Wayne Winegarden and Kerry Jackson
Climate Change
Learn how municipal climate change lawsuits hurt consumers
Bonta’s legal war on energy companies will punish ordinary Californians
Neither are heroic efforts to safeguard the environment. The former will primarily harm families by worsening the nation’s pervasive affordability problems. The second is a clear effort to extract “multiple billions” from ExxonMobil while maximizing political optics in a state where the majority of voters will support anything they are ...
Wayne Winegarden and Kerry Jackson
September 25, 2024
Blog
Spending Watch
The Governor’s Special Session Will Worsen Gasoline Affordability
The Governor’s Special Session Will Worsen Gasoline Affordability Wayne Winegarden and Kerry Jackson September 2024 The special session called by Governor Gavin Newsom is supposed to save Californians from price gasoline spikes. The governor wants to blame the price spikes on greedy corporations. His accusations are merely a diversion from ...
Wayne Winegarden and Kerry Jackson
September 24, 2024
Commentary
Learn why price controls won't reduce inflation
Kamala Harris is wrong. American economic history is replete with failed price control policies
Yet in one of her first policy proposals as the Democratic Party’s White House candidate, Kamala Harris insisted that the country needs “the first-ever federal ban on price gouging on food and groceries.” She would set “clear rules of the road to make clear that big corporations can’t unfairly exploit ...
Wayne Winegarden and Kerry Jackson
September 3, 2024
California
Read the latest on Project Homekey
Disregard the spin. Project Roomkey is failing
In a blatant attempt to rewrite history, Gov. Gavin Newsom claims that Project Roomkey was a great success, which provides important lessons for other states. The only lesson other states should take from the governor’s program is what not to do. To facilitate this revision, research firm Abt Global was contracted ...
Wayne Winegarden and Kerry Jackson
July 16, 2024
Commentary
Read the latest on California's approach to homelessness
Prop 1 promises more of the same for California’s homeless
Leading up to the March 5 primary, Gov. Gavin Newsom appealed to voters by insisting that Proposition 1 is a just reward for veterans, who “have given everything for our freedom often at extraordinary cost to themselves.” It’s not an unpersuasive argument. It was, however, a cheap, emotional ploy. The ...
Wayne Winegarden and Kerry Jackson
April 17, 2024
Business & Economics
Higher minimum wages hurt workers
If only someone had warned lawmakers
Starting on April 1, fast food restaurant chains that have at least 60 locations across the country must pay their workers a minimum of $20 an hour to comply with the minimum wage increase legislation passed and signed last year. But that’s not the end of it. Under Assembly Bill ...
Wayne Winegarden and Kerry Jackson
November 12, 2023
California
Read latest homelessness op-ed in CalMatters
Something is clearly off with California’s homelessness spending
California put aside $7.2 billion to address homelessness in the 2021-22 state budget. Last year, there were an estimated 172,000 homeless statewide, which equates to spending nearly $42,000 per homeless person. Spending of this magnitude – which only accounts for state money – is sufficient if it were applied effectively. The worsening ...
Wayne Winegarden and Kerry Jackson
July 17, 2023
Business & Economics
NEW STUDY FINDS
Americans Pay $1,300 ‘Tort Tax,’ Fixing Legal System Would Grow Economy by 2 Percent
Americans pay a “tort tax” of $1,300 per person thanks to lawsuit abuse, and reforming the legal system could boost the U.S. economy by 2 percent over time, finds a new study released today by California-based, nonpartisan, free-market think tank, the Pacific Research Institute. “Frivolous lawsuits reduce economic opportunities, jobs, ...
Wayne Winegarden and Kerry Jackson
July 12, 2023
Commentary
Latest data shows California will fall far short of power needed to fuel all-EV future
The summer of 2023 might be fairly compared to the summer of 1823, if the North American Electric Reliability Corporation has it right about power outages to come. The common ground between the two would be the lack of electricity. According to the NERC, the country’s Western Interconnection, which includes ...
