Business & Economics

Commentary

Learn why price controls won't reduce inflation

Kamala Harris is wrong. American economic history is replete with failed price control policies

Yet in one of her first policy proposals as the Democratic Party’s White House candidate, Kamala Harris insisted that the country needs “the first-ever federal ban on price gouging on food and groceries.” She would set “clear rules of the road to make clear that big corporations can’t unfairly exploit ...
Agriculture

Read the latest on the Harris grocery price gouging plan

Kamala Harris is wrong. The ‘California Way,’ not corporate greed, hikes grocery prices

Harris is right: we’re paying more at the grocery store these days.  According to the Federal Reserve, food prices are up about 20 percent compared to when Harris became vice president. But when looking for a culprit for rising food prices, economists suggest Harris should look in the mirror – ...
Blog

Spending Watch

California’s Expensive but Ineffective Income Support Spending

California’s Expensive but Ineffective Income Support Spending Wayne Winegarden August 2024 Including federal, state, and local funds, California’s per capita spending on income support programs is 81 percent higher than the average expenditures for all other states – per capita spending of $3,869 compared to $2,141. These expenditures include “cash ...
Blog

Read the latest about California's misguided energy policies

As Chevron Exits California, Will Still Attempt to Buy Its Oil Refineries?

It’s unlikely that was the plan. But it is interesting that at roughly the same time Chevron made its announcement, which was no surprise to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office, the California Energy Commission issued a staff report that includes a dedicated section (Chapter 3, page 7) on “State-Owned Refineries.” It’s ...
Blog

CAPITAL IDEAS: Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Undermines the Social Responsibility of Businesses and Investment Managers

The concepts behind Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing and management are the latest theory trying to address a long-standing question: What is the appropriate social function of a business? This question predates Milton Friedman’s 1970 New York Times piece “The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits,” ...
Blog

Read why latest employer is leaving California

Chevron’s Departure Highlights California’s Risky Economic Future

Companies have been decamping from California for greener pastures so frequently that, in some ways, Chevron’s announcement is barely newsworthy. The particulars of Chevron’s decision are important, however, because they exemplify the large economic risks California’s policymakers are taking. Judged by their actions, California’s political leaders, including Governor Newsom, have ...
Business & Economics

Read the latest on gig work and worker freedom

Kamala Harris Is Bad News for Gig Workers

Two million independent contractors caught a break from the California supreme court when it recently upheld a ballot initiative that was intended to overcome Sacramento’s patently obvious effort to outlaw gig work. Any celebrations should wait, though. The administration wants to take California’s war on worker freedom national. The PRO ...
Business & Economics

New study shows fast food minimum wage law already a disaster

Is it too soon to declare California’s $20-an-hour minimum wage for fast food workers a disaster? After all, it became law only four months ago. How much harm could have been done in such a narrow time frame? Short answer? Quite a bit. The results of a just-released business survey ...
Business & Economics

Biden’s rent-control plan will only make America’s housing crisis worse

President Joe Biden is suggesting that a federal limit on annual rent increases in residential units will ease housing costs. This is what happens when economist Milton Friedman isn’t “running the show”: Policymakers follow ideas that make the problem they say they’re solving infinitely worse. “While the prior administration gave special ...
Blog

Read the latest on Gov. Newsom's national ambitions

President Newsom, For The Power And The Glory

Biden’s troubling performance in the June 27 CNN debate fueled the ongoing discussions of who could and should replace him as the Democratic candidate. Of course every list included Newsom, who was a Biden surrogate at the debate and obviously has his eye on the White House even as he ...
Commentary

Learn why price controls won't reduce inflation

Kamala Harris is wrong. American economic history is replete with failed price control policies

Yet in one of her first policy proposals as the Democratic Party’s White House candidate, Kamala Harris insisted that the country needs “the first-ever federal ban on price gouging on food and groceries.” She would set “clear rules of the road to make clear that big corporations can’t unfairly exploit ...
Agriculture

Read the latest on the Harris grocery price gouging plan

Kamala Harris is wrong. The ‘California Way,’ not corporate greed, hikes grocery prices

Harris is right: we’re paying more at the grocery store these days.  According to the Federal Reserve, food prices are up about 20 percent compared to when Harris became vice president. But when looking for a culprit for rising food prices, economists suggest Harris should look in the mirror – ...
Blog

Spending Watch

California’s Expensive but Ineffective Income Support Spending

California’s Expensive but Ineffective Income Support Spending Wayne Winegarden August 2024 Including federal, state, and local funds, California’s per capita spending on income support programs is 81 percent higher than the average expenditures for all other states – per capita spending of $3,869 compared to $2,141. These expenditures include “cash ...
Blog

Read the latest about California's misguided energy policies

As Chevron Exits California, Will Still Attempt to Buy Its Oil Refineries?

It’s unlikely that was the plan. But it is interesting that at roughly the same time Chevron made its announcement, which was no surprise to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office, the California Energy Commission issued a staff report that includes a dedicated section (Chapter 3, page 7) on “State-Owned Refineries.” It’s ...
Blog

CAPITAL IDEAS: Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Undermines the Social Responsibility of Businesses and Investment Managers

The concepts behind Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing and management are the latest theory trying to address a long-standing question: What is the appropriate social function of a business? This question predates Milton Friedman’s 1970 New York Times piece “The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits,” ...
Blog

Read why latest employer is leaving California

Chevron’s Departure Highlights California’s Risky Economic Future

Companies have been decamping from California for greener pastures so frequently that, in some ways, Chevron’s announcement is barely newsworthy. The particulars of Chevron’s decision are important, however, because they exemplify the large economic risks California’s policymakers are taking. Judged by their actions, California’s political leaders, including Governor Newsom, have ...
Business & Economics

Read the latest on gig work and worker freedom

Kamala Harris Is Bad News for Gig Workers

Two million independent contractors caught a break from the California supreme court when it recently upheld a ballot initiative that was intended to overcome Sacramento’s patently obvious effort to outlaw gig work. Any celebrations should wait, though. The administration wants to take California’s war on worker freedom national. The PRO ...
Business & Economics

New study shows fast food minimum wage law already a disaster

Is it too soon to declare California’s $20-an-hour minimum wage for fast food workers a disaster? After all, it became law only four months ago. How much harm could have been done in such a narrow time frame? Short answer? Quite a bit. The results of a just-released business survey ...
Business & Economics

Biden’s rent-control plan will only make America’s housing crisis worse

President Joe Biden is suggesting that a federal limit on annual rent increases in residential units will ease housing costs. This is what happens when economist Milton Friedman isn’t “running the show”: Policymakers follow ideas that make the problem they say they’re solving infinitely worse. “While the prior administration gave special ...
Blog

Read the latest on Gov. Newsom's national ambitions

President Newsom, For The Power And The Glory

Biden’s troubling performance in the June 27 CNN debate fueled the ongoing discussions of who could and should replace him as the Democratic candidate. Of course every list included Newsom, who was a Biden surrogate at the debate and obviously has his eye on the White House even as he ...
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