Search Results for: wealth tax – Page 11
Blog
Does California Need Billionaires?
If supporters are able to rack up 874 ,641 signatures, the 2026 Billionaire Tax Act will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot. Should it pass, it will levy “a one-time 5% tax on billionaire wealth.” Rather than waiting until voters make their decision, a few billionaires have already left California, including PayPal and ...
Kerry Jackson
February 16, 2026
Blog
Warning signs: Four California cities are facing fiscal crises in 2026
Many California cities will not fare so well on the fiscal roulette wheel. They’re not in Silicon Valley. Their local companies do not include Apple, NVIDIA, Meta/Facebook or Alphabet/Google (whose co-founders are leaving the state, while corporate HQ will remain). Those and many other companies’ rising stock valuations shed tax ...
John Seiler
February 14, 2026
Blog
Tough Times Ahead for California in 2026
But he won’t be alone. Difficult times are ahead for all Californians. According to Indian government data, that country’s GDP has reached $4.18 trillion in U.S. dollars. By 2030, India’s GDP is projected to be $7.3 trillion. The most recent numbers from the International Monetary Fund, posted in April 2025, has California at $4.1 trillion. The UCLA Anderson School ...
Kerry Jackson
January 28, 2026
Blog
Deficits may save cities from democratic socialist pipedreams
Deficits may save cities from democratic socialist pipedreams By Sarah Downey | January 23, 2026 In New York City, the newly elected mayor, democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, has pledged to make free or subsidize everything from rent to groceries, straining the city’s deficit to a projected $12 billion in 2027. ...
Sarah Downey
January 23, 2026
Commentary
‘Soak the Rich’ Won’t Rescue Calif. Healthcare
A group of unions in California has proposed a new plan for paying for healthcare — soak the rich. That’s the idea behind the Billionaire Tax Act, a 2026 ballot initiative that would impose a 5% tax on the state’s billionaires in order to raise money for healthcare programs and ...
Sally C. Pipes
December 2, 2025
Blog
Private transit worked in the past. Could it help cities again?
On the surface, Tokyo and Los Angeles couldn’t be more different — one city known for its safety, cleanliness, walkability and vibrancy, while the other is often criticized for sprawl, dysfunction and decay. But there was a time when Los Angeles was known for the former — in part, by ...
Kenneth Schrupp
November 17, 2025
Blog
Congestion pricing an open question, but equity concerns are bogus
Congestion pricing an open question, but equity concerns are bogus by Rafael Perez | October 10, 2025 New York City in January became the first city in America to implement congestion charges in an effort to curb traffic, reduce pollution and raise funds to improve transit systems. Los Angeles is ...
Rafael Perez
October 10, 2025
Drug Prices
NEW BRIEF: New California Medi-Cal Restrictions Will Hurt Patients; Competition Key to Affordable, High-Quality Health Care
SACRAMENTO – As California prepares to restrict access to proven private health insurers for dual eligible Medicare and Medi-Cal patients, the Center for Medical Economics and Innovation at the Pacific Research Institute – the nonpartisan, California-based, free market think tank – today released a new brief showing that expanding competition—not ...
Wayne Winegarden
October 1, 2025
Blog
Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
California’s obsession with density limits housing growth
Morphing from a once-reasonable requirement that building permit applicants report on the “significant environmental impact” of their construction project and how they intend to mitigate that impact, CEQA is now a process-heavy, bureaucratic beast that delays projects for years and costs developers millions. Of all the ways California’s Legislature and ...
Edward Ring
July 24, 2025
Blog
Getting it all wrong about the other city by the bay
To be charitable, miners brave enough to go digging can discover occasional nuggets of value in Madrigal’s ponderous, and entirely predictable, jeremiad. For example: Oakland had its own version of the urban-renewal thuggery that would eventually lead to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Kelo v. City of New London. In ...
D. Dowd Muska
June 20, 2025
Does California Need Billionaires?
If supporters are able to rack up 874 ,641 signatures, the 2026 Billionaire Tax Act will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot. Should it pass, it will levy “a one-time 5% tax on billionaire wealth.” Rather than waiting until voters make their decision, a few billionaires have already left California, including PayPal and ...
Warning signs: Four California cities are facing fiscal crises in 2026
Many California cities will not fare so well on the fiscal roulette wheel. They’re not in Silicon Valley. Their local companies do not include Apple, NVIDIA, Meta/Facebook or Alphabet/Google (whose co-founders are leaving the state, while corporate HQ will remain). Those and many other companies’ rising stock valuations shed tax ...
Tough Times Ahead for California in 2026
But he won’t be alone. Difficult times are ahead for all Californians. According to Indian government data, that country’s GDP has reached $4.18 trillion in U.S. dollars. By 2030, India’s GDP is projected to be $7.3 trillion. The most recent numbers from the International Monetary Fund, posted in April 2025, has California at $4.1 trillion. The UCLA Anderson School ...
Deficits may save cities from democratic socialist pipedreams
Deficits may save cities from democratic socialist pipedreams By Sarah Downey | January 23, 2026 In New York City, the newly elected mayor, democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, has pledged to make free or subsidize everything from rent to groceries, straining the city’s deficit to a projected $12 billion in 2027. ...
‘Soak the Rich’ Won’t Rescue Calif. Healthcare
A group of unions in California has proposed a new plan for paying for healthcare — soak the rich. That’s the idea behind the Billionaire Tax Act, a 2026 ballot initiative that would impose a 5% tax on the state’s billionaires in order to raise money for healthcare programs and ...
Private transit worked in the past. Could it help cities again?
On the surface, Tokyo and Los Angeles couldn’t be more different — one city known for its safety, cleanliness, walkability and vibrancy, while the other is often criticized for sprawl, dysfunction and decay. But there was a time when Los Angeles was known for the former — in part, by ...
Congestion pricing an open question, but equity concerns are bogus
Congestion pricing an open question, but equity concerns are bogus by Rafael Perez | October 10, 2025 New York City in January became the first city in America to implement congestion charges in an effort to curb traffic, reduce pollution and raise funds to improve transit systems. Los Angeles is ...
NEW BRIEF: New California Medi-Cal Restrictions Will Hurt Patients; Competition Key to Affordable, High-Quality Health Care
SACRAMENTO – As California prepares to restrict access to proven private health insurers for dual eligible Medicare and Medi-Cal patients, the Center for Medical Economics and Innovation at the Pacific Research Institute – the nonpartisan, California-based, free market think tank – today released a new brief showing that expanding competition—not ...
Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
California’s obsession with density limits housing growth
Morphing from a once-reasonable requirement that building permit applicants report on the “significant environmental impact” of their construction project and how they intend to mitigate that impact, CEQA is now a process-heavy, bureaucratic beast that delays projects for years and costs developers millions. Of all the ways California’s Legislature and ...
Getting it all wrong about the other city by the bay
To be charitable, miners brave enough to go digging can discover occasional nuggets of value in Madrigal’s ponderous, and entirely predictable, jeremiad. For example: Oakland had its own version of the urban-renewal thuggery that would eventually lead to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Kelo v. City of New London. In ...