Business & Economics
Agriculture
Fourth of July cookouts are a costly proposition
Monday is the annual celebration of freedom from the tyranny of an absentee monarchy. In 2021, the White House tweeted that a Fourth of July cookout would cost Americans $0.16 less than in 2020 and touted it as a victory. Will there be a similar tweet for 2022? As the ...
Blog
Massachusetts Fails to Learn the Lesson of the “Success” From California’s AB 5
The top court in Massachusetts shut down a gig work ballot measure last week in a litigation battle brought on by opponents of independent contracting work. The ballot measure, that was anticipated to pass with over 80% of Uber and Lyft drivers in support in opinion surveys, would have classified ...
Blog
Despite Sunday Late Night Tax Rebate Deal, Gas Tax Still Going Up
Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature’s Democratic leaders announced Sunday that they had finally reached agreement on a tax rebate plan. How to give Californians relief from high gas prices and rising inflation had been a key sticking point holding up the budget’s enactment. The unusual release of the plan ...
Business & Economics
Dr. Matt Beech – On Boris, Brexit, and the Brits
Our guest this week is Prof. Matthew Beech, Director of the Centre for British Politics at the University of Hull in the United Kingdom. Dr. Beech is also a Senior Fellow at UC Berkeley’s Institute of European Studies and the Centre for British Politics. A political scientist and historian, he ...
Blog
Fighting Inflation – Is the Fed “Bluffing?”
“The way to crush the bourgeoisie,” said Lenin, “is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.” So, it would have put a crocodile smile on Lenin’s face to learn that May’s inflation data showed that Americans’ wallets were worn down even further. The year-over-year inflation rate came ...
Business & Economics
Rounding Up The Usual Suspects Won’t Alleviate Inflation
Doing his best Captain Renault impersonation, President Biden is trying to alleviate the troubling inflationary environment by “rounding up the usual suspects”. In this case, that means blame a problem that can only be caused by errant government policies on politically convenient targets such as rising drug prices, Russia’s invasion of the ...
Blog
No Investigation Needed – Government Energy Policy Fuels Record-High Gas Prices
Angry drivers paying record gas prices this year – surpassing $7 per gallon in parts of California – are demanding action from elected officials to lower gas prices. Surprisingly, Sacramento Democrats have hung onto this scorching hot political potato for months. Democrat legislative leaders have rejected pleas from Republicans and ...
Gas Tax
Wayne Winegarden Warns of the Consequences of Gas Tax Holidays and Gas Rebates in Newsweek
Wayne Winegarden, PRI fellow for Business & Economics, warns of the consequences of gas tax holidays and gas rebates in Newsweek: Wayne Winegarden, a senior fellow at the Pacific Research Institute, echoed that if the Federal Reserve does not accommodate additional spending of gas rebate cards, the measure would “put ...
Business & Economics
NEW STUDY: U.K. Vaping Regulations Based on Risks of Vaping Relative to Smoking Provide Lessons for U.S.
DOWNLOAD THE STUDY As the federal government and states such as California consider taxing and imposing new or stricter regulations on vaping products, particularly flavored products, Roger Bate, Ph.D. finds that there are important lessons U.S. policymakers can learn from the tax and regulatory environment in the U.K. in a ...
Blog
Lawmakers Pass a Budget Bill, But No Deal Yet on Gas Price Relief
On Monday, Senate and Assembly Democrats passed their version of the 2022-23 state budget. While patting themselves on the back for adopting “a budget that puts California’s wealth to work for individuals, families, and businesses throughout our state,” there was one thing missing from their announcement – the support of ...
Fourth of July cookouts are a costly proposition
Monday is the annual celebration of freedom from the tyranny of an absentee monarchy. In 2021, the White House tweeted that a Fourth of July cookout would cost Americans $0.16 less than in 2020 and touted it as a victory. Will there be a similar tweet for 2022? As the ...
Massachusetts Fails to Learn the Lesson of the “Success” From California’s AB 5
The top court in Massachusetts shut down a gig work ballot measure last week in a litigation battle brought on by opponents of independent contracting work. The ballot measure, that was anticipated to pass with over 80% of Uber and Lyft drivers in support in opinion surveys, would have classified ...
Despite Sunday Late Night Tax Rebate Deal, Gas Tax Still Going Up
Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature’s Democratic leaders announced Sunday that they had finally reached agreement on a tax rebate plan. How to give Californians relief from high gas prices and rising inflation had been a key sticking point holding up the budget’s enactment. The unusual release of the plan ...
Dr. Matt Beech – On Boris, Brexit, and the Brits
Our guest this week is Prof. Matthew Beech, Director of the Centre for British Politics at the University of Hull in the United Kingdom. Dr. Beech is also a Senior Fellow at UC Berkeley’s Institute of European Studies and the Centre for British Politics. A political scientist and historian, he ...
Fighting Inflation – Is the Fed “Bluffing?”
“The way to crush the bourgeoisie,” said Lenin, “is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.” So, it would have put a crocodile smile on Lenin’s face to learn that May’s inflation data showed that Americans’ wallets were worn down even further. The year-over-year inflation rate came ...
Rounding Up The Usual Suspects Won’t Alleviate Inflation
Doing his best Captain Renault impersonation, President Biden is trying to alleviate the troubling inflationary environment by “rounding up the usual suspects”. In this case, that means blame a problem that can only be caused by errant government policies on politically convenient targets such as rising drug prices, Russia’s invasion of the ...
No Investigation Needed – Government Energy Policy Fuels Record-High Gas Prices
Angry drivers paying record gas prices this year – surpassing $7 per gallon in parts of California – are demanding action from elected officials to lower gas prices. Surprisingly, Sacramento Democrats have hung onto this scorching hot political potato for months. Democrat legislative leaders have rejected pleas from Republicans and ...
Wayne Winegarden Warns of the Consequences of Gas Tax Holidays and Gas Rebates in Newsweek
Wayne Winegarden, PRI fellow for Business & Economics, warns of the consequences of gas tax holidays and gas rebates in Newsweek: Wayne Winegarden, a senior fellow at the Pacific Research Institute, echoed that if the Federal Reserve does not accommodate additional spending of gas rebate cards, the measure would “put ...
NEW STUDY: U.K. Vaping Regulations Based on Risks of Vaping Relative to Smoking Provide Lessons for U.S.
DOWNLOAD THE STUDY As the federal government and states such as California consider taxing and imposing new or stricter regulations on vaping products, particularly flavored products, Roger Bate, Ph.D. finds that there are important lessons U.S. policymakers can learn from the tax and regulatory environment in the U.K. in a ...
Lawmakers Pass a Budget Bill, But No Deal Yet on Gas Price Relief
On Monday, Senate and Assembly Democrats passed their version of the 2022-23 state budget. While patting themselves on the back for adopting “a budget that puts California’s wealth to work for individuals, families, and businesses throughout our state,” there was one thing missing from their announcement – the support of ...
