We’re all looking for relief from record-high gas prices these days. Gas prices are the highest in the United States history at a nationwide average of $4.59 as of May 19, according to AAA. Many states surpass this average with California at $6.050, ...
24 May, 2022 | Wayne Winegarden
Last week, the U.S. Labor Department reported that the consumer price index (CPI), a broad measure of the prices for everyday items like groceries, rents, and gas rose 8.3 percent in April from a year ago, just below March’s surge of 8.5 percent. Cou...
24 May, 2022 | Rowena Itchon
Erik Jaffe, PRI adjunct fellow in legal studies and one of the nation’s top constitutional lawyers, joins us to give his reaction to the Supreme Court “leak” and previews the major cases that will be decided in the coming weeks....
23 May, 2022 | Pacific Research Institute
Parents across the United States are becoming increasingly frantic as the baby formula shortage worsens. To the chagrin of parents looking for answers, the shortage has devolved into a circuitous blame game. Last week, outgoing White House Press Secr...
16 May, 2022 | McKenzie Richards
SACRAMENTO – City and state climate change lawsuits discourage private sector innovation required to meet America’s clean energy goals – and expensive judgements in these cases can increase gas prices by 31-cents per gallon, finds a new issue brief r...
16 May, 2022 | Wayne Winegarden
Pacific Research Institute’s, Kerry Jackson, was quoted in the Associated Press on Governor Newsom’s $15.50 per hour minimum wage increase set to take place January of 2023: The increase will impact smaller companies the most, which will ...
12 May, 2022 | Pacific Research Institute
In this podcast, our guest is Steve Greenhut, director of PRI’s new Free Cities Project. The Free Cities Project will regularly release incisive research and analysis on crime, housing, education, homelessness, social mobility and other urban issues...
09 May, 2022 | Pacific Research Institute
Been There, Done That on Attacking Charter Schools Inspired by a recent California law, the Biden Administration has proposed federal regulations that would require new charter schools to “demonstrate community need” before being approved, and also r...
09 May, 2022 | Pacific Research Institute
Tax cuts are the “fertilizer applied to the roots of the economy.” That’s not Arthur Laffer talking, but China Premier Li Keqiang. Last month, China’s Finance Ministry announced that it would cut income taxes for small companies from 25 percent to 2...
03 May, 2022 | Rowena Itchon
Our guest this week is Wayne Winegarden, PRI senior fellow and director of PRI’s Center for Medical Economics and Innovation. Wayne has written a series of papers titled Coverage Denied that analyzes and proposes reforms to fix the problems in the c...
02 May, 2022 | Pacific Research Institute
Last month, Bloomberg published a now-infamous op-ed titled, “Inflation Stings Most if You Earn Less Than $300K. Here’s How to Deal”. Professor Teresa Ghilarducci suggests that to curb inflation, we should eat lentils instead of red meat and let our...
26 April, 2022 | McKenzie Richards
Our podcast guest this week is New York Times bestselling biographer Walter Stahr on his new book on Salmon Chase. Chase is often remembered as Lincoln’s rival for the Republican party nomination in 1860 – but he was much more. He was one of the ke...
25 April, 2022 | Pacific Research Institute
Our guest this week is PRI Senior Fellow Steve Smith. An expert in public safety policy, he was a former police officer and a former professor of criminal justice. Steve gives his thoughts on the Sacramento shooting as well rising crime in the stat...
18 April, 2022 | Pacific Research Institute
Should California workers work fewer hours in the work week? Some state lawmakers say yes. Under Assembly Bill 2932, the work week for companies with more than 500 employees would fall to 32 hours. Those working more than eight hours a day and 32 ho...
13 April, 2022 | Kerry Jackson
PRI senior fellow in business and economics Wayne Winegarden was interviewed by the Madison Reporter on the cost benefits of eliminating Wisconsin’s minimum markup law than a gas tax holiday. “Eliminating the minimum markup law would create a h...
12 April, 2022 | Pacific Research Institute
Our guest on this podcast is Paul Mango who was Deputy Chief of Staff at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during the conception, development, and implementation of Operation Warp Speed – the U.S.’s effort to bring a COVID-19 vaccine t...
11 April, 2022 | Pacific Research Institute
Our guest on this podcast is Dr. Murray Sabrin on his new book Universal Medical Care from Conception to End of Life: The Case for A Single-Payer System. Under the individual single-payer system outlined by Dr. Sabrin, every American adult would be i...
