Business & Economics

Business & Economics

True cost of stimulus? Higher taxes

President Barack Obama is scheduled to place his signature Tuesday on the $787 billion economic stimulus bill. Unfortunately, the cost of debt and future taxes required to finance the stimulus largesse have largely been ignored to date. Putting aside the issues of whether you support a stimulus, whether any stimulus ...
Business & Economics

Don’t hold drugmakers liable for competitors’ generics

The California Supreme Court’s recent decision not to review Conte vs. Wyeth leaves name-brand drug manufacturers liable for harm caused by another manufacturer’s generic version of its drug. This unprecedented and unfair extension of product liability spells bad news for innovators and consumers alike. Plaintiff Elizabeth Conte took a generic ...
Business & Economics

California Supreme Court Decision Quashes Innovation, Threatens Health, and Encourages Costly Lawsuit Abuse

Traditional tort law holds that manufacturers are responsible only for their own products, not those made by competitors. The California Supreme Court changed that in late January by declining to review Conte v. Wyeth, which leaves name-brand drug manufacturers liable for harm caused by another manufacturer’s generic version. This unprecedented ...
Agriculture

Bank Bailout Blues

Undeterred by the failure of the last injection of taxpayer dollars into a bloated banking system, our financial crusaders in DC are scratching their heads over the best way to flush another few hundred billion away. The latest scheme involves the creation of a “bad bank” that would purchase the ...
Business & Economics

Calif.’s Fertility Flap and the Future of Reproductive Tech

The news of octuplets born recently near Los Angeles shocked many people, especially since the mother, Nadya Suleman, apparently already had six children and is reported to be jobless and living with her parents. Such rare stories certainly sell newspapers, but they can also lead to knee-jerk calls for overly ...
Business & Economics

Obama Stimulus Not Necessary, as This Is No Great Depression

Milton Friedman had a rule: Increases or decreases in the money supply take six to nine months to alter economic output and as much as two years to move prices. As the Senate takes up the president’s stimulus package, the administration argues that, to avert another Great Depression, it is ...
Business & Economics

Don’t blame China for U.S. woes

Several Chinese readers have contacted me to express astonishment at the chorus of voices blaming China for the U.S. recession. They wonder: Is this the preamble of a protectionist backlash? There is plenty that China deserves to be bashed for – its political system and its backing of Sudan and ...
Business & Economics

Google.gov? The Perils of Technology and Government Transparency

Barack Obama led the most tech savvy presidential campaign in American history, using the Internet to recruit, mobilize, and engage more than 13 million supporters. As president, Obama has pledged to “integrate technology into every aspect of government,” and usher in “a new level of transparency, accountability and participation for ...
Business & Economics

The Fine Whine of California

Shortly after the national election last year, the UC Davis Graduate School of Management called a press conference at the Sacramento campus to announce their fourth UC Davis Study of California Women Business Leaders. This sounds interesting but there’s less here than meets the eye. As it turns out, UC ...
Business & Economics

Expand Economic Freedom in 2009

The onset of 2009, with a new president taking office, is a good time to reconsider the benefits of economic freedom. Contrary to what partisans of big government claim, the empirical case for economic freedom has grown much stronger in the last 10 years, due to the development of objective ...
Business & Economics

True cost of stimulus? Higher taxes

President Barack Obama is scheduled to place his signature Tuesday on the $787 billion economic stimulus bill. Unfortunately, the cost of debt and future taxes required to finance the stimulus largesse have largely been ignored to date. Putting aside the issues of whether you support a stimulus, whether any stimulus ...
Business & Economics

Don’t hold drugmakers liable for competitors’ generics

The California Supreme Court’s recent decision not to review Conte vs. Wyeth leaves name-brand drug manufacturers liable for harm caused by another manufacturer’s generic version of its drug. This unprecedented and unfair extension of product liability spells bad news for innovators and consumers alike. Plaintiff Elizabeth Conte took a generic ...
Business & Economics

California Supreme Court Decision Quashes Innovation, Threatens Health, and Encourages Costly Lawsuit Abuse

Traditional tort law holds that manufacturers are responsible only for their own products, not those made by competitors. The California Supreme Court changed that in late January by declining to review Conte v. Wyeth, which leaves name-brand drug manufacturers liable for harm caused by another manufacturer’s generic version. This unprecedented ...
Agriculture

Bank Bailout Blues

Undeterred by the failure of the last injection of taxpayer dollars into a bloated banking system, our financial crusaders in DC are scratching their heads over the best way to flush another few hundred billion away. The latest scheme involves the creation of a “bad bank” that would purchase the ...
Business & Economics

Calif.’s Fertility Flap and the Future of Reproductive Tech

The news of octuplets born recently near Los Angeles shocked many people, especially since the mother, Nadya Suleman, apparently already had six children and is reported to be jobless and living with her parents. Such rare stories certainly sell newspapers, but they can also lead to knee-jerk calls for overly ...
Business & Economics

Obama Stimulus Not Necessary, as This Is No Great Depression

Milton Friedman had a rule: Increases or decreases in the money supply take six to nine months to alter economic output and as much as two years to move prices. As the Senate takes up the president’s stimulus package, the administration argues that, to avert another Great Depression, it is ...
Business & Economics

Don’t blame China for U.S. woes

Several Chinese readers have contacted me to express astonishment at the chorus of voices blaming China for the U.S. recession. They wonder: Is this the preamble of a protectionist backlash? There is plenty that China deserves to be bashed for – its political system and its backing of Sudan and ...
Business & Economics

Google.gov? The Perils of Technology and Government Transparency

Barack Obama led the most tech savvy presidential campaign in American history, using the Internet to recruit, mobilize, and engage more than 13 million supporters. As president, Obama has pledged to “integrate technology into every aspect of government,” and usher in “a new level of transparency, accountability and participation for ...
Business & Economics

The Fine Whine of California

Shortly after the national election last year, the UC Davis Graduate School of Management called a press conference at the Sacramento campus to announce their fourth UC Davis Study of California Women Business Leaders. This sounds interesting but there’s less here than meets the eye. As it turns out, UC ...
Business & Economics

Expand Economic Freedom in 2009

The onset of 2009, with a new president taking office, is a good time to reconsider the benefits of economic freedom. Contrary to what partisans of big government claim, the empirical case for economic freedom has grown much stronger in the last 10 years, due to the development of objective ...
Scroll to Top