Commentary

Business & Economics

Impact – September 2008

PRI Ideas in Action – September 2008 Policy Update and Monthly Impact Report PRI continues to impact public policy in California, the nation, and abroad. Click below to view PRI’s recent contributions. Read PDF
Blackouts

The Credit Crunch is a Network Failure

Dr. John Rutledge Blog, September 30, 2008 My friend Sonia Arrison, the technology wizard at Pacific Research Institute, asked me to give her my current thinking about how to analyze the current credit crunch as a cascading network failure, a subject I wrote about in Chapters 6 and 7 of ...
Business & Economics

See-saw City on ‘green’ list; state ‘freedom’ up

The Oklahoman Editorial In the teeter-totter of city and state rankings, what goes up must see-saw something else down. Case in point: Rankings for personal freedom versus rankings for greenhood. Five of the 10 cities on sustainlane.com’s list of attractive cities are on Reason magazine’s 2008 list of unattractive cities. ...
Business & Economics

The Great Bank Robbery of 2008

The Great Bank Robbery of 2008 The Paulson bailout failed in the House. If it isn’t a death blow to the plan, it should be. This is not an economic plan: it is a heist. It will go down as The Great Bank Robbery of 2008. The economics behind it ...
California

Bilingual ED Not Dead

How “back-door” bilingual education flouts state law and harms California students Under 227’s provisions, “all children in California public schools shall be taught English by being taught in English.” Specifically, “English learners shall be educated through sheltered English immersion,” with English immersion defined as a process “in which nearly all ...
Business & Economics

Alaska ranks near bottom of economic freedom index

FAIRBANKS — High levels of welfare spending per capita and a large number of people receiving help are keeping Alaska near the bottom of an index measuring economic freedom in each of the 50 states. The bottom isn’t a good place to be, especially as companies look for competitive, solid ...
California

California budget has not solved the Medi-Cal crisis

Gov. Schwarzenegger has signed a budget that holds spending down to $103 billion. Unfortunately, the governor and legislators missed the chance to wrangle Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program, under control. Medi-Cal is a big part of the state’s deficit problem. It’s the second largest chunk of the general fund, after ...
California

The Bilingual Debate: English Immersion

In this installment of Education Watch, Bruce Fuller and Lance T. Izumi discuss the candidates’ positions on bilingual education. Go to Mr. Fuller’s post. Lance T. Izumi, a senior fellow in California studies and the senior director of education studies at the Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy, is the ...
Business & Economics

Conservatives Should Oppose Corporate Welfare

Although they are just playing the hand that Alan Greenspan dealt them, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson have been working overtime to discredit the capitalist economy. The $700 billion bailout of Wall Street, as well as other measures such as a ban on short-selling financial stocks, ...
Commentary

Will Illinois’ Hospital Uninsured Discount Act Protect Patients?

By a unanimous vote, Illinois legislators have passed the Hospital Uninsured Discount Act, which requires that hospitals charge uninsured patients their lowest rates. The Illinois Hospital Association (which supported it) has a good summary of the bill. Specifically, for patients in urban areas with household incomes up to 600% of ...
Business & Economics

Impact – September 2008

PRI Ideas in Action – September 2008 Policy Update and Monthly Impact Report PRI continues to impact public policy in California, the nation, and abroad. Click below to view PRI’s recent contributions. Read PDF
Blackouts

The Credit Crunch is a Network Failure

Dr. John Rutledge Blog, September 30, 2008 My friend Sonia Arrison, the technology wizard at Pacific Research Institute, asked me to give her my current thinking about how to analyze the current credit crunch as a cascading network failure, a subject I wrote about in Chapters 6 and 7 of ...
Business & Economics

See-saw City on ‘green’ list; state ‘freedom’ up

The Oklahoman Editorial In the teeter-totter of city and state rankings, what goes up must see-saw something else down. Case in point: Rankings for personal freedom versus rankings for greenhood. Five of the 10 cities on sustainlane.com’s list of attractive cities are on Reason magazine’s 2008 list of unattractive cities. ...
Business & Economics

The Great Bank Robbery of 2008

The Great Bank Robbery of 2008 The Paulson bailout failed in the House. If it isn’t a death blow to the plan, it should be. This is not an economic plan: it is a heist. It will go down as The Great Bank Robbery of 2008. The economics behind it ...
California

Bilingual ED Not Dead

How “back-door” bilingual education flouts state law and harms California students Under 227’s provisions, “all children in California public schools shall be taught English by being taught in English.” Specifically, “English learners shall be educated through sheltered English immersion,” with English immersion defined as a process “in which nearly all ...
Business & Economics

Alaska ranks near bottom of economic freedom index

FAIRBANKS — High levels of welfare spending per capita and a large number of people receiving help are keeping Alaska near the bottom of an index measuring economic freedom in each of the 50 states. The bottom isn’t a good place to be, especially as companies look for competitive, solid ...
California

California budget has not solved the Medi-Cal crisis

Gov. Schwarzenegger has signed a budget that holds spending down to $103 billion. Unfortunately, the governor and legislators missed the chance to wrangle Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program, under control. Medi-Cal is a big part of the state’s deficit problem. It’s the second largest chunk of the general fund, after ...
California

The Bilingual Debate: English Immersion

In this installment of Education Watch, Bruce Fuller and Lance T. Izumi discuss the candidates’ positions on bilingual education. Go to Mr. Fuller’s post. Lance T. Izumi, a senior fellow in California studies and the senior director of education studies at the Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy, is the ...
Business & Economics

Conservatives Should Oppose Corporate Welfare

Although they are just playing the hand that Alan Greenspan dealt them, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson have been working overtime to discredit the capitalist economy. The $700 billion bailout of Wall Street, as well as other measures such as a ban on short-selling financial stocks, ...
Commentary

Will Illinois’ Hospital Uninsured Discount Act Protect Patients?

By a unanimous vote, Illinois legislators have passed the Hospital Uninsured Discount Act, which requires that hospitals charge uninsured patients their lowest rates. The Illinois Hospital Association (which supported it) has a good summary of the bill. Specifically, for patients in urban areas with household incomes up to 600% of ...
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