04 April, 2022 | Pacific Research Institute
According to a recent report by the Public Policy Institute of California, a startling one-in-four Californians now works remotely, with one-in-seven blending office and home-based work. And if you ask Californians what they prefer, a third say they ...
01 April, 2022 | M. Nolan Gray
California once again experienced one of the largest wildfires in state history in 2021, in the shadow of a severe drought that is increasing fire danger. In this panel discussion from PRI’s annual Ideas in Action Conference in Sacramento, policy exp...
28 March, 2022 | Pacific Research Institute
By Tim Anaya and Wayne Winegarden The news that average gas prices per gallon in Los Angeles County have soared past $6 per gallon has triggered the “Great Gas Tax Rebate Debate of 2022.” Democrats and Republicans in Sacramento are pushing dueling ga...
25 March, 2022 | Pacific Research Institute
This podcast is a recorded panel discussion from PRI’s annual Ideas in Action conference in February. Californians and California businesses have been moving out of the state in droves. This panel discusses the causes of outmigration and what we ca...
21 March, 2022 | Pacific Research Institute
Is enacting rent control measures a positive approach to dramatically rising housing costs? Watch economist and PRI senior fellow Wayne Winegarden respond below. ShareTweetPinShare...
15 March, 2022 | Wayne Winegarden
This podcast features the keynote remarks of Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert at PRI’s annual “Ideas in Action” policy conference in Sacramento. Ms. Schubert is known for her successful prosecutions in cases such as the Golden...
14 March, 2022 | Pacific Research Institute
In a recent survey, Americans ranked inflation as the most urgent issue facing the country. So, our ears perked up when Pres. Biden began laying out his plan to bring down inflation in his State of the Union address. After listening to his speech, ...
11 March, 2022 | Rowena Itchon
Editor’s Note: On Monday, Dr. Wayne Winegarden, PRI senior fellow in Business and Economics, was invited to testify before the California advisory committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights on the civil rights implications of California&...
09 March, 2022 | Wayne Winegarden
The California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, is a 50-year-old law responsible for holding up many projects in the state due to its labyrinthian process and its vulnerability to lawsuits. Across the state, housing developments, schools, hospital...
07 March, 2022 | Pacific Research Institute
This special edition podcast features PRI’s panel of former speechwriters offering their perspectives on Pres. Biden’s first State of the Union Address. On the panel: Lance Izumi, a former speechwriter to Gov. George Deukmejian and former Attorney G...
02 March, 2022 | Pacific Research Institute
Recent data on prices provides important perspective regarding the $65 billion that Congress and President Biden will now spend on broadband infrastructure over the next ten years. According to the White House, the purpose of these expenditures is to...
02 March, 2022 | Wayne Winegarden
Our guest on this podcast is national bestselling author, Michael Shellenberger. He recently spoke to PRI supporters at a luncheon in San Francisco on his new book: San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities. Michael has witnessed San Francisco’s d...
22 February, 2022 | Pacific Research Institute
In this podcast, our guest is Steve Smith, senior fellow in Urban Studies. Steve is a recognized leader in education, training, law enforcement, and peacekeeping operations, with over 20 years of experience in domestic and international policing and...
14 February, 2022 | Pacific Research Institute
Instead of promoting responsible behavior, these practices undermine the principles of good corporate governance. Larry Fink, the chairman and CEO of BlackRock, is selling the idea that the world economy must embrace stakeholder capitalism and enviro...
10 February, 2022 | Wayne H Winegarden
This podcast, recently celebrating National School Choice Week, features senior director of PRI’s Center for Education Lance Izumi discussing his recent book The Homeschool Boom: Pandemic, Policies and Possibilities. It also includes a panel discussi...
07 February, 2022 | Pacific Research Institute
On Monday, the Assembly Budget Committee will consider a package of COVID-19-related budget legislation proposed by Gov. Newsom including a recently-announced deal between Newsom and the Legislature’s Democratic leaders “to ensure employees continue ...
04 February, 2022 | Tim Anaya
Reform Could Save Average Households at Least $517 Per Year Californians are being zapped with higher electricity bills – averaging $1450 per year – thanks to state government energy regulations, taxes, and subsidies, finds a new report released toda...
02 February, 2022 | Wayne Winegarden
Our guest this week is Pam Lewison, Director of the Washington Policy Center Initiative on Agriculture and a PRI Fellow. Pam farms in Eastern Washington and is a tireless advocate for agriculture in the Western states and around the country. She di...
