Wayne Winegarden
Blog
The Anti-Growth Tariffs Are a Clear and Present Danger to Our Future Economic Prosperity
Without a hint of irony, while announcing the 25 percent tariffs on imported steel and the 10 percent tariffs on imported aluminum on May 31st, Commerce Secretary Ross proclaimed that “we take the view that without a strong economy, you cannot have strong national security”. In reality, these tariffs will ...
Wayne Winegarden
May 31, 2018
Business & Economics
The High Costs of Cost Sharing Insurance
Incentives drive all economic activity. Unfortunately, far too many of the incentives that underlie the U.S. health care sector discourage quality and encourage excessive costs. Our current health insurance system exemplifies this problem. The disincentives created by the way the U.S. health insurance industry operates arise because insurers do not ...
Wayne Winegarden
May 21, 2018
Commentary
North Carolina’s Fiscally Irresponsible Medicaid Reversal
A fundamental management tenet advises organizations to understand their core competencies, and solely focus on these functions. All other tasks should be outsourced to organizations who specialize in providing these services. For more than a decade the North Carolina state government has been following this advice with respect to its ...
Wayne Winegarden
May 18, 2018
Business & Economics
Pharmaceutical Price Controls Will Not Improve Health Care Outcomes in Illinois
Due to its national implications, last week’s introduction of the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) blueprint on drug prices is garnering all the attention. Despite its importance, HHS’ blueprint should not overshadow the many poor, and even unconstitutional, policy proposals that are occurring at the state level. For ...
Wayne Winegarden
May 17, 2018
Business & Economics
Federal Government Must Revamp Spending To Maximize Economic Growth
It’s not news that the federal government spends too much. This year, the federal government will spend about $30,000 per taxpayer. That doesn’t count the public debt — every taxpayers’ share is over $145,000 — or unfunded liabilities like Social Security and Medicare, which add another $600,000 to $1.6 million per taxpayer. ...
Wayne Winegarden
May 15, 2018
Business & Economics
Creating an Affordable Health Care System Requires More than Rounding Up the Usual Suspects
Health care is becoming less affordable every year. Over the past 10 years, national healthcare expenditures have grown 45 percent, but our economy has grown only 28 percent. This isn’t sustainable; and, solving this problem should be a top policy priority. However, “rounding up the usual suspects,” as Captain Renault ...
Wayne Winegarden
May 8, 2018
Business & Economics
How Much Should We Spend? New PRI Report Offers the 15% Solution
In the aftermath of a record $1.3 trillion federal spending deal, the latest report in the Pacific Research Institute’s Beyond the New Normal series makes the case that such record spending levels hurts economic growth and American prosperity. The new report released today, “The 15 Percent Solution: Defining the Affordable ...
Wayne Winegarden
May 2, 2018
Agriculture
The Not-so-hidden Costs of Trade Tariffs
It should be no surprise that the Trump tariffs are not having their intended effect. Consider the impact on California farmers as documented by Bloomberg.com: More than half of Dan Vincent’s projected 2018 profit was wiped out with a stroke of President Donald Trump’s pen. Vincent runs Pacific Coast Producers, ...
Wayne Winegarden
April 26, 2018
Health Care
New Study: Patients Could Save Time and Money if Neighborhood Pharmacies Can Administer More Vaccines
Patients could save time and money if federal law is reformed to allow pharmacists to administer all CDC recommended vaccines, a new study released today by the Pacific Research Institute found. Click here to download a copy of the study. “Adult vaccines can improve people’s health, but our nation’s vaccine ...
Wayne Winegarden
April 17, 2018
Agriculture
Tariffs Are A Bad Negotiation Tool
Is he, or isn’t he? That’s the big question when it comes to the $100 billion in tariffs that President Trump has threatened to impose on China. Many supporters of these threatened tariffs would claim that the answer is: he isn’t; or more accurately, he won’t need to. In this ...
Wayne Winegarden
April 16, 2018
The Anti-Growth Tariffs Are a Clear and Present Danger to Our Future Economic Prosperity
Without a hint of irony, while announcing the 25 percent tariffs on imported steel and the 10 percent tariffs on imported aluminum on May 31st, Commerce Secretary Ross proclaimed that “we take the view that without a strong economy, you cannot have strong national security”. In reality, these tariffs will ...
The High Costs of Cost Sharing Insurance
Incentives drive all economic activity. Unfortunately, far too many of the incentives that underlie the U.S. health care sector discourage quality and encourage excessive costs. Our current health insurance system exemplifies this problem. The disincentives created by the way the U.S. health insurance industry operates arise because insurers do not ...
North Carolina’s Fiscally Irresponsible Medicaid Reversal
A fundamental management tenet advises organizations to understand their core competencies, and solely focus on these functions. All other tasks should be outsourced to organizations who specialize in providing these services. For more than a decade the North Carolina state government has been following this advice with respect to its ...
Pharmaceutical Price Controls Will Not Improve Health Care Outcomes in Illinois
Due to its national implications, last week’s introduction of the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) blueprint on drug prices is garnering all the attention. Despite its importance, HHS’ blueprint should not overshadow the many poor, and even unconstitutional, policy proposals that are occurring at the state level. For ...
Federal Government Must Revamp Spending To Maximize Economic Growth
It’s not news that the federal government spends too much. This year, the federal government will spend about $30,000 per taxpayer. That doesn’t count the public debt — every taxpayers’ share is over $145,000 — or unfunded liabilities like Social Security and Medicare, which add another $600,000 to $1.6 million per taxpayer. ...
Creating an Affordable Health Care System Requires More than Rounding Up the Usual Suspects
Health care is becoming less affordable every year. Over the past 10 years, national healthcare expenditures have grown 45 percent, but our economy has grown only 28 percent. This isn’t sustainable; and, solving this problem should be a top policy priority. However, “rounding up the usual suspects,” as Captain Renault ...
How Much Should We Spend? New PRI Report Offers the 15% Solution
In the aftermath of a record $1.3 trillion federal spending deal, the latest report in the Pacific Research Institute’s Beyond the New Normal series makes the case that such record spending levels hurts economic growth and American prosperity. The new report released today, “The 15 Percent Solution: Defining the Affordable ...
The Not-so-hidden Costs of Trade Tariffs
It should be no surprise that the Trump tariffs are not having their intended effect. Consider the impact on California farmers as documented by Bloomberg.com: More than half of Dan Vincent’s projected 2018 profit was wiped out with a stroke of President Donald Trump’s pen. Vincent runs Pacific Coast Producers, ...
New Study: Patients Could Save Time and Money if Neighborhood Pharmacies Can Administer More Vaccines
Patients could save time and money if federal law is reformed to allow pharmacists to administer all CDC recommended vaccines, a new study released today by the Pacific Research Institute found. Click here to download a copy of the study. “Adult vaccines can improve people’s health, but our nation’s vaccine ...
Tariffs Are A Bad Negotiation Tool
Is he, or isn’t he? That’s the big question when it comes to the $100 billion in tariffs that President Trump has threatened to impose on China. Many supporters of these threatened tariffs would claim that the answer is: he isn’t; or more accurately, he won’t need to. In this ...