of great political turmoil......
01 August, 2019 | Tim Anaya
Perhaps the most controversial bill of this year’s legislative session is legislation responding to last year’s state Supreme Court ruling that has the potential to disrupt how millions of people work in California. In the Dynamex ruling, the Court e...
25 July, 2019 | Tim Anaya
You may have heard about Libra, Facebook’s newest venture aimed at the cryptocurrency and blockchain industries. Facebook released a whitepaper on Libra in June, detailing how the company plans to use Libra as a decentralized blockchain, low-volatili...
24 July, 2019 | Evan Harris
California has lived on the trope of being the hub of technology startups and innovation for decades. California’s economic success has long been touted and celebrated, none more so than the technology gold rush in the Bay Area. But despite Californi...
16 July, 2019 | Evan Harris
Home ownership provides basic financial literacy, drives wealth creation, and increases free cash flow for individuals and families. However, it can be difficult to differentiate between having surplus cash and wealth. Having surplus cash is havin...
11 July, 2019 | Damon Dunn
Citing an oft-used U.S. Census Bureau statistic that women earn 80 percent of what their male counterparts earn, presidential hopeful and California Senator Kamala Harris said that if elected, she would end gender pay discrimination by requiring com...
08 July, 2019 | Rowena Itchon
Many California legislators seem to believe in open borders — not just the border to Mexico but also the borders to Arizona, Nevada, and Oregon. Businesses are slipping out of state through those boundaries at an alarming rate because of the difficul...
02 July, 2019 | Kerry Jackson
The California Senate Banking Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing Wednesday (June 26) on a bill that caps consumer loan rates and threatens to sever a vital credit lifeline for many. Oddly, three commercial lenders who offer the kind of loans su...
25 June, 2019 | Kerry Jackson
After being soundly defeated in the Senate 0-57 (43 Democrats voted “present”), the Green New Deal continues to languish in the House. Roll Call reported the following excuse from Speaker Nancy Pelosi: “I can’t say we’re going to take that and pass ...
19 June, 2019 | Rowena Itchon
The Trump administration’s trade wars are whipping Fed policy back and forth By Sarah Foster President Donald Trump’s trade wars just might prompt the Federal Reserve rate cut he’s been clamoring for — but for the wrong reasons. Weeks after the White...
07 June, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
US recovery closes in on 10 year milestone as fears abound that the party is ending By Calder McHugh As the U.S. economy inches closer to a record-setting decade of sustained growth, experts are increasingly worried that a cliff — caused by a multi-f...
05 June, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
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.....
05 June, 2019 | Tim Anaya
When the state Supreme Court issued a ruling last year threatening workers’ ability to operate as independent contractors, it sent a chill through the gig economy. The temperature dropped a few more degrees recently when the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of...
04 June, 2019 | Kerry Jackson
GOP senators speak out against Trump’s tariffs on Mexican imports By Debra J. Saunders The Trump administration worked Tuesday to contain blowback that followed President Donald Trump’s announcement last week of new tariffs on Mexican goods — both fr...
04 June, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
One of the hottest investment trends promises to do well while by doing good. This investment trend is called environmental, social, and governance investing, or ESG funds. Not all ESG funds have similar investment strategies. Some ESG funds actively...
02 June, 2019 | Wayne Winegarden
Well-meaning policy changes are undermining safe communities in California and must be reformed to restore public safety throughout the state, writes Pacific Research Institute fellow Kerry Jackson in his new book on crime in California, Living in Fe...
29 May, 2019 | Kerry Jackson
Putting a question mark on ESG fund performance by Leo Almazora An increasing number of stakeholders are buying into sustainable investments, figuratively and literally. Aside from fund providers’ growing willingness to offer values-based investment ...
23 May, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
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...
23 May, 2019 | Damon Dunn
Listen to PRI senior fellow in business and economics Wayne Winegarden discuss federal spending and the “15 Percent Solution” level of federal government to optimize economic growth on the “POTUS Morning Briefing” with Tim Far...
22 May, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
ESG funds that champion environmental and social causes have historically underperformed funds investing in the broader market over the long-term, so finds a new study released today by California-based, free-market think tank, the Pacific Research I...
22 May, 2019 | Wayne H Winegarden
In this podcast, Bartlett Cleland, PRI’s Senior Fellow in Tech and Innovation, discusses the state of tech policy including trade negotiations with China on intellectual property, privacy laws, the debate over the possible break-up of social media co...
20 May, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
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...
