Pacific Research Institute

Public Pension Funds’ Sole Responsibility Is To Secure The Retirement Of Public Sector Workers

February 14, 2019

Business Economics

State and local public pension funds are trillions of dollars in debt. Without fully accounting for the risks, state public pension funds have $1.4 trillion in unfunded liabilities (e.g. debt) according to the Pew Center’s latest estimates. Even more troubling, this debt is still growing. The sole priority...

You should absolutely believe Kamala Harris: ‘Medicare for All’ will kill your health insurance

February 13, 2019

Healthcare

Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., wants to ban private health insurance. But if she can't do that outright, she's happy settling for a reform that will eventually take away private health coverage. Harris, who is pursuing the Democratic nomination for president in 2020, spoke honestly about her...

The GND: Glitter, Nonsense, and Devitalization

February 13, 2019

Environment

By Andrew I. Fillat and Henry I. Miller The latest public policy bandwagon is the "Green New Deal," or GND, whose acronym could well stand for Glitter, Nonsense, and Devitalization. Some of its proposals are so outlandish that they would be more appropriate coming from enthusiastic...

CEQA: How to mend it since you can’t end it

February 13, 2019

Environment

By Daniel Kolkey It’s no coincidence that California’s housing prices began to diverge from the rest of the country in 1970 – the very year that the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) was enacted. According to California’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst, “Between 1970 and 1980, California home prices...

Do organic farms really produce ‘chemical free, healthier food’?

February 12, 2019

Healthcare

In “The Wealth of Nations,” the 18th century economist and philosopher Adam Smith observed about the chicanery of some businessmen, “People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in...

Fostering Transparency In The Pharmaceutical Market

February 12, 2019

In response to the problem of rising list prices for drugs, elected officials continue to propose counterproductive reforms. Whether it is importing drugs from Canada or indexing U.S. drug prices to the prices charged in other countries, these policies will make the current bad situation...

Medicare price controls would harm patients and workers

February 11, 2019

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar just released a sweeping proposal that would drastically change how Medicare pays for advanced cancer therapies and other potent medicines. The plan relies on foreign price controls to reduce drug spending by $17 billion over five years. Although drug...

Washington’s rude healthcare awakening

February 08, 2019

Healthcare

Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee wants to create a state-run health insurance plan to compete against private coverage on the Evergreen State's Obamacare exchange. This plan, known as a "public option," is a terrible idea. It'd be a boondoggle for taxpayers and open the door to a...

Here’s an idea for controlling drug prices: Restore market forces

February 07, 2019

Healthcare

By Henry I. Miller, M.S., M.D. and Jeff Stier Trump administration officials keep searching for solutions to rising prescription drug prices, which are increasing faster than inflation. "Drug makers and companies are not living up to their commitments on pricing. Not being fair to the consumer,...

Grassley-Klobuchar proposal ushers in dangerous counterfeit drugs

February 07, 2019

Healthcare

Congress is poised to consider a bill that would allow Americans to import prescription drugs from Canada. The bill's authors, Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), label their effort as a bipartisan push to "help Americans who struggle to pay exorbitant prices for medication." It's...