Commentary
Agriculture
This May Be the Worst Regulation Ever
By Henry I. Miller, M.S., M.D., and Drew L. Kershen The U.S. Department of Agriculture has created what may be the most bewildering, least cost-effective regulation ever. In July 2016, Congress passed a law mandating that all food containing genetic material that has been modified with recombinant DNA or “gene-splicing” ...
Commentary
You’ve probably never heard of anti-competitive ‘certificate of need’ laws but they’re harming your health care
Imagine if a state law prohibited new restaurants from opening in your town unless an aspiring restaurateur successfully convinced the government that the area “needed” another eatery. Now imagine if that law didn’t stop there – that is also gave incumbent restaurants a say in the matter. If one could persuade the government that ...
Commentary
LAUSD teachers should exercise their Janus rights, not follow their union off a fiscal cliff
Despite the recent settlement of the Los Angeles teachers strike, mostly in the teacher union’s favor, the deal largely ignores the shaky financial realities of the school district. While the union crows about its apparent victory, the potential fiscal disaster should make teachers consider leaving the union, not rallying around ...
Commentary
Do We Still Need the EPA?
Many large bureaucratic organizations are inefficient, but the EPA is in a class by itself. The EPA is incompetent and wasteful, and it often does more harm than good. It’s time for it to go. The EPA’s ever-expanding regulations impose huge costs—about $350 billion annually, according to the Competitive Enterprise ...
Commentary
To Win The White House, Democrats Will Have To Hide The Truth About Single-Payer
Senator Elizabeth Warren kicked off the 2020 Democratic presidential primary late last month by announcing she’d created an exploratory committee, the first step in any serious presidential campaign. This month, Sen. Kamala Harris followed suit and declared her candidacy. Other contenders — including Sen. Cory Booker, Representative Beto O’Rourke of Texas, ...
California
How Gavin Newsom Could Earn the Title of Best Governor in California History
Edmund G. “Pat” Brown was the best governor California has ever had, many would argue. Free-market economist Art Laffer says Pat’s son Jerry was “one of the best.” Still others would name Earl Warren as the greatest. New Gov. Gavin Newsom would surpass them all, though, if he would complete ...
Commentary
Heed the cautionary tale of Canadian health care
It’s a good thing Canadians are so polite; they spend an unbelievable amount of time waiting in line. In 2018, the typical Canadian patient faced a median wait of almost 20 weeks for treatment from a specialist after referral from a general practitioner, according to a new report from the ...
Commentary
Imposing price controls on prescription drugs
President Donald Trump and Sen. Bernie Sanders don’t agree on much. But they both believe in price controls. Both men recently introduced separate proposals to impose price controls on prescription drugs. Though both men are likely well-intentioned, their plans are deeply misguided. Both proposals would discourage drug research and reduce ...
Commentary
Wasteful Medicaid spending prevents government from fulfilling core responsibilities
Few states can waste public healthcare dollars like California. According to a recent state audit, Medi-Cal — the Golden State’s Medicaid program, which covers about 13 million people — improperly spent more than $4 billion on thousands of ineligible enrollees from 2014 to 2017. At least one of those ineligible enrollees had been dead ...
Commentary
Health spending in US is finally slowing: Here’s why
America’s health bill appears to be moderating, and market forces deserve the credit for this good news. National health expenditures grew more slowly in 2017 than in 2016, according to a report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The CMS statistics break down cost increases by category. Private health insurance spending grew ...
This May Be the Worst Regulation Ever
By Henry I. Miller, M.S., M.D., and Drew L. Kershen The U.S. Department of Agriculture has created what may be the most bewildering, least cost-effective regulation ever. In July 2016, Congress passed a law mandating that all food containing genetic material that has been modified with recombinant DNA or “gene-splicing” ...
You’ve probably never heard of anti-competitive ‘certificate of need’ laws but they’re harming your health care
Imagine if a state law prohibited new restaurants from opening in your town unless an aspiring restaurateur successfully convinced the government that the area “needed” another eatery. Now imagine if that law didn’t stop there – that is also gave incumbent restaurants a say in the matter. If one could persuade the government that ...
LAUSD teachers should exercise their Janus rights, not follow their union off a fiscal cliff
Despite the recent settlement of the Los Angeles teachers strike, mostly in the teacher union’s favor, the deal largely ignores the shaky financial realities of the school district. While the union crows about its apparent victory, the potential fiscal disaster should make teachers consider leaving the union, not rallying around ...
Do We Still Need the EPA?
Many large bureaucratic organizations are inefficient, but the EPA is in a class by itself. The EPA is incompetent and wasteful, and it often does more harm than good. It’s time for it to go. The EPA’s ever-expanding regulations impose huge costs—about $350 billion annually, according to the Competitive Enterprise ...
To Win The White House, Democrats Will Have To Hide The Truth About Single-Payer
Senator Elizabeth Warren kicked off the 2020 Democratic presidential primary late last month by announcing she’d created an exploratory committee, the first step in any serious presidential campaign. This month, Sen. Kamala Harris followed suit and declared her candidacy. Other contenders — including Sen. Cory Booker, Representative Beto O’Rourke of Texas, ...
How Gavin Newsom Could Earn the Title of Best Governor in California History
Edmund G. “Pat” Brown was the best governor California has ever had, many would argue. Free-market economist Art Laffer says Pat’s son Jerry was “one of the best.” Still others would name Earl Warren as the greatest. New Gov. Gavin Newsom would surpass them all, though, if he would complete ...
Heed the cautionary tale of Canadian health care
It’s a good thing Canadians are so polite; they spend an unbelievable amount of time waiting in line. In 2018, the typical Canadian patient faced a median wait of almost 20 weeks for treatment from a specialist after referral from a general practitioner, according to a new report from the ...
Imposing price controls on prescription drugs
President Donald Trump and Sen. Bernie Sanders don’t agree on much. But they both believe in price controls. Both men recently introduced separate proposals to impose price controls on prescription drugs. Though both men are likely well-intentioned, their plans are deeply misguided. Both proposals would discourage drug research and reduce ...
Wasteful Medicaid spending prevents government from fulfilling core responsibilities
Few states can waste public healthcare dollars like California. According to a recent state audit, Medi-Cal — the Golden State’s Medicaid program, which covers about 13 million people — improperly spent more than $4 billion on thousands of ineligible enrollees from 2014 to 2017. At least one of those ineligible enrollees had been dead ...
Health spending in US is finally slowing: Here’s why
America’s health bill appears to be moderating, and market forces deserve the credit for this good news. National health expenditures grew more slowly in 2017 than in 2016, according to a report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The CMS statistics break down cost increases by category. Private health insurance spending grew ...