16 May, 2019 | Kerry Jackson
Listen to Dr. Wayne Winegarden, PRI Senior Fellow in Business and Economics, discuss his “The 15 Percent Solution” study – which outlines the optimal government economic and spending policies to maximize economic growth – on T...
15 May, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
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 bei...
09 May, 2019 | Damon Dunn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=L-va5HLzTcs Watch PRI Senior Fellow in Business and Economics Wayne Winegarden speak at a forum in Washington, DC hosted by the Institute for Pension Fund Integrity on public pensions, proxy adviso...
08 May, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
Tommy Few talks about his legal efforts to fully secure the freedoms won by all public employees following the Janus decision. He shares his first-hand experience with how his local teachers unions is trying to preserve membership, and his legal bat...
06 May, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
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 gai...
30 April, 2019 | Rowena Itchon
The skills and education of every American will form the basis of our nation’s long term success, as well as the solution to many of the most divisive issues in American politics. Issues such as wage stagnation, income inequality, unaffordable housin...
29 April, 2019 | Damon Dunn
Milton Friedman used to say, “keep your eye on one thing and one thing only: how much government is spending because that’s the true tax”. Judged against this criterion, despite the recent tax reforms, the U.S. economy is still taxed too much. At the...
26 April, 2019 | Wayne Winegarden
Gene therapies are transformative treatments that fundamentally differ from traditional medical and pharmaceutical options because they modify a patient’s DNA in order to address the genetic causes of diseases. These therapies have the potential to d...
19 April, 2019 | Wayne Winegarden
Many Sacramento lawmakers have named reducing poverty and economic inequality among their top priorities this session. They have unveiled a variety of proposals to address these issues, most center around new government programs, increased state sp...
18 April, 2019 | Wayne Winegarden
California has been a red-hot destination, and comfortable home, for entrepreneurs at least as far back as the mid-19th Century, when 300,000 fortune hunters swarmed West during the Gold Rush. In 2019, it is still attracting business pioneers. But at...
17 April, 2019 | Kerry Jackson
Even during times of strong job and economic growth, as we’re experiencing today, economists are looking for warning signs about future economic distress – after all, it is called the “dismal science”. The fact that entrepreneurship is declining in t...
16 April, 2019 | Wayne Winegarden
PRI senior fellow in business and economics Wayne Winegarden joins us to discuss his new series exploring how costly government regulations serve as a barrier to entrepreneurship, small business growth, innovation, and job opportunities to lift peopl...
15 April, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
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 ...
11 April, 2019 | Damon Dunn
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 se...
08 April, 2019 | Rowena Itchon
One of the key traits that distinguishes charter schools from traditional public schools is the diversity of educational experiences promoted by the ability to choose, writes Lance Izumi in his new book Choosing Diversity, published by the Pacific Re...
05 April, 2019 | Lance Izumi
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...
03 April, 2019 | Wayne H Winegarden
Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) has just doubled down on one of the Trump Administration’s unsound ideas. His proposal is disappointing for many reasons, particularly because Alex Azar, Secretary of Health and Human Services, has proposed an alternative re...
01 April, 2019 | Wayne Winegarden
The long-standing failures of the American welfare state have left politicians and policy wonks searching desperately for answers, including a willingness to consider radical changes to how we as a nation care for the poor. With little to show from b...
28 March, 2019 | Damon Dunn
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 agai...
28 March, 2019 | Tim Anaya
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 throug...
26 March, 2019 | Rowena Itchon
Watch PRI Fellow in Business and Economics Damon Dunn discuss the push for universal basic income with host Graham Ledger on the “Daily Ledger” on One America News Network. ShareTweetPinShare...
21 March, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
Health care costs will rise unless Congress blocks harmful tax By Ross Marchand The American people – and just about all our elected officials – frequently and justifiably complain about the high cost of health care. But unless Congress acts, a tax i...
20 March, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
Spring is in the air, which of course means it’s time to start thinking about the federal budget. Our latest Beyond the New Normal analysis examined what it would take to transform our current unaffordable federal budget. And while it would take poli...
13 March, 2019 | Wayne Winegarden
You don’t make health care more affordable by increasing its cost. Yet that is precisely what the currently suspended medical device tax threatens unless Congress permanently repeals it. Although permanent repeal failed in the last Congress, Senators...
11 March, 2019 | Wayne Winegarden
I recently explained in these pages how government welfare programs keep people at a sustainable level of poverty instead of helping people escape poverty. Little of the actual results of welfare policies resemble the promises made by their proponent...
06 March, 2019 | Damon Dunn
Washington, DC is currently in the grips of techno dystopian group think. Lobbyists and activists with something to gain, and politicians looking to reap rewards, have dreamt up an absurd imagined society where there is great injustice caused by tech...
