Business & Economics
Blog
Africa, Unchained From China
READ THE PDF Africa, Unchained From China Elon Musk on March 22 accused the Economic Freedom Fighters of inciting racial hatred. “Very few people know that there is a major political party in South Africa that is actively promoting white genocide,” he posted on his X platform.[1] The leader of ...
Gordon Chang
April 7, 2025
Business & Economics
An economist explains what trade deficits really mean
Believing the myth that trade deficits are bad, the Trump Administration imposed global reciprocal tariffs this week. The proposal threatens to derail economic prosperity and trigger a barn burner of a recession. The fallacy of this myth can be clearly seen in the U.S. economic data. Over the last half-century ...
Wayne H Winegarden
April 4, 2025
Business & Economics
Louisiana Is Litigating Away Its Economic Prosperity
Numerous Louisiana parishes are suing oil and gas companies over coastal erosion. A Plaquemines Parish courtroom has a front row seat to one of the more high-dollar cases taking place where the plaintiffs have reportedly asked for more than $3 billion in damages from just one of the defendants. Undoubtedly ...
Wayne H Winegarden
April 1, 2025
Business & Economics
Tom Campbell – On Tariffs, DOGE and Cutting Government Waste
This week, we’re joined by former Congressman, state legislator, state Director of Finance and constitutional law scholar Tom Campbell – rated as the top government waste fighter during his tenure in the House. We discuss the President’s tariff proposals and the DOGE effort, whether Elon Musk’s team is following the ...
Pacific Research Institute
April 1, 2025
Business & Economics
Reversing Regulatory Overreach Will Encourage Payment Innovations
Innovation is often a victim of its own success as the once unimaginable becomes the invaluable service people cannot live without. The modern payments system exemplifies this phenomenon. Innovations by fintech startups as well as traditional financial companies now enable trillions of dollars in transactions annually. And thanks to robust ...
Wayne H Winegarden
March 27, 2025
Business & Economics
Trade Wars Hurt Farmers
Before promising to impose tariffs on our nearest trade partners — Mexico and Canada — President Donald Trump told American farmers that they should get ready to sell more of their products domestically. The trouble with that optimism is that most farms are not corporate giants, but family operations that ...
Pam Lewison
March 24, 2025
Business & Economics
When it comes to presidential use of autopen, is the pen mightier than the sword?
As we settle into the second Trump era, we’re also seeing the return of the strangest things becoming a controversy thanks to a presidential post on Truth Social. The latest of these is a post declaring that a batch of pardons signed by President Biden during his final days in ...
Tim Anaya
March 19, 2025
Blog
California’s Policy Responses Risks Worsening a Bad Situation
Based on the bills legislators are considering, policymakers are learning the wrong lessons. Consider SB 222 (the Affordable Insurance and Climate Recovery Act) introduced by state Sens. Scott Wiener and Sasha Renée Pérez. By allowing plaintiffs to sue oil and energy companies for the costs created by natural disasters, SB ...
Wayne Winegarden and Nikhil Agarwal
March 19, 2025
Blog
Spending Watch
SB 222 Will Weaken California’s Economy and Reduce State Revenues
SB 222 Will Weaken California’s Economy and Reduce State Revenues Wayne Winegarden and Nikhil Agarwal March 2025 The destructiveness of the Eaton and Palisades fires were unprecedented. According to the Anderson School of Management at UCLA, the recent Los Angeles wildfires caused up to $164 billion in property and capital ...
Wayne Winegarden and Nikhil Agarwal
March 13, 2025
Blog
The Gordon Chang Report–The U.S. Can Control the ‘World’s Light Switch’
READ THE PDF The U.S. Can Control the ‘World’s Light Switch’ It’s a “LNG and drilling free-for-all.”[1] That’s how the energy industry sees President Donald Trump’s actions this Valentine’s Day. Trump on February 14 promised to open up more than 600 million offshore acres to oil and gas drilling, signed ...
Gordon Chang
March 12, 2025
Africa, Unchained From China
READ THE PDF Africa, Unchained From China Elon Musk on March 22 accused the Economic Freedom Fighters of inciting racial hatred. “Very few people know that there is a major political party in South Africa that is actively promoting white genocide,” he posted on his X platform.[1] The leader of ...
An economist explains what trade deficits really mean
Believing the myth that trade deficits are bad, the Trump Administration imposed global reciprocal tariffs this week. The proposal threatens to derail economic prosperity and trigger a barn burner of a recession. The fallacy of this myth can be clearly seen in the U.S. economic data. Over the last half-century ...
Louisiana Is Litigating Away Its Economic Prosperity
Numerous Louisiana parishes are suing oil and gas companies over coastal erosion. A Plaquemines Parish courtroom has a front row seat to one of the more high-dollar cases taking place where the plaintiffs have reportedly asked for more than $3 billion in damages from just one of the defendants. Undoubtedly ...
Tom Campbell – On Tariffs, DOGE and Cutting Government Waste
This week, we’re joined by former Congressman, state legislator, state Director of Finance and constitutional law scholar Tom Campbell – rated as the top government waste fighter during his tenure in the House. We discuss the President’s tariff proposals and the DOGE effort, whether Elon Musk’s team is following the ...
Reversing Regulatory Overreach Will Encourage Payment Innovations
Innovation is often a victim of its own success as the once unimaginable becomes the invaluable service people cannot live without. The modern payments system exemplifies this phenomenon. Innovations by fintech startups as well as traditional financial companies now enable trillions of dollars in transactions annually. And thanks to robust ...
Trade Wars Hurt Farmers
Before promising to impose tariffs on our nearest trade partners — Mexico and Canada — President Donald Trump told American farmers that they should get ready to sell more of their products domestically. The trouble with that optimism is that most farms are not corporate giants, but family operations that ...
When it comes to presidential use of autopen, is the pen mightier than the sword?
As we settle into the second Trump era, we’re also seeing the return of the strangest things becoming a controversy thanks to a presidential post on Truth Social. The latest of these is a post declaring that a batch of pardons signed by President Biden during his final days in ...
California’s Policy Responses Risks Worsening a Bad Situation
Based on the bills legislators are considering, policymakers are learning the wrong lessons. Consider SB 222 (the Affordable Insurance and Climate Recovery Act) introduced by state Sens. Scott Wiener and Sasha Renée Pérez. By allowing plaintiffs to sue oil and energy companies for the costs created by natural disasters, SB ...
Spending Watch
SB 222 Will Weaken California’s Economy and Reduce State Revenues
SB 222 Will Weaken California’s Economy and Reduce State Revenues Wayne Winegarden and Nikhil Agarwal March 2025 The destructiveness of the Eaton and Palisades fires were unprecedented. According to the Anderson School of Management at UCLA, the recent Los Angeles wildfires caused up to $164 billion in property and capital ...
The Gordon Chang Report–The U.S. Can Control the ‘World’s Light Switch’
READ THE PDF The U.S. Can Control the ‘World’s Light Switch’ It’s a “LNG and drilling free-for-all.”[1] That’s how the energy industry sees President Donald Trump’s actions this Valentine’s Day. Trump on February 14 promised to open up more than 600 million offshore acres to oil and gas drilling, signed ...