Commentary
Business & Economics
The Fed Painted Into a Keynesian Corner
Although one sympathizes with Ben Bernanke—after all, it wasn’t his fault that Greenspan handed him an economy rigged with ticking housing and mortgage bombs—the harsh reality is that the Federal Reserve can’t create prosperity. Strip away all the pomp and glamour of “open market operations” and the like, and we’re ...
Commentary
Need Deficit Solutions? Think School Choice
California Republic.org, January 18, 2008 Eureka Reporter, January 18, 2008 Sacramento Union, February 1, 2008 According to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, California faces a combined $14 billion budget deficit for this fiscal year and the next. In response, the governor has resorted to conventional remedies such as a 10-percent across-the-board spending ...
Business & Economics
Private efforts result in better problem solving
Often when some unexpected challenge faces a person, someone asks, “What are you going to do about this?” The answer, frequently delivered with casual confidence, tends to be: “I’ll think of something.” No answer and attitude better characterizes how to think about problem solving in a free society. Unlike the ...
Business & Economics
True Hollywood Scandals: The Courtroom Legacy of Anna Nicole Smith with Horace Cooper.
Anna Nicole Smith’s life was a tabloid’s dream. Even though she passed away almost one year ago, her saga lives on in the media through battles ranging from paternity disputes to prescription drug abuse to disputed legal fees. As the 9th Circuit gets ready to take up her case again, ...
Commentary
PRI’s Lance Izumi Named President of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges
San Francisco – On Tuesday, January 15, Pacific Research Institute’s director of Education Studies Lance T. Izumi succeeded Kay Albiani as president of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. The Board sets policy and provides guidance for the 72 districts and 109 colleges within the system. It ...
Business & Economics
Amazon Leads La Résistance Against Protectionism
The French Booksellers’ Union launched its case against Amazon in 2004, alleging that the company’s ‘free shipping’ policy constitutes an illegal discount on books. According to a 1981 law designed to protect France’s independent publishers and bookstores, no discount on books can exceed five percent off the publisher’s recommended price. ...
Commentary
Mitt’s Mythical “Mass. Miracle”
Michigan is like the canary in the mine shaft,” Republican White House contender Willard Mitt Romney told voters in Warren Friday. “What happens in Michigan is going to happen to the rest of the country.” He also claims in a campaign commercial, “I understand how the economy works. There’s a ...
Business & Economics
When Web 2.0 Meets Politics
Hillary Clinton is my friend. On MySpace, that is. If I were going to vote for the first candidate that responded to my social networking “friend” request, it would be her. Of course, that’s a silly idea, but with all the hoopla over politicians using new technologies, one might ask: ...
Business & Economics
The Writers Strike and Jay Leno’s Monologue
I am an economist, not a lawyer, and so I won’t comment on the validity of the union claim. Leno is a member of the Guild, and could very well be contractually bound in such matters (though NBC predictably challenges this claim). On the other hand, even if something might ...
Business & Economics
California Lights the Way: Legislature Could Become Global Internet Regulator
Last week Governor Schwarzenegger created a new state agency to help Californians protect their personal information online. With more than one million cases of identity theft reported in California last year, the Office of Information Security and Privacy Protection will serve as a valuable educational resource to help residents stem ...
The Fed Painted Into a Keynesian Corner
Although one sympathizes with Ben Bernanke—after all, it wasn’t his fault that Greenspan handed him an economy rigged with ticking housing and mortgage bombs—the harsh reality is that the Federal Reserve can’t create prosperity. Strip away all the pomp and glamour of “open market operations” and the like, and we’re ...
Need Deficit Solutions? Think School Choice
California Republic.org, January 18, 2008 Eureka Reporter, January 18, 2008 Sacramento Union, February 1, 2008 According to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, California faces a combined $14 billion budget deficit for this fiscal year and the next. In response, the governor has resorted to conventional remedies such as a 10-percent across-the-board spending ...
Private efforts result in better problem solving
Often when some unexpected challenge faces a person, someone asks, “What are you going to do about this?” The answer, frequently delivered with casual confidence, tends to be: “I’ll think of something.” No answer and attitude better characterizes how to think about problem solving in a free society. Unlike the ...
True Hollywood Scandals: The Courtroom Legacy of Anna Nicole Smith with Horace Cooper.
Anna Nicole Smith’s life was a tabloid’s dream. Even though she passed away almost one year ago, her saga lives on in the media through battles ranging from paternity disputes to prescription drug abuse to disputed legal fees. As the 9th Circuit gets ready to take up her case again, ...
PRI’s Lance Izumi Named President of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges
San Francisco – On Tuesday, January 15, Pacific Research Institute’s director of Education Studies Lance T. Izumi succeeded Kay Albiani as president of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. The Board sets policy and provides guidance for the 72 districts and 109 colleges within the system. It ...
Amazon Leads La Résistance Against Protectionism
The French Booksellers’ Union launched its case against Amazon in 2004, alleging that the company’s ‘free shipping’ policy constitutes an illegal discount on books. According to a 1981 law designed to protect France’s independent publishers and bookstores, no discount on books can exceed five percent off the publisher’s recommended price. ...
Mitt’s Mythical “Mass. Miracle”
Michigan is like the canary in the mine shaft,” Republican White House contender Willard Mitt Romney told voters in Warren Friday. “What happens in Michigan is going to happen to the rest of the country.” He also claims in a campaign commercial, “I understand how the economy works. There’s a ...
When Web 2.0 Meets Politics
Hillary Clinton is my friend. On MySpace, that is. If I were going to vote for the first candidate that responded to my social networking “friend” request, it would be her. Of course, that’s a silly idea, but with all the hoopla over politicians using new technologies, one might ask: ...
The Writers Strike and Jay Leno’s Monologue
I am an economist, not a lawyer, and so I won’t comment on the validity of the union claim. Leno is a member of the Guild, and could very well be contractually bound in such matters (though NBC predictably challenges this claim). On the other hand, even if something might ...
California Lights the Way: Legislature Could Become Global Internet Regulator
Last week Governor Schwarzenegger created a new state agency to help Californians protect their personal information online. With more than one million cases of identity theft reported in California last year, the Office of Information Security and Privacy Protection will serve as a valuable educational resource to help residents stem ...