04 March, 2019 | Bartlett Cleland
Congress could soon vote on legislation that would gut America’s intellectual property laws. The bill isn’t just bad news for big pharmaceutical companies that hold lucrative patents. It’s terrible news for patients — medical ...
01 March, 2019 | Wayne Winegarden
Welfare programs treat the symptoms of poverty, not the cause. As a result, they will never be the solution to ending poverty, nor are they designed to be a lasting solution. We have created a massive, cumbersome bureaucracy to administer an ineffect...
27 February, 2019 | Damon Dunn
Today’s hearing in front of the Senate Finance Committee will, unfortunately, be another wasted opportunity. Surely, Senators will make grandiose speeches and be shocked at the cost of drugs. They will also continue to support the very policies that ...
26 February, 2019 | Wayne Winegarden
Listen to Dr. Wayne Winegarden, PRI Senior Fellow in Business and Economics as he joins Lars Larson to discuss his latest report detailing how we reach the “15 Percent Solution”, or the optimal level of federal spending to maximize econom...
25 February, 2019 | Wayne Winegarden
They say that age and cunning always beats youth and exuberance. But when it comes to the latest dust-up between the Left’s old guard and the new Far Left, how it all plays out in the end isn’t so clear. The Left’s old guard has......
21 February, 2019 | Rowena Itchon
On the heels of the news that the national debt has surpassed $22 trillion, the Pacific Research Institute today recommended reforms to bring spending under control, reduce the national debt and maximize economic growth in the latest report in its Be...
19 February, 2019 | Wayne Winegarden
It used to be that political parties would argue over which policy was more effective at helping the largest number of people achieve the American dream. Now, a growing chorus on the left have begun to argue that the American dream itself is a lie,.....
16 February, 2019 | Damon Dunn
State and local public pension funds are trillions of dollars in debt. Without fully accounting for the risks, state public pension funds have $1.4 trillion in unfunded liabilities (e.g. debt) according to the Pew Center’s latest estimates. Even more...
14 February, 2019 | Wayne Winegarden
In response to the problem of rising list prices for drugs, elected officials continue to propose counterproductive reforms. Whether it is importing drugs from Canada or indexing U.S. drug prices to the prices charged in other countries, these polici...
12 February, 2019 | Wayne Winegarden
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar just released a sweeping proposal that would drastically change how Medicare pays for advanced cancer therapies and other potent medicines. The plan relies on foreign price controls to reduce drug spendin...
11 February, 2019 | Wayne Winegarden
It doesn’t happen often enough, but sometimes freedom wins in California. In the most recent of these rare events, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals – yes, the Ninth – affirmed late last month a lower-court ruling that said the San Francisco or...
07 February, 2019 | Kerry Jackson
In January, PRI had the pleasure of hosting Manhattan Institute fellow Heather Mac Donald at a luncheon in Southern California to discuss her new book The Diversity Delusion: How Race and Gender Pandering Corrupt the University and Undermine our Cult...
05 February, 2019 | Rowena Itchon
Remember 1999? Yes, it was a memorable year thanks to the Prince song. But, the last year of the 20th century is also noted for the launch of MySpace, the announcement of Blue Tooth, the rage that was Napster, and the panic over Y2K and the......
31 January, 2019 | Bartlett Cleland
Generic EpiPen to Become Available Soon By Ashley Bateman Drug maker Sandoz announced it will debut a generic EpiPen model that provides a more affordable option for the rising number of allergy patients in the United States. The epinephrine auto-inj...
29 January, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
It’s not often that another state can top California when it comes to protecting public employee unions. But Oregon’s House Bill 2643 takes the prize so far for the most audacious attempt to thwart the U.S. Supreme Court’s Janus decision. Janus v. A...
29 January, 2019 | Rowena Itchon
Steve Moore is the co-author along with Arthur Laffer of the new book Trumponomics. He discusses Trumponomics, its key principles, how it differs from Reaganomics, and even some aspects of Trumponomics that he doesn’t agree with (no spoiler alert ne...
28 January, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
The old joke about the drunk and the policeman is apropos for far too many pharmaceutical studies. Typically, the joke goes something like the following: A policeman sees a drunk man searching for something under a streetlight and asks what the drunk...
28 January, 2019 | Wayne Winegarden
Making it more expensive to drink in San Francisco is not one of Proposition C’s objectives. But it was nearly one of its initial effects. Young’s Market Co., a wine and spirits distributor based in Tustin that does business across the western U.S., ...
