Pacific Research Institute

California’s AB 5 will kill the gig economy and force more companies to leave

October 14, 2019

California

Proposition 13 was called the political equivalent of a sonic boom by economist Art Laffer. In limiting how much local governments could drain from Californians through property taxes, fed-up voters changed the political landscape with the 1978 ballot measure in a way that few state policies...

Business Leaders Should Crunch the Numbers On Medicare for All

October 09, 2019

Healthcare

Big business appears to be getting behind Medicare for All. That's one way to read a new report from the National Business Group on Health. The organization recently asked 147 large employers that provide coverage to over 15.6 million workers and their dependents for their opinions...

President Trump wants you to get your flu shot

October 09, 2019

Healthcare

Influenza — the flu — is more than a bad cold. Seasonal outbreaks mean not only misery but increased hospital admissions and deaths. The last flu season, from October 2018 until May 2019, caused up to 42.9 million illnesses, up to 647,000 hospitalizations and up to...

Classroom Indoctrination Is Causing A Rise In Homeschooling

October 09, 2019

Watching leftist politicians such as New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio goading students to go on “strike” to protest climate change underscored for many American parents the increasing political indoctrination going on in the nation’s public schools, which will likely cause many of them...

Policies Should Address Global Climate Change By Incenting Innovation

October 04, 2019

Environment

Amidst all of the rhetoric and dire predictions surrounding global climate change, it is easy to lose one’s perspective. But, we will not successfully minimize the risks created by global climate change without perspective. Fundamental to this perspective, U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have been declining...

California Globe Article on Charter Schools Features Lance Izumi

October 03, 2019

Gov. Gavin Newsom sent out a press release Wednesday announcing that he will sign “the first major overhaul to the charter schools law since its enactment 27 years ago, and will address longstanding challenges for both traditional public school districts and charter schools.” . . . ....

Across The Atlantic, Nationalized Health Care Is Failing Cancer Patients

September 30, 2019

Healthcare

The United Kingdom's National Health Service is failing cancer patients. That's the grim conclusion of a new study published in the Lancet, a medical journal. Researchers examined five-year survival rates for seven types of cancer in seven "high income" countries. The United Kingdom came in dead last...

Small business owners are foolishly supporting ‘Medicare for all’

September 30, 2019

Healthcare

Small business owners are coming around to "Medicare for all," according to a new national survey from the Commonwealth Fund. About 34% of the firms polled said they strongly supported "Medicare for all." An additional 24% are somewhat on board. These firms need to realize that "Medicare for all" would raise...

It’s the Illegal Products, Stupid

September 30, 2019

There’s an old joke about the drunk who’s hunting for his lost keys under the streetlamp, not because he thinks they’re there, but because the light is good. Well, that’s what federal and state officials are doing to address two recent major public health threats:...

ObamaCare, not Trump, is adding to the number of uninsured Americans

September 30, 2019

Healthcare

On Sept. 10, the Census Bureau announced that the share of Americans without health insurance increased for the first time since 2010, the year the Affordable Care Act became law. Defenders of ObamaCare immediately blamed President Trump for the increase in the uninsured rate. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, never one...