Wayne Winegarden
Business & Economics
NEW BRIEF: CalPERS’ Political Agenda Puts Taxpayers and Retirees at Risk with Low Returns, Higher Unfunded Liabilities
SACRAMENTO – CalPERS – which adheres to a politicized Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) agenda – is generating lower returns in its investment strategies compared to a more typical investment strategy, finds a new brief released today by the Pacific Research Institute, a non-partisan California-based free market think tank. CalPERS ...
Blog
Spending Watch
California’s Expensive but Ineffective Income Support Spending
California’s Expensive but Ineffective Income Support Spending Wayne Winegarden August 2024 Including federal, state, and local funds, California’s per capita spending on income support programs is 81 percent higher than the average expenditures for all other states – per capita spending of $3,869 compared to $2,141. These expenditures include “cash ...
Commentary
Learn about the damage from lawsuit abuse
Tort Abuses Threat To Innovation And Product Availability
Not only is continued invention necessary for expanding our prosperity, but it is also key for mitigating problems such as global climate change or finding new technologies and treatments for troubling health conditions. Take the state and municipal lawsuits being filed against energy companies as an example. When announcing his ...
Blog
CAPITAL IDEAS: Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Undermines the Social Responsibility of Businesses and Investment Managers
The concepts behind Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing and management are the latest theory trying to address a long-standing question: What is the appropriate social function of a business? This question predates Milton Friedman’s 1970 New York Times piece “The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits,” ...
Blog
Read why latest employer is leaving California
Chevron’s Departure Highlights California’s Risky Economic Future
Companies have been decamping from California for greener pastures so frequently that, in some ways, Chevron’s announcement is barely newsworthy. The particulars of Chevron’s decision are important, however, because they exemplify the large economic risks California’s policymakers are taking. Judged by their actions, California’s political leaders, including Governor Newsom, have ...
Commentary
The Anti-Competitive Middlemen Harming Pharmacies And Patients
Astonishing drug innovations are improving the lives of patients including those living with cancer and autoimmune disorders. These innovations also expose the payment system’s fundamental flaws. The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) recently released interim report on pharmacy middlemen demonstrates that these flaws impose a high cost on patients and neighborhood pharmacies. These ...
Commentary
FERC Is Considering Policies That Would Threaten Energy Reliability
Reliable and affordable energy is essential. Without it, many dire consequences will arise. Unreliable and unaffordable energy poses serious health risks – particularly for the elderly, increases the costs of food, disrupts business activity harming economic growth, and makes it more difficult for children to study. Maintaining an efficient energy ...
Health Care
NEW BRIEF: Washington Must End Physician Price Controls, Reform Medicare Payment System to Prevent Doctor Shortages
SACRAMENTO – A new brief released today by the Center for Medical Economics and Innovation at the nonpartisan Pacific Research Institute finds that artificially low reimbursement rates used by Medicare to contain costs are threatening patient care, and reform is needed to prevent future doctor shortages. Click to download the ...
Blog
Spending Watch
Californians Have Little to Show for All That Government Spending
Californians Have Little to Show for All That Government Spending Wayne Winegarden July 2024 It should not shock anyone that the FY2024-25 budget was short on fiscal discipline and long on budget gimmicks and fund shifts. Now that this year’s budget process is coming to an end, it is imperative ...
Blog
Flawed Project Homekey now immersed in scandal
My Pacific Research Institute colleague Kerry Jackson and I have written extensively about the inherent flaws of Project Homekey. As a refresher, Project Homekey is Gov. Gavin Newsom’s main program for addressing the state’s homelessness problem. It attempts to leverage the current hotel and motel infrastructure to move people from ...
NEW BRIEF: CalPERS’ Political Agenda Puts Taxpayers and Retirees at Risk with Low Returns, Higher Unfunded Liabilities
SACRAMENTO – CalPERS – which adheres to a politicized Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) agenda – is generating lower returns in its investment strategies compared to a more typical investment strategy, finds a new brief released today by the Pacific Research Institute, a non-partisan California-based free market think tank. CalPERS ...
Spending Watch
California’s Expensive but Ineffective Income Support Spending
California’s Expensive but Ineffective Income Support Spending Wayne Winegarden August 2024 Including federal, state, and local funds, California’s per capita spending on income support programs is 81 percent higher than the average expenditures for all other states – per capita spending of $3,869 compared to $2,141. These expenditures include “cash ...
Learn about the damage from lawsuit abuse
Tort Abuses Threat To Innovation And Product Availability
Not only is continued invention necessary for expanding our prosperity, but it is also key for mitigating problems such as global climate change or finding new technologies and treatments for troubling health conditions. Take the state and municipal lawsuits being filed against energy companies as an example. When announcing his ...
CAPITAL IDEAS: Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Undermines the Social Responsibility of Businesses and Investment Managers
The concepts behind Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing and management are the latest theory trying to address a long-standing question: What is the appropriate social function of a business? This question predates Milton Friedman’s 1970 New York Times piece “The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits,” ...
Read why latest employer is leaving California
Chevron’s Departure Highlights California’s Risky Economic Future
Companies have been decamping from California for greener pastures so frequently that, in some ways, Chevron’s announcement is barely newsworthy. The particulars of Chevron’s decision are important, however, because they exemplify the large economic risks California’s policymakers are taking. Judged by their actions, California’s political leaders, including Governor Newsom, have ...
The Anti-Competitive Middlemen Harming Pharmacies And Patients
Astonishing drug innovations are improving the lives of patients including those living with cancer and autoimmune disorders. These innovations also expose the payment system’s fundamental flaws. The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) recently released interim report on pharmacy middlemen demonstrates that these flaws impose a high cost on patients and neighborhood pharmacies. These ...
FERC Is Considering Policies That Would Threaten Energy Reliability
Reliable and affordable energy is essential. Without it, many dire consequences will arise. Unreliable and unaffordable energy poses serious health risks – particularly for the elderly, increases the costs of food, disrupts business activity harming economic growth, and makes it more difficult for children to study. Maintaining an efficient energy ...
NEW BRIEF: Washington Must End Physician Price Controls, Reform Medicare Payment System to Prevent Doctor Shortages
SACRAMENTO – A new brief released today by the Center for Medical Economics and Innovation at the nonpartisan Pacific Research Institute finds that artificially low reimbursement rates used by Medicare to contain costs are threatening patient care, and reform is needed to prevent future doctor shortages. Click to download the ...
Spending Watch
Californians Have Little to Show for All That Government Spending
Californians Have Little to Show for All That Government Spending Wayne Winegarden July 2024 It should not shock anyone that the FY2024-25 budget was short on fiscal discipline and long on budget gimmicks and fund shifts. Now that this year’s budget process is coming to an end, it is imperative ...
Flawed Project Homekey now immersed in scandal
My Pacific Research Institute colleague Kerry Jackson and I have written extensively about the inherent flaws of Project Homekey. As a refresher, Project Homekey is Gov. Gavin Newsom’s main program for addressing the state’s homelessness problem. It attempts to leverage the current hotel and motel infrastructure to move people from ...