17 January, 2019 | Kerry Jackson
We’re painting the roses red, Painting the roses red, And many a tear we shed, Because we know, They’ll cease to grow, In fact, they’ll soon be dead. And yet we go ahead, Painting the roses red Just like the characters in Alice in W...
15 January, 2019 | Wayne Winegarden
We support free markets not because some 18th- or 19th-century European philosopher said they’re great. Rather, we support a free market system because experience has shown it delivers more opportunity and prosperity to Americans than any other econo...
14 January, 2019 | Damon Dunn
Irate over plummeting stock prices in recent weeks, the media reported that President Trump wanted to fire his appointed Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. But can he really fire him? It turns out that the law is murky in this area. Trump can fire Powell...
08 January, 2019 | Rowena Itchon
Too often, drug pricing analyses do not shed light on how much drug expenditures are actually increasing because these studies examine the wrong price. The latest iteration is an analysis by Rx Savings Solutions. According to the Wall Street Journal,...
03 January, 2019 | Wayne Winegarden
Americans of all stripes should be able to unite in support of trade. It’s fundamental to a diverse and healthy economy. Robust U.S. trade relationships around the world are also critical to the national economy. That’s especially true in California....
22 December, 2018 | Bartlett Cleland
One idea that has been gaining traction recently is a system of universal income, also known as basic income. The city of Stockton, California will be the nation’s first city to launch a universal income pilot program in 2019. While the specific pol...
18 December, 2018 | Damon Dunn
PRI’s Wayne Winegarden joins us to discuss his new study exploring how big government energy policies in California and New York are increasing energy burdens on rural, poor, and minority communities, and how free-market ideas can more effectively re...
17 December, 2018 | Pacific Research Institute
Last week, the California Supreme Court heard the case Cal Fire Local 2881 v. CalPERS which challenged the 2013 law (the California Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act or PEPRA) that eliminated state employees’ ability to add up to five years of emp...
13 December, 2018 | Rowena Itchon
Government solutions often come with a price. For the America Invents Act (AIA), this price was an unintended impediment to medical innovation. Proposed legislation known as the Hatch-Waxman Integrity Act can reduce these costs, if Congress takes adv...
12 December, 2018 | Wayne Winegarden
My last blog post discussed the risks that ESG investing creates for CalPERS and CalSTRS. If not addressed, then both taxpayers and public employees will bear unnecessary costs and risks. Unfortunately, SEC rules are making this problem even worse. T...
11 December, 2018 | Wayne Winegarden
I just returned from my annual Thanksgiving family trip to Hawaii where it was Day 40-something of a hotel workers’ strike at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. I had a hunch something was amiss when our Uber driver pulled into the driveway and a lone young....
06 December, 2018 | Rowena Itchon
Legislating Energy Poverty Shows Market-Based Policies More Effective in Cutting Emissions...
05 December, 2018 | Wayne Winegarden
California’s public pensions are in trouble. While the Pew Charitable Trusts reports that California’s current unfunded liabilities are nearly $170 billion, as I recently reported in my chartbook on California’s pension crisis, the crisis is much wor...
05 December, 2018 | Wayne Winegarden
As I write this article in late November of 2018, the stock market has fallen significantly from its recent highs. These losses, which have erased nearly all the gains made thus far in 2018 push us toward official correction territory for both the D...
04 December, 2018 | Damon Dunn
While success still has many fathers, failure is no longer an orphan. President Obama’s recent speeches and rallies demonstrate that, now, failure is simply redefined as success. The costs from this revisionism is high. Creating false narratives enco...
30 November, 2018 | Wayne Winegarden
By Bethany Blankley The latest report calling for occupational licensing reforms joins others in saying that strict licensing requirements cost millions of jobs, billions of dollars in economic costs, and reduced overall GDP . . . “All too often, the...
28 November, 2018 | Pacific Research Institute
If your holiday meals include filet mignon, rack of lamb, roast pork, or even charcuterie, you might want to reach for a second helping while you can still afford it. That’s because Oxford University researchers are proposing a tax on meat. Their go...
26 November, 2018 | Rowena Itchon
There is no shortage of bad ideas when it comes to the pharmaceutical market. One such proposal would allow drugs to be imported directly from other countries, such as Canada. Then there is the Trump Administration’s proposal that would effectively a...
19 November, 2018 | Wayne Winegarden
In the early 21st century, American fiscal policy must balance and prioritize two fundamental goals. First, we need to create the best possible environment for investment and innovation, setting the stage for another century of unparalleled prosperit...