Wayne Winegarden and Kerry Jackson
June 19, 2023
California
NEW PRI REPORT FINDS
State Will Fall 21.1 Percent Short of Power Needed to Meet 2045 EV Mandate
California will fall 21.1 percent short of the electricity required to meet the state’s 100 percent electric vehicle mandates, finds a new report from the nonpartisan California free-market think tank, the Pacific Research Institute. Download the study here “California’s green energy mandates will require families and businesses to consume ...
Wayne Winegarden and Kerry Jackson
June 8, 2023
Learn how municipal climate change lawsuits hurt consumers
Bonta’s legal war on energy companies will punish ordinary Californians
Neither are heroic efforts to safeguard the environment. The former will primarily harm families by worsening the nation’s pervasive affordability problems. The second is a clear effort to extract “multiple billions” from ExxonMobil while maximizing political optics in a state where the majority of voters will support anything they are ...
Spending Watch
The Governor’s Special Session Will Worsen Gasoline Affordability
The Governor’s Special Session Will Worsen Gasoline Affordability Wayne Winegarden and Kerry Jackson September 2024 The special session called by Governor Gavin Newsom is supposed to save Californians from price gasoline spikes. The governor wants to blame the price spikes on greedy corporations. His accusations are merely a diversion from ...
Learn why price controls won't reduce inflation
Kamala Harris is wrong. American economic history is replete with failed price control policies
Yet in one of her first policy proposals as the Democratic Party’s White House candidate, Kamala Harris insisted that the country needs “the first-ever federal ban on price gouging on food and groceries.” She would set “clear rules of the road to make clear that big corporations can’t unfairly exploit ...
Read the latest on Project Homekey
Disregard the spin. Project Roomkey is failing
In a blatant attempt to rewrite history, Gov. Gavin Newsom claims that Project Roomkey was a great success, which provides important lessons for other states. The only lesson other states should take from the governor’s program is what not to do. To facilitate this revision, research firm Abt Global was contracted ...
Read the latest on California's approach to homelessness
Prop 1 promises more of the same for California’s homeless
Leading up to the March 5 primary, Gov. Gavin Newsom appealed to voters by insisting that Proposition 1 is a just reward for veterans, who “have given everything for our freedom often at extraordinary cost to themselves.” It’s not an unpersuasive argument. It was, however, a cheap, emotional ploy. The ...
Higher minimum wages hurt workers
If only someone had warned lawmakers
Starting on April 1, fast food restaurant chains that have at least 60 locations across the country must pay their workers a minimum of $20 an hour to comply with the minimum wage increase legislation passed and signed last year. But that’s not the end of it. Under Assembly Bill ...
Read latest homelessness op-ed in CalMatters
Something is clearly off with California’s homelessness spending
California put aside $7.2 billion to address homelessness in the 2021-22 state budget. Last year, there were an estimated 172,000 homeless statewide, which equates to spending nearly $42,000 per homeless person. Spending of this magnitude – which only accounts for state money – is sufficient if it were applied effectively. The worsening ...
NEW STUDY FINDS
Americans Pay $1,300 ‘Tort Tax,’ Fixing Legal System Would Grow Economy by 2 Percent
Americans pay a “tort tax” of $1,300 per person thanks to lawsuit abuse, and reforming the legal system could boost the U.S. economy by 2 percent over time, finds a new study released today by California-based, nonpartisan, free-market think tank, the Pacific Research Institute. “Frivolous lawsuits reduce economic opportunities, jobs, ...
Latest data shows California will fall far short of power needed to fuel all-EV future
The summer of 2023 might be fairly compared to the summer of 1823, if the North American Electric Reliability Corporation has it right about power outages to come. The common ground between the two would be the lack of electricity. According to the NERC, the country’s Western Interconnection, which includes ...
NEW PRI REPORT FINDS
State Will Fall 21.1 Percent Short of Power Needed to Meet 2045 EV Mandate
California will fall 21.1 percent short of the electricity required to meet the state’s 100 percent electric vehicle mandates, finds a new report from the nonpartisan California free-market think tank, the Pacific Research Institute. Download the study here “California’s green energy mandates will require families and businesses to consume ...