Commentary
Business & Economics
An economist explains what trade deficits really mean
Believing the myth that trade deficits are bad, the Trump Administration imposed global reciprocal tariffs this week. The proposal threatens to derail economic prosperity and trigger a barn burner of a recession. The fallacy of this myth can be clearly seen in the U.S. economic data. Over the last half-century ...
Commentary
Price Controls Won’t End Global Pharma Freeloading
A new paper by the America First Policy Institute, a think tank with close ties to the Trump administration, has revived the debate over global drug pricing. The paper points out that patients in the United States tend to pay considerably more for brand-name prescription drugs than those in most ...
Business & Economics
Louisiana Is Litigating Away Its Economic Prosperity
Numerous Louisiana parishes are suing oil and gas companies over coastal erosion. A Plaquemines Parish courtroom has a front row seat to one of the more high-dollar cases taking place where the plaintiffs have reportedly asked for more than $3 billion in damages from just one of the defendants. Undoubtedly ...
Commentary
Here’s How Trump’s Pick To Lead The FDA Can Supercharge The Agency
The U.S. Senate last week confirmed former Johns Hopkins surgeon and professor Dr. Marty Makary to lead the Food and Drug Administration. During his confirmation hearing, Makary said his goals for the agency were “more cures and meaningful treatments for Americans.” Throughout the hearing, he offered insight on how he ...
Business & Economics
Reversing Regulatory Overreach Will Encourage Payment Innovations
Innovation is often a victim of its own success as the once unimaginable becomes the invaluable service people cannot live without. The modern payments system exemplifies this phenomenon. Innovations by fintech startups as well as traditional financial companies now enable trillions of dollars in transactions annually. And thanks to robust ...
California
City still reeling from court blocking 2012 pension reform
San Diego voters tried to rein in the city’s runaway public employee pension obligations when they approved a 2012 measure that would change the system. Union bosses and the courts had other ideas, though, and the results were scrapped by the California Supreme Court. The ripples of that ruling have ...
California
Giving Ventures Podcast: California Thinking
California’s decisions often ripple across the nation, influencing policies from coast to coast. This episode features interviews with leaders from two influential think tanks—Pacific Research Institute—about their efforts to counteract detrimental policies and promote free-market solutions in the Golden State. These organizations are not only tackling local issues but are ...
Commentary
Democrats in Calif. Put Healthcare of Illegal Residents First
Free healthcare doesn’t come cheap. That’s one lesson Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., is learning the hard way. Since Newsom officially extended the state’s Medicaid program, Medi-Cal, to all undocumented immigrants last year, the entitlement’s costs have ballooned. Read the op-ed here.
Business & Economics
Trade Wars Hurt Farmers
Before promising to impose tariffs on our nearest trade partners — Mexico and Canada — President Donald Trump told American farmers that they should get ready to sell more of their products domestically. The trouble with that optimism is that most farms are not corporate giants, but family operations that ...
Commentary
Big savings can be found in improper Medicare spending
Republicans are searching for ways to eliminate “fraud, waste, and abuse” in Medicaid, the federal-state entitlement created to provide health coverage for low-income, pregnant, homeless, and disabled people. It’s long past time. According to a new report from the Paragon Health Institute’s Brian Blase and the Economic Policy Innovation Center’s ...
An economist explains what trade deficits really mean
Believing the myth that trade deficits are bad, the Trump Administration imposed global reciprocal tariffs this week. The proposal threatens to derail economic prosperity and trigger a barn burner of a recession. The fallacy of this myth can be clearly seen in the U.S. economic data. Over the last half-century ...
Price Controls Won’t End Global Pharma Freeloading
A new paper by the America First Policy Institute, a think tank with close ties to the Trump administration, has revived the debate over global drug pricing. The paper points out that patients in the United States tend to pay considerably more for brand-name prescription drugs than those in most ...
Louisiana Is Litigating Away Its Economic Prosperity
Numerous Louisiana parishes are suing oil and gas companies over coastal erosion. A Plaquemines Parish courtroom has a front row seat to one of the more high-dollar cases taking place where the plaintiffs have reportedly asked for more than $3 billion in damages from just one of the defendants. Undoubtedly ...
Here’s How Trump’s Pick To Lead The FDA Can Supercharge The Agency
The U.S. Senate last week confirmed former Johns Hopkins surgeon and professor Dr. Marty Makary to lead the Food and Drug Administration. During his confirmation hearing, Makary said his goals for the agency were “more cures and meaningful treatments for Americans.” Throughout the hearing, he offered insight on how he ...
Reversing Regulatory Overreach Will Encourage Payment Innovations
Innovation is often a victim of its own success as the once unimaginable becomes the invaluable service people cannot live without. The modern payments system exemplifies this phenomenon. Innovations by fintech startups as well as traditional financial companies now enable trillions of dollars in transactions annually. And thanks to robust ...
City still reeling from court blocking 2012 pension reform
San Diego voters tried to rein in the city’s runaway public employee pension obligations when they approved a 2012 measure that would change the system. Union bosses and the courts had other ideas, though, and the results were scrapped by the California Supreme Court. The ripples of that ruling have ...
Giving Ventures Podcast: California Thinking
California’s decisions often ripple across the nation, influencing policies from coast to coast. This episode features interviews with leaders from two influential think tanks—Pacific Research Institute—about their efforts to counteract detrimental policies and promote free-market solutions in the Golden State. These organizations are not only tackling local issues but are ...
Democrats in Calif. Put Healthcare of Illegal Residents First
Free healthcare doesn’t come cheap. That’s one lesson Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., is learning the hard way. Since Newsom officially extended the state’s Medicaid program, Medi-Cal, to all undocumented immigrants last year, the entitlement’s costs have ballooned. Read the op-ed here.
Trade Wars Hurt Farmers
Before promising to impose tariffs on our nearest trade partners — Mexico and Canada — President Donald Trump told American farmers that they should get ready to sell more of their products domestically. The trouble with that optimism is that most farms are not corporate giants, but family operations that ...
Big savings can be found in improper Medicare spending
Republicans are searching for ways to eliminate “fraud, waste, and abuse” in Medicaid, the federal-state entitlement created to provide health coverage for low-income, pregnant, homeless, and disabled people. It’s long past time. According to a new report from the Paragon Health Institute’s Brian Blase and the Economic Policy Innovation Center’s ...