31 January, 2022 | Pacific Research Institute
Legislation in Sacramento that falls neatly into the “only in California” category is a bill that would make the state the sole arbiter of “industry-wide standards on wages and working conditions in the fast food industry.” The private sector seems...
31 January, 2022 | Kerry Jackson
Our podcast guest this week is Naomi Schaefer Riley, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and author of the new book No Way Home: How the Foster Care System, Family Courts, and Racial Activists are Wrecking Young Lives. Naomi discusses the f...
24 January, 2022 | Pacific Research Institute
In this podcast, our guest is Sally Pipes, President & CEO of the Pacific Research Institute and Thomas W. Smith Fellow in Health Care Policy. Sally discusses the new single-payer health care proposal in California, the new tax hikes to fund the pla...
18 January, 2022 | Pacific Research Institute
In July, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to make the city’s emergency outdoor dining ordinance permanent. Adopted in the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic, the program empowered restaurant owners to convert adjacent on-street parking spaces ...
18 January, 2022 | M. Nolan Gray
Thanks to errant fiscal and monetary policies, consumer prices continued their relentless climb in December. Just as predictably, politicians seem to be more interested in “rounding up the usual suspects” rather than implementing the right policy mix...
16 January, 2022 | Wayne H Winegarden
Governor Newsom this week released his 2022-23 state budget plan. The PRI All Stars – Wayne Winegarden, Lance Izumi, and Kerry Jackson – break down what the Governor’s proposed spending bill will mean for you and your family. They discuss its impac...
12 January, 2022 | Pacific Research Institute
Following the opening segment where Tim Anaya and Rowena Itchon discuss their “favorite” new California laws of 2022, listen to PRI’s recent webinar conversation with Chris Wright, CEO of Liberty Energy and PRI board member. PRI senior fellow Steven ...
04 January, 2022 | Pacific Research Institute
Just before the pandemic struck, a new law infected California. Known as AB 5, the law upended 30 years of the freedom for people to work as independent contractors and reclassified millions as employees. The worst of legislative hubris, the law was ...
04 January, 2022 | Bartlett Cleland
Watch PRI’s Dr. Wayne Winegarden discuss inflation, the state of the economy, and his recent study on how government policy designed to help small businesses has negative impacted small businesses with anchor Raphael James on Live 5 News in Cha...
22 December, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
PRI’s All-Stars are back for the annual year-end rewards: Panelists include Kerry Jackson, Fellow at PRI’s Center for California Reform; Tim Anaya, Senior Director of Communications; Lance Izumi, Senior Director of Education; and Rowena Itchon, Seni...
20 December, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
Dr. Joshua Rhodes, research associate with the Webber Energy Group at the University of Texas, Austin, joins us to discuss the findings of a new national scorecard on electricity competition in the 50 states, and discusses why electricity competition...
13 December, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
Despite assurances that California’s economy is a treasure to behold – “We are world-beating in terms of our economic growth,” says Gov. Gavin Newsom – the post-pandemic recovery has a gaping hole in it. State unemployment is the highest ...
13 December, 2021 | Kerry Jackson
Our colleagues at Open The Books did a deep dive into the deep state with their outstanding new report: Mapping the Swamp: A Study of the Administrative State, FY 2020. This eye-popping report shows just how big and bloated — not to mention co...
08 December, 2021 | Rowena Itchon
Lanhee Chen, Director of the Domestic Policy Studies in Public Policy program at Stanford University, discusses all things California, from budgetary mismanagement – including COVID-19 relief funds, the looming pension crisis, as well as government a...
06 December, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
Dr. Wayne Winegarden, PRI senior fellow in business and economics, discusses the Breaking Down Barriers to Opportunity series on entrepreneurship on “Live from Seattle” with host Tim Gaydos on KGNW Radio in Seattle. ShareTweetPinShare...
06 December, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
With California losing a seat in the U.S. House because due to its flat population growth, maybe Sacramento should try to convince Washington to count robots as residents in the next census. Because they’re on their way. In the first nine months of 2...
06 December, 2021 | Kerry Jackson
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
This week’s podcast guest is Melanie Kirkpatrick, author of Thanksgiving: The Holiday at the Heart of the American Experience. Melanie Kirkpatrick is the former deputy editor of the Wall Street Journal and is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. ...
