Economy

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Is the Gig Up After Signing of AB 5?

Now that dust has settled after the signing of perhaps the hottest bill this legislative session – Assembly Bill 5 – what’s next for those who work in the gig economy? A panel of free-market advocates and subject matter experts recently got together to discuss the bill’s aftermath at Pacific ...
Blog

CAPITAL IDEAS: California’s Electric Car Future to Nowhere

DOWNLOAD THE BRIEF California lawmakers won’t give up on their crusade to force everyone in the state into electric cars (before eventually removing us out of our cars altogether). That electric vehicles neither sell nor perform up to reasonable expectations is irrelevant to the anti-car movement in Sacramento. It’s almost ...
Blog

Bill to Change Ballot Measure Process Could Complicate Uber Ballot Measure Push

One of the most contentious battles of this year’s legislative session was AB 5, with labor and gig economy companies duking out over the definition of who is an employee and who is an independent contractor. In this battle over the “new economy” and the “future of work,” there was ...
Blog

Democratic Socialism Will Take Away Job Opportunities for Many

I have long adhered to the proposition that we should extend grace to our ideological opponents. In fact, when discussing fellow Americans, I reject wholesale the increasingly common language of combat in politics (e.g. political “enemies,” culture war, etc.), and strongly argue that we should presume the good intentions of ...
Blog

Is Universal Basic Income Really a “Freedom Dividend”?

On Thursday night, the Democratic presidential candidates will meet for the next presidential debate in Houston. One surprising candidate who qualified for the Houston debate and has attracted a small but growing following of supporters (known as the Yang Gang) is Andrew Yang. Yang’s platform consists primarily of one issue ...
Business & Economics

Workers’ Freedom At Risk In California

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, with one eye on California presidential primary votes and the other on the state’s rich political donors, recently wrote an op-ed in the Sacramento Bee in which she demanded someone do something about that “shameful” gig economy. Warren, a Rutgers-trained lawyer, has expended a lot of energy ...
Business & Economics

ISSUE BRIEF: Damon Dunn Shares Stories from His Rise from Poverty, Makes the Case for Why Socialism Doesn’t Work

Recalling his experiences overcoming extreme poverty, former collegiate and pro football player and successful businessman Damon Dunn makes the case for why socialism doesn’t work in a new brief published by the nonpartisan, California-based think tank, the Pacific Research Institute. Download a copy of “My Rise from Poverty and Why ...
Business & Economics

This Labor Day, celebrate America’s job creators as well as our workforce

Ask Americans what Labor Day means, and they’ll likely say it marks the end of summer. One last chance to wear white and go for a swim before the pool is drained. But as its name suggests, Labor Day was established to celebrate labor –- organized labor, to be more specific. The idea for ...
Blog

Don’t Take All That Talk About Economic Growth or a Recession to the Bank (Yet)

It seems you can’t scroll through your social media feed or morning newsletter without reading commentary about inverted yield curve and recession. A 2020 economic recession is the talk of political pundits, financial talking heads, and presidential hopefuls, but the verdict is out on whether the longest sustained economic growth ...
Blog

New Research Shows Link Between Job Losses and a Community’s Social Ills

Despite evidence of a recent slowdown, the American economy is strong according to nearly all traditional economic indicators and has been for multiple years. Nearly a decade of economic expansion has led to record highs being recorded in the stock market, housing prices, and wages. The recent strengthening of economic ...
Blog

Is the Gig Up After Signing of AB 5?

Now that dust has settled after the signing of perhaps the hottest bill this legislative session – Assembly Bill 5 – what’s next for those who work in the gig economy? A panel of free-market advocates and subject matter experts recently got together to discuss the bill’s aftermath at Pacific ...
Blog

CAPITAL IDEAS: California’s Electric Car Future to Nowhere

DOWNLOAD THE BRIEF California lawmakers won’t give up on their crusade to force everyone in the state into electric cars (before eventually removing us out of our cars altogether). That electric vehicles neither sell nor perform up to reasonable expectations is irrelevant to the anti-car movement in Sacramento. It’s almost ...
Blog

Bill to Change Ballot Measure Process Could Complicate Uber Ballot Measure Push

One of the most contentious battles of this year’s legislative session was AB 5, with labor and gig economy companies duking out over the definition of who is an employee and who is an independent contractor. In this battle over the “new economy” and the “future of work,” there was ...
Blog

Democratic Socialism Will Take Away Job Opportunities for Many

I have long adhered to the proposition that we should extend grace to our ideological opponents. In fact, when discussing fellow Americans, I reject wholesale the increasingly common language of combat in politics (e.g. political “enemies,” culture war, etc.), and strongly argue that we should presume the good intentions of ...
Blog

Is Universal Basic Income Really a “Freedom Dividend”?

On Thursday night, the Democratic presidential candidates will meet for the next presidential debate in Houston. One surprising candidate who qualified for the Houston debate and has attracted a small but growing following of supporters (known as the Yang Gang) is Andrew Yang. Yang’s platform consists primarily of one issue ...
Business & Economics

Workers’ Freedom At Risk In California

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, with one eye on California presidential primary votes and the other on the state’s rich political donors, recently wrote an op-ed in the Sacramento Bee in which she demanded someone do something about that “shameful” gig economy. Warren, a Rutgers-trained lawyer, has expended a lot of energy ...
Business & Economics

ISSUE BRIEF: Damon Dunn Shares Stories from His Rise from Poverty, Makes the Case for Why Socialism Doesn’t Work

Recalling his experiences overcoming extreme poverty, former collegiate and pro football player and successful businessman Damon Dunn makes the case for why socialism doesn’t work in a new brief published by the nonpartisan, California-based think tank, the Pacific Research Institute. Download a copy of “My Rise from Poverty and Why ...
Business & Economics

This Labor Day, celebrate America’s job creators as well as our workforce

Ask Americans what Labor Day means, and they’ll likely say it marks the end of summer. One last chance to wear white and go for a swim before the pool is drained. But as its name suggests, Labor Day was established to celebrate labor –- organized labor, to be more specific. The idea for ...
Blog

Don’t Take All That Talk About Economic Growth or a Recession to the Bank (Yet)

It seems you can’t scroll through your social media feed or morning newsletter without reading commentary about inverted yield curve and recession. A 2020 economic recession is the talk of political pundits, financial talking heads, and presidential hopefuls, but the verdict is out on whether the longest sustained economic growth ...
Blog

New Research Shows Link Between Job Losses and a Community’s Social Ills

Despite evidence of a recent slowdown, the American economy is strong according to nearly all traditional economic indicators and has been for multiple years. Nearly a decade of economic expansion has led to record highs being recorded in the stock market, housing prices, and wages. The recent strengthening of economic ...
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