Studies
Blog
The Gordon Chang Report: China Annexing the South China Sea—and the Pacific Ocean
READ THE PDF China Annexing the South China Sea— and the Pacific Ocean On July 25, Global Times, the Chinese tabloid run by People’s Daily, warned the Philippines that China might build a military base on Scarborough Shoal, which Beijing claims and calls Huangyan Dao. “China reserves the right to ...
Agriculture
Why Are Grocery Prices Still Rising? New Study Says Washington Is Targeting the Wrong Problem
SACRAMENTO – With grocery prices continuing to climb and Americans searching for answers, a new study released today by the Pacific Research Institute concludes that Washington is focusing on the wrong solution. While the Federal Trade Commission has launched an investigation into fertilizer manufacturers, the new study by PRI senior ...
Health Care
New PRI Study: California’s Medi-Cal Crisis Leaves Taxpayers Paying for Fraud, Waste, and Runaway Costs
SACRAMENTO – Just weeks after California approved a record state budget of $351.7 billion for fiscal year 2026-27 that scaled back portions of its Medi-Cal expansion because of soaring costs, and as the federal government announced it was pausing $867.5 million in Medicaid payments to California, the Pacific Research Institute ...
Blog
Spending Watch
Spending Watch: Newsom’s Final Budget Defers the Difficult Budget Decisions to California’s Next Governor
Newsom’s Final Budget Defers the Difficult Budget Decisions to California’s Next Governor Wayne Winegarden July 2026 The FY2026-27 Budget Basics Gov. Newsom has signed the FY2026-27 budget – Newsom’s final one as governor. He claims the budget “prioritizes fiscal restraint” and promotes “long-term sustainability,” but the numbers tell a different ...
Biosimilars
New Study: States Could Save Up to $1.8 Billion Annually by Prioritizing Lower-Cost Biosimilar Medicines
At a time when states across the country are grappling with significant budget challenges, a new study from the Center for Medical Economics and Innovation at the Pacific Research Institute – the nonpartisan, California-based, free market think tank – finds that state employee health plans could save up to $1.8 ...
Blog
The Gordon Chang Report–China’s Regime Is No Match for Defiant Christians
READ THE PDF China’s Regime Is No Match for Defiant Christians Dozens of police and state security officers—up to 70 of them according to parishioners—raided the Early Rain Covenant Church in the southwestern Chinese city of Jiangyou on June 14. The police, some wearing body armor marked “SWAT,” eventually took ...
Drug Innovation
Unauthorized GLP-1 Knockoffs Risk Patient Safety and Future Innovation, New PRI Brief Warns
As federal regulators intensify enforcement against companies selling unauthorized knockoffs of blockbuster weight-loss drugs, a new Pacific Research Institute brief warns that the booming GLP-1 knockoff market is creating patient safety risks while undermining future breakthrough medicines. “GLP-1s are among the most promising medical breakthroughs in decades, helping patients struggling ...
Blog
The Gordon Chang Report–Trump and Xi: Is This ‘Reagan-Gorbachev No. 2’?
READ THE PDF Trump and Xi: Is This ‘Reagan-Gorbachev No. 2’? “We were already in Cold War 2.0 with China,” Charles Payne, the Fox Business anchor, told Jesse Watters, immediately after President Donald Trump’s Beijing summit in May. “I think it’s thawing out tremendously. I don’t think a lot of ...
Blog
Spending Watch
Spending Watch: Despite the Rhetoric, Newsom’s Revised Budget Confirms That California’s Budget Troubles Are Just Getting Started
Despite the Rhetoric, Newsom’s Revised Budget Confirms That California’s Budget Troubles Are Just Getting Started Wayne Winegarden May 2026 With the release of the May Revise, budget negotiations between the Governor, Assembly, and Senate will now kick into high gear. Tax revenues for the current fiscal year are better than ...
Blog
The Gordon Chang Report–China Has Proliferated Nuclear Weapons. What Should America Do?
READ THE PDF China Has Proliferated Nuclear Weapons. What Should America Do? “The entire United States is within range of our nuclear weapons, and a nuclear button is always on my desk,” Kim Jong Un, the supreme leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, boasted in January 2018. “This ...