22 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
Alicia Jessop, associate professor at Pepperdine University, sports industry leader, attorney, and journalist, discusses the massive changes to college athletics that have resulted from the change in name, image, and likeness regulations earlier this...
15 November, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
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
American Enterprise Institute senior fellow and Philanthropy Roundtable Executive Senior Fellow Howard Husock joins us to discuss his new book on housing policy, The Poor Side of Town and Why We Need It. We discuss various “housing reform” movements...
01 November, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
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
Our guests in this podcast are Wayne Winegarden, PRI senior fellow in business and economics and Kerry Jackson, PRI fellow on California Reform. Wayne and Kerry co-authored PRI’s new study “California Migrating,” which reveals the root causes of the...
18 October, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
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
Roxana Janka of the new Good4U coalition and campaign discusses their mission to ensure every child has the individualized educational options necessary to meet the demands of the workforce and get a good paying job. She also discusses their new sta...
11 October, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
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
Our guest this week is Zack Smith, a legal fellow with the Heritage Foundation’s Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies. Zack has been closely watching the growing movement of progressive prosecutors who flout the rule of law. In California, we...
04 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
This week’s guest is Clark Judge. In addition to being chairman of PRI, he is the founder and managing director of the White House Writers Group – a high stakes communications firm. Clark Judge was also speechwriter to Pres. Ronald Reagan. We disc...
27 September, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
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
In this podcast, PRI All-Stars, Rowena Itchon, senior vice president, Lance Izumi, senior director of education, and Tim Anaya, senior director of communications come together to provide their perspective on the California recall election and its def...
20 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
Our guest this week on PRI’s Next Round podcast is Lance Izumi, senior director of education. Lance discusses his upcoming book The Homeschool Boom: Pandemic, Policies, and Possibilities. There’s been a homeschooling boom during the pandemic, as pa...
13 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
PRI’s podcast guest this week is Corey DeAngelis, executive director of the Educational Freedom Institute, director of research for the National Federation for Children, and a fellow at the Cato Institute and the Reason Foundation. He is interviewed ...
06 September, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
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
Next Round’s guest this week is Pat Nolan director of the American Conservative Union Foundation’s Center for Criminal Justice Reform. Nolan, an author of a chapter in PRI’s new book Saving California, discusses the state’s rising crime problem, “wok...
23 August, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
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
This week’s podcast guest is Adrian Moore, vice president of the Reason Foundation. His areas of research are privatization, government and regulatory reform, transportation, urban growth, and utilities. Dr. Moore discusses his chapter on California...
16 August, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
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
Next Round’s guest this week is Steven Greenhut, editor of PRI’s new book Saving California: Solutions to the state’s biggest policy problems. Greenhut brings together policy experts, including Wendel Cox, Joel Kotkin, Sally Pipes, and Lance Izumi, t...
09 August, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
This week’s podcast guest is Melanie Kirkpatrick, author of the new book, Lady Editor, a biography of Sarah Josepha Hale. Hale was the editor of the most prominent ladies magazine in her day and responsible for publishing prominent American authors ...
02 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
In this podcast, PRI’s guest is Judge Janice Rogers Brown, former associate justice of the California Supreme Court and a former judge on the DC Court of Appeals. Judge Brown discusses the rise of “woke” ideology and how it threatens our Constitutio...
26 July, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
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
This podcast features William Voegeli, senior fellow at the Claremont Institute and senior editor at the Claremont Review of Books. Ro and Tim discuss with Dr. Voegeli his recent essay in the Claremont Review on California’s activist government and ...
19 July, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
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
This podcast features PRI President Sally Pipes and the Goldwater Institutes Director of Health Care Policy Naomi Lopez in an insightful discussion on health care in America and what lies ahead under the Biden-Harris administration. ...
29 June, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
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
Gail Heriot, a law professor at the University of San Diego, was co-chair of both the campaign for California’s Prop. 209 in 1996 and the successful campaign to prevent its repeal in 2020. Editor of the new book A Dubious Expediency, she offers compe...
21 June, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
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
This podcast features Debra Saunders, the long-time columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle who turned Trump White House beat reporter for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. These days Debra Saunders is a fellow at the Discovery Institute’s Chapman Cen...
14 June, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
In this podcast our guest is Anne Marie Schubert, District Attorney for Sacramento County. Ms. Schubert along with 44 DAs are suing Gov. Newsom for his policy to allow 76,000 inmates – including many who committed violent crimes – to attain early re...