19 November, 2018 | Damon Dunn
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar just released a sweeping proposal that would drastically change how Medicare pays for advanced cancer therapies and other potent medicines. The plan relies on foreign price controls to reduce drug spendin...
16 November, 2018 | Wayne Winegarden
The SEC requires all institutional investors to vote on all matters put forth in proxy statements, or the measures voted on during shareholder meetings. For most institutional investors, keeping up with all of these issues is not feasible, so they tu...
15 November, 2018 | Wayne Winegarden
Argues That SEC Should Ensure Shareholder Interests Are Top Priority in Investment Decisions SAN FRANCISCO – Policy reforms should be enacted to ensure that proxy advisory firms promote fund managers’ fiduciary responsibilities to shareholders and in...
14 November, 2018 | Pacific Research Institute
It’s official. Amazon has announced plans to establish its second headquarters in New York in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens and Crystal City, Virginia, which is just outside Washington, D.C. I first wrote about Amazon’s search in ...
13 November, 2018 | Rowena Itchon
In some excellent reporting by Chris Reed of CalWatchdog, Reed found that more than 100 local governments in California asked voters for tax hikes on Election Day, double the 56 the Bond Buyer said it recorded in November 2016. These 100+ measures we...
08 November, 2018 | Rowena Itchon
There are not enough politicians who know what it takes to run a business. Many argue that government would improve if it was run more like a business. Having been an entrepreneur and business owner, I know firsthand the blessings and challenges that...
07 November, 2018 | Damon Dunn
Watch PRI’s Wayne Winegarden debate “the future of American retirement” with former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and others at a recent Pepperdine University School of Public Policy forum in Washington, DC. ShareTweet...
01 November, 2018 | Pacific Research Institute
Listen to PRI’s senior fellow in business and economics Dr. Wayne Winegarden discuss President Trump’s drug pricing transparency proposal on the nationally-syndicated “Lars Larson Show.” The interview begins at the 54:25 mark...
31 October, 2018 | Pacific Research Institute
It’s been a rocky road for the stock market so far in October. Historically, the financial markets aren’t jittery around mid-term elections. But rising interest rates, a trade war, the mysterious death of an Arab journalist, and Central Americans o...
29 October, 2018 | Rowena Itchon
At 2 pm Eastern time today, President Trump spoke at the Department of Health and Human Services where he recommended a litany of policies that would ultimately impose price controls on the pharmaceutical market. Take his proposal to force the prices...
25 October, 2018 | Wayne Winegarden
Rarely is there bipartisan agreement that a tax cut won’t cost the federal government money. But, in the case of the medical device tax (a 2.3 percent tax on medical devices and products that was passed as part of the Affordable Care Act) this is......
24 October, 2018 | Wayne Winegarden
As part of the Affordable Care Act, a 2.3 percent tax on medical devices and products was passed. The tax was levied on devices such as pacemakers, advanced imaging technologies (Cat Scan, MRI and ultrasound equipment), artificial joints, surgical gl...
18 October, 2018 | Wayne Winegarden
Our politics are full of paeans to small business. Regardless of one’s policy preferences or party affiliation, everyone appears rhetorically to be on the side of small business. As an entrepreneur and small business owner, I am reminded daily of the...
18 October, 2018 | Damon Dunn
Watch PRI’s Wayne Winegarden discuss the Trump Administration proposal on drug pricing advertising on “America Talks Live” with Dr. Gina Loudon and John Cardillo on Newsmax TV. ShareTweetPinShare...
17 October, 2018 | Newsmax TV
Pete Constant, former San Jose City Councilman and president of the Retirement Security Initiative, joins us to share his experiences as a local elected official grappling with runaway public employee pensions, and what can be done to tame California...
15 October, 2018 | Pacific Research Institute
This essay is meant to be a simple and straight forward look at how adding specific skill sets allowed me to have socioeconomic mobility and earn wages that allow me to send my daughter to private school, own a home, and enjoy a better present......
04 October, 2018 | Damon Dunn
When I was in the investment industry in the 1990s, my friend Jeannette and I observed that after meetings and conferences, the top executives – mostly men but a few women — often played a round of golf. We knew a lot of bonding took......
03 October, 2018 | Rowena Itchon
Regnery Publishing Vice President and Executive Editor Harry Crocker joins us to talk about his new book Armstrong, which imagines what would have if George Armstrong Custer survived the Battle of Little Big Horn. We discuss his inspiration for writ...
01 October, 2018 | Pacific Research Institute
This summer, I had the opportunity to interview Andy Puzder on PRI’s “Next Round” podcast. In chatting with him about his new book Capitalist Comeback, the former Trump nominee for Secretary of Labor and I were both astounded at the speed of the eco...