The Gordon Chang Report: China Annexing the South China Sea—and the Pacific Ocean
READ THE PDF China Annexing the South China Sea— and the Pacific Ocean On July 25, Global Times, the Chinese tabloid run by People’s Daily, warned the Philippines that China might build a military base on Scarborough Shoal, which Beijing claims and calls Huangyan Dao. “China reserves the right to ...
Why Are Grocery Prices Still Rising? New Study Says Washington Is Targeting the Wrong Problem
SACRAMENTO – With grocery prices continuing to climb and Americans searching for answers, a new study released today by the Pacific Research Institute concludes that Washington is focusing on the wrong solution. While the Federal Trade Commission has launched an investigation into fertilizer manufacturers, the new study by PRI senior ...
New PRI Study: California’s Medi-Cal Crisis Leaves Taxpayers Paying for Fraud, Waste, and Runaway Costs
SACRAMENTO – Just weeks after California approved a record state budget of $351.7 billion for fiscal year 2026-27 that scaled back portions of its Medi-Cal expansion because of soaring costs, and as the federal government announced it was pausing $867.5 million in Medicaid payments to California, the Pacific Research Institute ...
Spending Watch
Spending Watch: Newsom’s Final Budget Defers the Difficult Budget Decisions to California’s Next Governor
Newsom’s Final Budget Defers the Difficult Budget Decisions to California’s Next Governor Wayne Winegarden July 2026 The FY2026-27 Budget Basics Gov. Newsom has signed the FY2026-27 budget – Newsom’s final one as governor. He claims the budget “prioritizes fiscal restraint” and promotes “long-term sustainability,” but the numbers tell a different ...
New Study: States Could Save Up to $1.8 Billion Annually by Prioritizing Lower-Cost Biosimilar Medicines
At a time when states across the country are grappling with significant budget challenges, a new study from the Center for Medical Economics and Innovation at the Pacific Research Institute – the nonpartisan, California-based, free market think tank – finds that state employee health plans could save up to $1.8 ...
The Gordon Chang Report–China’s Regime Is No Match for Defiant Christians
READ THE PDF China’s Regime Is No Match for Defiant Christians Dozens of police and state security officers—up to 70 of them according to parishioners—raided the Early Rain Covenant Church in the southwestern Chinese city of Jiangyou on June 14. The police, some wearing body armor marked “SWAT,” eventually took ...
Unauthorized GLP-1 Knockoffs Risk Patient Safety and Future Innovation, New PRI Brief Warns
As federal regulators intensify enforcement against companies selling unauthorized knockoffs of blockbuster weight-loss drugs, a new Pacific Research Institute brief warns that the booming GLP-1 knockoff market is creating patient safety risks while undermining future breakthrough medicines. “GLP-1s are among the most promising medical breakthroughs in decades, helping patients struggling ...
The Gordon Chang Report–Trump and Xi: Is This ‘Reagan-Gorbachev No. 2’?
READ THE PDF Trump and Xi: Is This ‘Reagan-Gorbachev No. 2’? “We were already in Cold War 2.0 with China,” Charles Payne, the Fox Business anchor, told Jesse Watters, immediately after President Donald Trump’s Beijing summit in May. “I think it’s thawing out tremendously. I don’t think a lot of ...
Spending Watch
Spending Watch: Despite the Rhetoric, Newsom’s Revised Budget Confirms That California’s Budget Troubles Are Just Getting Started
Despite the Rhetoric, Newsom’s Revised Budget Confirms That California’s Budget Troubles Are Just Getting Started Wayne Winegarden May 2026 With the release of the May Revise, budget negotiations between the Governor, Assembly, and Senate will now kick into high gear. Tax revenues for the current fiscal year are better than ...
The Gordon Chang Report–China Has Proliferated Nuclear Weapons. What Should America Do?
READ THE PDF China Has Proliferated Nuclear Weapons. What Should America Do? “The entire United States is within range of our nuclear weapons, and a nuclear button is always on my desk,” Kim Jong Un, the supreme leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, boasted in January 2018. “This ...