07 June, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
The featured guest for this podcast Erik Jaffe, partner at Schaerr Jaffe, a constitutional lawyer, and a PRI fellow in Legal Studies. Erik takes us through a tour of the major U.S. Supreme Court cases this session and the constitutional issues in qu...
01 June, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
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
This week’s podcast features Steve Greenhut, author of PRI’s new book Winning the Water Wars. Steve gives an update on California’s drought and how we got here, after failing to prepare during the previous non-drought years. He discusses current le...
17 May, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
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
This week’s podcast features Robert Poole, director of transportation policy at the Reason Foundation. Bob Poole, one of the leading transportation policy experts in the nation – discusses Pres. Biden’s so-called infrastructure plan and what’s reall...
10 May, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
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
PRI’s guest in this podcast is Nolan Gray, an urban planner and currently a Ph.D. student at UCLA. Housing affordability and housing shortages are two key reasons so many Californians are fleeing the state. Nolan discusses why housing is so expensive...
03 May, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
This week’s guest is Dr. Henry Miller, PRI senior fellow in health care studies. In addition to being a physician, Dr. Miller was a former official at the FDA and founding director of the FDA’s Office of Biotechnology. Dr. Miller provides an update ...
26 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
The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) promotes itself as “the nation’s drug pricing watchdog.” However, as documented in the first of a series of PRI reports, ICER’s cost-effectiveness analyses contain inappropriate methodologies and...
05 April, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
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
Steven Greenhut, author of the recent PRI book Winning the Water Wars, moderates a panel of water experts and policymakers who preview the course the Biden Administration will likely chart on California water policy. They also highlight potential la...
29 March, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
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
Despite the success of charter schools, they have come under attack on multiple fronts. State lawmakers have enacted state laws that handicap the establishment of charter schools and their operation. Additionally, charter school opponents have used...
22 March, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
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
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
In this podcast, Kerry Jackson and Wayne Winegarden preview their new book No Way Home: The Crisis of Homelessness and How to Fix it with Intelligence and Humanity. The panel discussion was recorded from PRI’s annual Sacramento Policy Conference in ...
15 March, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
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 podcast features a virtual debate on free speech and the role of social media platforms in moderating online content. PRI brings together an unmatched team of experts including former Congressman Chris Cox, one of the original authors of Section...
08 March, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
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
This podcast is a recording of the health care panel discussion at PRI’s virtual Sacramento Policy Conference. Our All-Star panelists include Sally Pipes, PRI President, CEO, and Thomas W. Smith Fellow in Health Care Policy; Wayne Winegarden, PRI sen...
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
Policymakers in Sacramento and Washington are focusing on how to turn the economy around, keep businesses afloat, and help people stay employed amidst the ongoing pandemic. Elected officials, policy insiders, and free market economists discuss effort...
16 February, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
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
Newly elected Representative Young Kim of Orange County provided the keynote address at this year’s virtual Sacramento Ideas in Action Policy conference. Rep. Kim discusses her first days in Congress, her legislative priorities, and her goal to forge...
08 February, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
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
Cynthia Ariosta and Carl Dene of the Coalition of Bay Area Restaurants and Wineries discuss the impact of Gov. Newsom’s on again/off again restrictions on small businesses. The pandemic has hit California hard, especially small businesses and employ...
01 February, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
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
The new Pacific Research Institute book A Kite in a Hurricane No More profiles the challenges and ultimate triumph of Mia Giordano, a young woman with serious learning disabilities. As we observe National School Choice Week 2021, this podcas...
26 January, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
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
PRI former speechwriters offer their perspective on President Biden’s inaugural speech. Lance Izumi was speechwriter to Attorney General Edwin Meese and Gov. Deukmejian and is now PRI’s senior director of education studies, Tim Anaya was speechwrit...
20 January, 2021 | Pacific Research Institute
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
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
Dr. Henry Miller, PRI senior fellow in health care studies and former founding director of the FDA’s Office of Biotechnology, joins us with an update on efforts to develop vaccines and therapeutics to fight Covid-19. He discusses how a transition be...
23 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
PRI Chairman of the Board Clark Judge returns to discuss the lessons learned from Election 2020. He shares his thoughts on where the conservative movement stands today after four years of President Trump, offers advice to conservatives, President Tr...
16 November, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
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
This week, PRI’s Evan Harris interviews R Street Institute’s Steven Greenhut about his newly-published PRI book, Winning the Water Wars. In the book, Greenhut makes the case that California can end its decades-long water wars and meet the state’s wat...