27 September, 2018 | Rowena Itchon
Last week, I celebrated my 42nd birthday in style – taking a few days off following our Baroness Thatcher Gala to enjoy some of the sites of Southern California. I spent a lovely afternoon at Downtown Disney, which is an entertainment district right ...
26 September, 2018 | Tim Anaya
Americans are facing two very different pension outlooks. Most private sector workers contribute to 401(k) plans (which are often matched by employers), and rely on investments, savings, and Social Security for their retirement. But, their savings is...
20 September, 2018 | Wayne Winegarden
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg is trying to have his cake and eat it too. He announced in June that he opposed a local ballot measure being pushed by labor unions and activist groups to impose new rent control restrictions in Sacramento. That mea...
19 September, 2018 | Tim Anaya
Calls for stricter environmental mandates contradict the broad public consensus on global warming. According to a 2018 report by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, seven out of ten Americans believe global warming is happening and six ...
18 September, 2018 | Wayne Winegarden
It didn’t take long for a California Supreme Court decision to start claiming victims. Bottle & Barlow, a “get loose stay sharp” joint on trendy R Street in Sacramento, where a gentleman can sip whisky and also be stylishly shorn, has lost its en...
18 September, 2018 | Kerry Jackson
I used to tell my friends and colleagues to be sure to check out the Lord & Taylor website before they buy an outfit. Lord & Taylor doesn’t have operations in California, so the same Calvin Klein dress would be tax-free at Lord & Taylor,....
17 September, 2018 | Rowena Itchon
Trump, Obama spar over economy. Who’s right? By Niv Elis By many metrics, the economy is booming, and both President Trump and former President Obama want you to know that they are the one to thank. Under Trump, the stock market hit new highs, ...
16 September, 2018 | Pacific Research Institute
In this and succeeding columns, I intend to develop a new paradigm for thinking about economic progress for America in the 21st century. I believe that supporters of free markets are faced with both extraordinary opportunities and great cause for con...
13 September, 2018 | Damon Dunn
Listen to PRI’s Senior Fellow in Business and Economics Wayne Winegarden discuss his new chartbook and study on California’s $1 trillion pension monster with Carl DeMaio on “The DeMaio Report” on KOGO Radio in San Diego. Share...
06 September, 2018 | Pacific Research Institute
New PRI-Open the Books Chartbook Shows California’s Public Pension Monster Has Grown to Nearly $1 Trillion More Realistic Market Estimate Show State Pension Funds are Just 28 Percent Funded...
05 September, 2018 | Pacific Research Institute
Heading into the Labor Day weekend, we thought we would take a contrarian view of the holiday by reviewing Forbes columnist John Tamny’s new book, The End of Work. Last year, we interviewed him on our podcast on his previous book, Who Needs the Fed?...
27 August, 2018 | Rowena Itchon
Play everyone’s favorite game show “What Will You Bid?” to learn about the broken competitive bidding process for providing durable medical equipment to Medicare patients. Read the new study by PRI’s Wayne Winegarden to learn ...
24 August, 2018 | Pacific Research Institute
During her recent campaign swing through California, Democratic socialist Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez visited the asparagus capital of America to meet with Mayor Michael Tubbs and explore ways to take a local universal basic income plan nationwide. “We t...
23 August, 2018 | Tim Anaya
We almost never find ourselves on the same side as celebs, so when “Sex and the City” star Cynthia Nixon, now running for governor of New York, recently railed against taxpayer subsidies for the film industry, we couldn’t help but pop the popcorn. B...
21 August, 2018 | Rowena Itchon
Pfizer CEO Ian Read recently told investors that he believes pharmaceuticals will soon be sold without rebates. While this change, if it comes to pass, is undoubtedly positive for patients, a question naturally arises: why? After all, rebates and dis...
16 August, 2018 | Wayne Winegarden
Just after the New Year began, California lawmakers, sore that the Federal Communications Commission restored a stolen freedom and repealed the Obama-era net neutrality rule, introduced their own net neutrality bill. The California Internet Consumer ...
16 August, 2018 | Kerry Jackson
The United States benefits every day from the policy victories won by President Reagan’s administration. Enough time has passed since his tenure in the White House that many fair-minded observers, regardless of their political orientation, recognize ...
08 August, 2018 | Damon Dunn
Through its purchases of durable medical equipment (DME), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) helps many patients remain in their home and out of hospitals or other long-term care settings. These purchases cover a wide array of me...
