Commentary
Business & Economics
Economic Freedom and Environmental Regulation
The Pacific Research Institute recently released its “U.S. Economic Freedom Index: 2008 Report” and the results are pretty interesting. PRI defines economic freedom as “the right of individuals to pursue their interests through voluntary exchange of private property under rule of law.” Thus, the more easily two individuals can freely ...
Commentary
Michael Crichton’s Remainder Bin
Michael Crichton, who died at 66 on November 4, election day, may not have been an outstanding stylist but he sure sold a few books in his time, mostly in the techno-thriller genre, such as Jurassic Park. He was a writer of ideas and also a medical doctor (Harvard Medical ...
Business & Economics
Untruths against free enterprise told with impunity
When I became seriously interested in the free market I began, also, to encounter a good deal of criticism of that system, mainly because the critics mindlessly blamed the Great Depression on it. But looking at it more carefully I learned that by the time of the Great Depression there ...
Business & Economics
Court ruling could curb medical research
Wyeth properly warned doctors and patients about the risks associated with administering Phenergan (“FDA pre-emptive rule to be challenged,” Nov. 2). The FDA-approved label contained prominent warnings: “Extreme care should be exercised to avoid … inadvertent intra-arterial injection. Reports compatible with inadvertent intra-arterial injection … suggest that pain, severe chemical ...
Business & Economics
Government intervention, not market failure, explains crisis
Jason Clemens and Robert Murphy are the authors of this guest commentary. Jason Clemens is the director of research and Robert Murphy, Ph.D., is a senior fellow at the Pacific Research Institute (www.pacificresearch.org). A financial crisis is gripping the nation and the global economy. This crisis, according to a growing ...
Business & Economics
Economic Freedom and the Presidential Election
The Pacific Research Institute in association with Forbes produced the U.S. Economic Freedom Index, 2008 Report by Lawrence J. McQuillan, Michael T. Maloney, Eric Daniels, and Brent M. Eastwood and I have been intending to discuss it for some time. Then I thought that it might be interesting to correlate ...
Commentary
A Lesson Plan for Republicans
Once they emerge from their electoral funk, Republicans must figure out an opposition game plan, including how to address education issues in the Obama era. A successful strategy must: pinpoint the shortcomings in policies flowing from the Democrat-controlled White House and Congress, offer a clear contrasting alternative agenda based on ...
Commentary
Government Health Care: Let the Rationing Continue
Imagine if a private health plan, Blue Cross or Blue Shield, for example, issued a news release like this: “Due to our deficit, our health plan will no longer cover optometry, dentistry, podiatry, or psychology.” You would go ballistic! Indeed, you’d probably sue, especially if these services were mandated by ...
Commentary
State government keeps health insurance from Tar Heels
U.S. Census officials just revealed that 17.2 percent of North Carolinians went without health insurance between 2006 and 2007, up 2.1 percentage points from the preceding two years. That’s greater than the national average and translates to about 1.5 million uninsured Tar Heels. These statistics are unfortunate, but they’re not ...
Business & Economics
Getting California on track
As President-elect Obama assembles his team, back here in California, the new legislature prepares to convene in less than 30 days and the governor stews about a several-billion-dollar deficit only a few weeks after the state’s supposedly balanced budget was approved. Recently, Gov. Schwarzenegger announced the formation of a task ...
Economic Freedom and Environmental Regulation
The Pacific Research Institute recently released its “U.S. Economic Freedom Index: 2008 Report” and the results are pretty interesting. PRI defines economic freedom as “the right of individuals to pursue their interests through voluntary exchange of private property under rule of law.” Thus, the more easily two individuals can freely ...
Michael Crichton’s Remainder Bin
Michael Crichton, who died at 66 on November 4, election day, may not have been an outstanding stylist but he sure sold a few books in his time, mostly in the techno-thriller genre, such as Jurassic Park. He was a writer of ideas and also a medical doctor (Harvard Medical ...
Untruths against free enterprise told with impunity
When I became seriously interested in the free market I began, also, to encounter a good deal of criticism of that system, mainly because the critics mindlessly blamed the Great Depression on it. But looking at it more carefully I learned that by the time of the Great Depression there ...
Court ruling could curb medical research
Wyeth properly warned doctors and patients about the risks associated with administering Phenergan (“FDA pre-emptive rule to be challenged,” Nov. 2). The FDA-approved label contained prominent warnings: “Extreme care should be exercised to avoid … inadvertent intra-arterial injection. Reports compatible with inadvertent intra-arterial injection … suggest that pain, severe chemical ...
Government intervention, not market failure, explains crisis
Jason Clemens and Robert Murphy are the authors of this guest commentary. Jason Clemens is the director of research and Robert Murphy, Ph.D., is a senior fellow at the Pacific Research Institute (www.pacificresearch.org). A financial crisis is gripping the nation and the global economy. This crisis, according to a growing ...
Economic Freedom and the Presidential Election
The Pacific Research Institute in association with Forbes produced the U.S. Economic Freedom Index, 2008 Report by Lawrence J. McQuillan, Michael T. Maloney, Eric Daniels, and Brent M. Eastwood and I have been intending to discuss it for some time. Then I thought that it might be interesting to correlate ...
A Lesson Plan for Republicans
Once they emerge from their electoral funk, Republicans must figure out an opposition game plan, including how to address education issues in the Obama era. A successful strategy must: pinpoint the shortcomings in policies flowing from the Democrat-controlled White House and Congress, offer a clear contrasting alternative agenda based on ...
Government Health Care: Let the Rationing Continue
Imagine if a private health plan, Blue Cross or Blue Shield, for example, issued a news release like this: “Due to our deficit, our health plan will no longer cover optometry, dentistry, podiatry, or psychology.” You would go ballistic! Indeed, you’d probably sue, especially if these services were mandated by ...
State government keeps health insurance from Tar Heels
U.S. Census officials just revealed that 17.2 percent of North Carolinians went without health insurance between 2006 and 2007, up 2.1 percentage points from the preceding two years. That’s greater than the national average and translates to about 1.5 million uninsured Tar Heels. These statistics are unfortunate, but they’re not ...
Getting California on track
As President-elect Obama assembles his team, back here in California, the new legislature prepares to convene in less than 30 days and the governor stews about a several-billion-dollar deficit only a few weeks after the state’s supposedly balanced budget was approved. Recently, Gov. Schwarzenegger announced the formation of a task ...