09 November, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
Now that all the votes have been cast, the PRI All Stars are back with a special election wrap-up. They break down the night’s biggest winners and losers and the night’s biggest surprise results, discuss what the national election trends mean for Ca...
04 November, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
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
Our PRI All Stars are back with an election preview. On deck are Tim Anaya, senior director of communications, Kerry Jackson, fellow in California Reform, Evan Harris, manager of media relations and outreach, and Rowena Itchon, senior vice president...
28 October, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
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
Michael Anton, lecturer in politics and research fellow at Hillsdale College’s Kirby Center in Washington, DC and former national security official in the Bush (43) and Trump administrations, joins PRI senior fellow Steve Hayward for a discussion of ...
26 October, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
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
PRI fellow in legal studies Erik Jaffe shares his thoughts on the Amy Coney Barrett nomination hearings, and what changes we might expect to see at the Supreme Court under a Justice Barrett. We discuss the controversy over “court packing” in the pre...
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
Norman Gonzales and Carlos Yniguez from John Adams Academy join PRI’s Lance Izumi to discuss a change in this year’s budget that takes away funding for thousands of kids attending charter schools across the state, and how the school is fighting this ...
12 October, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
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
In case you missed our special live webinar, listen to PRI’s Lance Izumi as he interviews U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. The two discuss the importance of expanding school choice opportunities for every American student, school reopenings fo...
08 October, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
This podcast with Heather Mac Donald, Thomas W. Smith fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor at City Journal, was recorded from a recent webinar with PRI’s own Steve Hayward doing the Q&A. Heather offers her perspective on the r...
05 October, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
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
PRI’s former speechwriters (Rowena Itchon, Lance Izumi and Tim Anaya) are joined by attorney, former Reagan and Wilson administration appointee and PRI board member Lawrence Siskind in breaking down the best and worst moments of the first presidentia...
30 September, 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
Kenneth Green, Ph.D., PRI Senior Fellow in Environment, discusses the recent California wildfires, the state’s climate change policies, what he thinks about presidential candidate Joe Biden’s environmental agenda, as well as Pres. Trump’s performance...
14 September, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
If you’ve ever had a medical procedure and received a large bill from your hospital because, unknown to you, one of your doctors was not in your insurance network – that’s the subject of this podcast. PRI senior fellow Wayne Winegarden discusses his...
07 September, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
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
PRI’s former speechwriters (Rowena Itchon, Lance Izumi and Tim Anaya) review the 2020 Republican National Convention. They discuss how the convention dealt with outside events taking over the headlines, analyze the party’s use of real people versus ...
31 August, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
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
PRI’s former speechwriters (Rowena Itchon, Lance Izumi, and Tim Anaya) discuss the highs and lows of the first virtual convention in American history. We share our thoughts on the key highlights from the -2020 Democratic convention, including John K...
24 August, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
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
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
R Street Institute’s Steven Greenhut returns for his annual look at the year’s legislative session in Sacramento. We discuss how the Legislature and Governor have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and rising social unrest, a $54 billion budget defi...
03 August, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
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
PRI Senior Fellow in Tech and Innovation Bartlett Cleland joins us to discuss the California Consumer Privacy Act, which took effect on July 1. He discusses the serious flaws with the new law and how it will impact consumers and business owners, loo...
27 July, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
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
PRI senior fellow in health care studies Dr. Henry Miller gives us an update on what scientists are learning about COVID-19 and the progress in finding a vaccine. He also weighs in on whether schools should be reopening this fall, gives his thoughts...
20 July, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
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
PRI Chairman and White House Writers Group founder and managing director Clark Judge evaluates how effectively political leaders in Washington, state capitols, and city halls are communicating with the public during the COVID-19 crisis and the social...
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
As single-payer advocates such as Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and House member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) are seizing on the COVID-19 pandemic to push even more aggressively for a complete takeover of our health care system by the federal gove...
22 June, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
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
PRI Fellow Kerry Jackson, author of the book “Living in Fear in California,” joins us to discuss the debate over criminal justice policy in California in these troubled times. We discuss temporary changes to early release and cash bail policies duri...
08 June, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
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
Listen to a special presentation of PRI’s webinar featuring a panel of policy experts, education specialists, and homeschooling practitioners discussing the coronavirus impact on education in the United States. They discuss the many options available...