07 August, 2018 | Wayne Winegarden
Tim and I have a little shtick on the PRI podcast where on the last question we ask each of our guests for a favorite wine recommendation. Our headquarters in San Francisco is just down the road from Wine Country and most everyone loves wine......
07 August, 2018 | Rowena Itchon
This week, we celebrate what would have been Milton Friedman’s 106th birthday (he was born July 31, 1912). In celebration of Dr. Friedman’s important legacy defending free markets and free people, and the inspiration he has provided all ...
03 August, 2018 | Pacific Research Institute
Step one in any recovery program is to admit that the problem exists. And, make no mistake about it, California’s public pensions are addicted to debt. Solving this debt crisis requires political courage to implement fundamental reforms, which is why...
31 July, 2018 | Wayne Winegarden
Oh Canada, here I come! Well, not really. At least not permanently. This week I’m in Montreal and Quebec City for summer vacation. Before leaving, I decided to check out how the U.S. compares economically to Canada, and there’s no better source than ...
30 July, 2018 | Rowena Itchon
Download the PDF When the Legislature declared a moratorium on cities enacting soda taxes, it felt like a win for freedom and a pushback of interventionism. But the busybodies never give up and they plow a fertile field in California, which has no ri...
26 July, 2018 | Kerry Jackson
Nick Loris of the Heritage Foundation joins us from Vancouver to discuss why California gas prices are so much higher than the rest of the nation, and what reforms would make a real difference in giving drivers some relief at the pump....
24 July, 2018 | Pacific Research Institute
When Andy Puzder was 10, he went with his father, a Ford salesman, to deliver a new car to a wealthy customer. “Mr. Humphrey” lived in opulence on the east side of Cleveland. Puzder marveled at the treasure before him, the enormous house, the grand.....
18 July, 2018 | Kerry Jackson
On the heels of the Supreme Court’s decision on Janus, the State Controller’s Office announced that beginning in July, it would stop deducting “fair share fees” from the paychecks of state workers who are not full union members. The fair share fee, ...
16 July, 2018 | Rowena Itchon
Expenditures on prescription drugs grew 12.4 percent in 2014 and 8.9 percent in 2015. These eye-popping data are not representative of the long-term expenditure trend, however. Not only did the growth in prescription drugs expenditures slow to 1.3 pe...
12 July, 2018 | Wayne Winegarden
If there’s one thing that unites Californians, it’s a disdain for crony capitalism. What is crony capitalism, you ask? We see it all the time. Think local elected officials throwing everything but the kitchen sink at Amazon to try and lure their se...
12 July, 2018 | Tim Anaya
One of the most common themes in American politics is the emphasis on preserving or restoring our role as a land of opportunity. Across the political spectrum, there is a general sense that the intergenerational promise of upward mobility is becoming...
10 July, 2018 | Damon Dunn
Marlo Lewis of the Competitive Enterprise Institute joins us in Vancouver for a discussion on how the free-market is a more effective way to achieve a global, clean energy future than new clean energy laws or excess regulations....
09 July, 2018 | Pacific Research Institute
Tax Calculator Part 2 In my last blog, I ran some numbers on the Tax Foundation’s new tax calculator to show the average tax cut for California households by congressional district under the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. But I thought what would be......
04 July, 2018 | Rowena Itchon
Download the PDF California’s “bullet” train to nowhere keeps going — nowhere. Unless tearing down a bridge just to rebuild it is somewhere. Construction of an overpass near Fresno was scrapped late last year—yes, we’re learning about this just...
27 June, 2018 | Kerry Jackson
Leave it to the Tax Foundation to come with this cool online calculator to figure out how much you will save in taxes from the Trump tax cuts. The calculator asks you to plug in your AGI, your filing status (single or married), even details......
27 June, 2018 | Rowena Itchon
Last week, the Supreme Court issued a major decision in a case about online retailers collecting sales taxes, South Dakota v. Wayfair. As PRI’s Bartlett Cleland recently wrote in Fox and Hounds, “the case is centered around the notion that an entity ...
25 June, 2018 | Tim Anaya
In June of 1930 President Hoover signed the Smoot-Hawley Act. This Act imposed steep tariffs on over 20,000 different goods that Americans imported from other countries. As of its time, it was one of the largest tax increases in history. It was also ...
21 June, 2018 | Wayne Winegarden
There are plenty of similarities between Italy and California. Both are similar in size and have wonderful wine countries and picturesque coastlines. They also share high taxes, a challenging regulatory landscape, and a growing gap between their rich...