01 June, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
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
Governor Newsom announced his new budget revisions for the next fiscal year. Due to the forced shutdown of California’s businesses and the additional spending on the coronavirus pandemic, Newsom expects a budget shortfall of $54 billion. Our All-St...
18 May, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
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
PRI President, CEO, and Thomas W. Smith Fellow in Health Care Studies Sally C. Pipes is back to discuss some of the health care challenges that have popped up during the coronavirus crisis, including a renewed push for single-payer and calls for pres...
27 April, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
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
Lance Izumi, senior director of PRI’s Center for Education, joins us to discuss a situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic that millions of parents never though they’d find themselves in – homeschooling their kids. He shares advice from experts ...
13 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
PRI Senior Fellow in Health Care Studies Dr. Henry Miller joins us with an update on the fight against the coronavirus. He offers much-needed perspective on what public health officials are doing to “flatten the curve,” efforts to find vaccines and ...
06 April, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
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
This podcast is a recorded panel discussion from PRI’s second annual policy conference in Sacramento. The panel focuses on education. As the attack over charter schools has increased, one false narrative is that they don’t serve the needs of specia...
23 March, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
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
The PRI All Stars discuss the big takeaways from Super Tuesday – including Joe Biden’s big comeback, which candidate would be easier for President Trump to defeat, and voter attitudes on single-payer health care and socialism. We also talk about th...
04 March, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
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
California’s growing homeless crisis is impacting nearly everyone, especially those living in big cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Sacramento. In Governor Newsom’s recent State of the State address, he reportedly spent 35 of his 42 minute ...
24 February, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
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
Noted education reformer Larry Sand of the California Teachers Empowerment Network talks with PRI's Lance Izumi about opportunities to expand school choice in California despite recent legislative setbacks last year targeting charter schools. They d...
10 February, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
Dr. Henry Miller, senior fellow with PRI’s Center for Medical Economics and Innovation, joins us to discuss the Wuhan Coronavirus. We explore a wide variety of topics related to this public health crisis, including how people get the illness and how...
04 February, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
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
Adam Andrzejewski is the founder of Open the Books, an organization dedicated to transparency in government. Open the Books has been at the forefront of holding state government accountable for how it spends taxpayer money. In California, Governor N...
27 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
Joseph Tartakovsky, a PRI adjunct fellow and with the law firm Gibson Dunn, discusses the homeless case Martin v. the City of Boise. It involves five homeless people who sued Boise, Idaho for fining them for violating a city ordinance prohibiting pe...
20 January, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
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
Dr. Wayne Winegarden, director of PRI’s Center for Medical Economics and Innovation, breaks down recently-proposed plans in Washington and Sacramento that emphasize price caps and more government control to address prescription drug prices. He discu...
13 January, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
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
In this podcast, PRI President and CEO Sally Pipes discusses her new book False Premise, False Promise: The Disastrous Reality of Medicare for All. Sally makes the case against Medicare for All using evidence from government-run systems in Canada an...
06 January, 2020 | Pacific Research Institute
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
Back once again with their popular holiday tradition, the PRI All-Stars get together for our annual entertaining look back at 2019. We hand out our annual awards for the biggest winners and losers of 2019 in the worlds of politics and policy. Stay ...
23 December, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
This podcast is the fifth and final in the series of joint PRI and Claremont Institute 40th Anniversary Cruise lectures. The cruise took place in October, started in Barcelona, with stops in Mallorca, Marseille, Monte Carlo, Nice, Florence, and endin...
16 December, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
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
This podcast is the fourth in the series of joint PRI and Claremont Institute 40th Anniversary Cruise lectures. The theme of the lectures was “The Future of America and the West: Liberty, Sovereignty, and Self-Government. This fourth lecture on Brex...
09 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
This podcast is the third in the series of joint PRI and Claremont Institute 40th Anniversary Cruise lectures. The theme of the lectures was “The Future of America and the West: Liberty, Sovereignty, and Self-Government. This third lectur...
02 December, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
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
This podcast is the second in the series of joint PRI and Claremont Institute 40th Anniversary Cruise lectures. The theme of the lectures was “The Future of America and the West: Liberty, Sovereignty, and Self-Government. This second lecture, titled...
25 November, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
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
This past October, PRI and the Claremont Institute teamed up to celebrate our 40th anniversaries on a cruise in the Mediterranean. The cruise started in Barcelona, with stops in Mallorca, Marseille, Monte Carlo, Nice, Florence, and ending in Rome. ...
18 November, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
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
PRI Center for California fellow Kerry Jackson discusses the electricity shutoff that plunged some 3 million Californians into darkness. He reviews the history of California’s utility problems, the lack of market incentives for delivering power in t...
11 November, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
“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
Sarah Rose Siskind, a New York writer and aspiring comedienne and Larry Siskind, Bay Area attorney, father and daughter, go head to head on the issues of the day: climate change, socialism, the presidential race, technology and the changing culture o...
28 October, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
Keli’i Akina is the president of the Grassroot Institute, a non-partisan think tank based in Hawaii. Besides sunshine and palm trees, California and Hawaii have something in common – one-party rule. As Dr, Akina says in the interview, Hawaii is as bl...
22 October, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
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
Jared Walczak of the Tax Foundation discusses taxes, taxes, and more taxes in the Golden State. He offers his analysis of the split roll tax, the state and local income tax deduction and its impact on high-tax states like California, reforming the s...
14 October, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
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
Longtime Capitol journalist Steven Greenhut of the R Street Institute joins us for our annual end-of-session wrap-up. We discuss all the hot issues from this legislative session, including the debate over who is an independent contractor and who is ...
16 September, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
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
Association of American Educators executive director Colin Sharkey joins us to discuss a new survey from their Teacher Freedom project on the attitudes of teachers one year after the historic Janus decision and shares insight on what teachers think a...
09 September, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
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
Lance Izumi, PRI’s Senior Director of Education Studies, joins us to discuss perhaps the most controversial education legislation in recent memory – a so-called compromise that would impose significant new requirements and restrictions on charter sch...
02 September, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
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
National Review’s Andy McCarthy joins us to discuss his new book The Ball of Collusion. No one is better than McCarthy, a former federal prosecutor who earned the Justice Department’s highest honor, to provide perspective on the Trump investigation ...
26 August, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
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
R Street Institute’s Jarrett Dieterle joins us to discuss his research on the hottest issue of the final weeks of the legislative session, Assembly Bill 5, and the impact its passage would have on employers, our innovation economy, and Californians w...
20 August, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
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
Claremont Institute President Ryan Williams joins us to discuss their current work on what they see as the growing threat from identity politics and multiculturalism, their recent censorship battle with Google, and how we can encourage a more balance...
12 August, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
Pacific Legal Foundation attorney Tim Snowball joins us to discuss the policy roadblocks unions and their allies have put up in California and other states following the Janus decision, and their ongoing legal efforts to overcome these hurdles and pr...
05 August, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
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
Reason.com Associate Editor Robby Soave joins us to discuss his new book about the disruptive political activism and growing political unrest among millennials, Panic Attack. He discusses why “Zillennials” as he calls them are so hypersensitive and ...
29 July, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
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
Daniel Hannan, Member of the European Parliament for the South East of England, joins us to share his perspective on Brexit and the ongoing political turmoil in the UK. He discusses the prospects for a stronger UK alliance with the United States on...
22 July, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
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
California State Board of Education member and Natomas Charter School co-founder and retiring Executive Director Ting Sun joins us to discuss what makes her school so special. Natomas Charter School is one of the schools profiled in Lance Izumi’s bo...
15 July, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
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
PRI’s Kerry Jackson and Wayne Winegarden join us to discuss their new issue brief on San Francisco’s growing homeless crisis. They explore just how bad the problem really is in the City by the Bay and how the city got in this mess, analyze current e...
08 July, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
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 PRI All Stars share their thoughts on the 1st Democratic presidential debate and analyze of the policy platforms put forward by the 20 candidates. Who won? Who lost? Did anyone have a major gaffe? Did anyone really help themselves on their qu...
01 July, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
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
It's the 100th episode of Next Round with PRI and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy is our special guest. We discuss the first 6 months of the Democratic majority in the House, and a host of issues of concern to Californians including big tech ...
24 June, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
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
In this special episode - recorded at a recent PRI luncheon in San Francisco - PRI Senior Fellow and UC Berkeley Professor Steve Hayward and UC Berkeley Law Professor John Yoo share their thoughts diversity, equality, and the attacks on free speech o...
17 June, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
Brian Isom of the Center for Growth and Opportunity at Utah State University joins us to discuss his research on California wildfires. He discusses why the Paradise and Napa Valley fires were so destructive, why devastating wildfires are becoming mu...
10 June, 2019 | Pacific Research Institute
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