21 June, 2018 | Ben Smithwick
Our guest in this podcast is Todd Gaziano of the Pacific Legal Foundation. As director of the newly created PLF Center for the Separation of Powers, Todd is working on a long-term project to roll back the power of unelected government administrators...
18 June, 2018 | Pacific Research Institute
No one should wonder why executives keep saying California is the worst state to do business in. Too many politicians see businesses as nothing more than vessels available to be drained of their substance for the funding of foolish ideas. The most re...
18 June, 2018 | Kerry Jackson
The business guru Peter Drucker is credited with the notion that “if you can’t measure something you can’t manage it”. Using this logic in reverse, perhaps the best way to thwart the misplaced attempts to manage global economic trade is to stop measu...
12 June, 2018 | Wayne Winegarden
A Supreme Court case to be decided by the end of June could require California residents to pay taxes to a variety states, counties, cities and even mosquito abatement districts across the country. South Dakota v. Wayfair is a case that asks whether ...
12 June, 2018 | Bartlett Cleland
“Pension risk includes lava,” said Keli’i Akina, president of the Grassroot Institute, a sister free-market think tank in Hawaii. Recently, the Grassroot Institute hosted an event titled “Navigating risk at Hawaii’s public pension system.” Thom Will...
12 June, 2018 | Rowena Itchon
Public-sector employees who want to be freed of forced unionization are hoping that the Supreme Court will release them from their yoke when it issues its impending ruling in the case of a government worker who sued the union that claims to represent...
08 June, 2018 | Kerry Jackson
Tax-Cut-Fueled Stock Buybacks Retard Emergence of Trump’s ‘Greatest’ Economy By Bradley Keoun President Donald Trump’s tax cuts have prompted corporate executives use the cash windfall to reward their own investors instead of ...
07 June, 2018 | Pacific Research Institute
The U.S. economy has generated more wealth for more people than any other economic system in human history, and it’s not even close. What began as a small group of colonies clustered near the eastern seaboard of a mostly empty continent founded by po...
07 June, 2018 | Damon Dunn
In 2017, there were 46 new novel drug innovations, including new treatments for cancers, Parkinson’s disease, and serious skin infections. These innovations are essential for improving the quality of health care in the U.S. However, innovation is not...
05 June, 2018 | Wayne Winegarden
New Study: Patients, Employers and Taxpayers Could Save Significantly if Barriers to Biosimilars Removed Case Study: Increasing Use of Infliximab Biosimilar Could Lower Costs Up to $465 Million Annually...
05 June, 2018 | Wayne Winegarden
The great investor Warren Buffett once said, “Should you find yourself in a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is likely to be more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks.” UC President Janet Napolitan...
04 June, 2018 | Rowena Itchon
Without a hint of irony, while announcing the 25 percent tariffs on imported steel and the 10 percent tariffs on imported aluminum on May 31st, Commerce Secretary Ross proclaimed that “we take the view that without a strong economy, you cannot have s...
31 May, 2018 | Wayne Winegarden
By Brendan Pringle This afternoon some 8,000 Starbucks stores in the United States shut down for “racial-bias education” to prevent discrimination in its stores. Starbucks remains under fire after the arrest of two black men after they refused to lea...
30 May, 2018 | Pacific Research Institute
By Rowena Itchon and Tim Anaya This week, the Assembly and Senate face a key deadline. All bills originating must pass their “house of origin” by the end of the week (i.e., bills introduced in the Assembly must pass the Assembly). The Appropriation...
30 May, 2018 | Pacific Research Institute
That sound you hear is the rush of California politicians and various moneyed interests racing to try and take advantage of a recent Supreme Court ruling paving the way for sports betting in every state. On May 14, the Court struck down a federal law...
23 May, 2018 | Tim Anaya
Businesses in California could use some good news, but one wonders when — and sometimes if — any will ever come. At the same time, there seems to be no end to the bad news, at least when government authorities are involved. The most recen...
22 May, 2018 | Kerry Jackson
Incentives drive all economic activity. Unfortunately, far too many of the incentives that underlie the U.S. health care sector discourage quality and encourage excessive costs. Our current health insurance system exemplifies this problem. The disinc...
21 May, 2018 | Wayne Winegarden
Due to its national implications, last week’s introduction of the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) blueprint on drug prices is garnering all the attention. Despite its importance, HHS’ blueprint should not overshadow the many poor, and ...
17 May, 2018 | Wayne Winegarden
Cutting, styling, shampooing, and curling hair properly takes some practice. But how much before a person is skilled enough to obtain a license to perform those tasks in California? The state says at least 1,500 hours of training are needed. Common-s...
17 May, 2018
