Economy
Commentary
Warren’s ‘Medicare-for-all’ is financial fantasy – There’s no way to do this fuzzy math
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has released her plan for financing “Medicare-for-all.” She claims it’ll cost “just” $20.5 trillion in new federal spending over 10 years, with, in her words, “not one penny in middle-class tax increases.” Warren has little choice but to indulge in fuzzy math. After all, doubling everyone’s ...
Sally C. Pipes
November 4, 2019
Blackouts
California Power Outages — A Look Into The Future
California’s Great Blackout of 2019 has begun as the lights keep going out for millions across the state’s northern stretches. What should be the past now seems to be the future. Pacific Gas and Electric began shutting down power early the morning of Oct. 9, when electricity was cut to ...
Kerry Jackson
October 30, 2019
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 ...
Evan Harris
October 9, 2019
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 ...
Kerry Jackson
October 1, 2019
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 ...
Tim Anaya
September 26, 2019
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 ...
Damon Dunn
September 17, 2019
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 ...
Tim Anaya
September 12, 2019
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 ...
Kerry Jackson
September 5, 2019
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 ...
Damon Dunn
September 4, 2019
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 ...
Sally C. Pipes
September 3, 2019
Warren’s ‘Medicare-for-all’ is financial fantasy – There’s no way to do this fuzzy math
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has released her plan for financing “Medicare-for-all.” She claims it’ll cost “just” $20.5 trillion in new federal spending over 10 years, with, in her words, “not one penny in middle-class tax increases.” Warren has little choice but to indulge in fuzzy math. After all, doubling everyone’s ...
California Power Outages — A Look Into The Future
California’s Great Blackout of 2019 has begun as the lights keep going out for millions across the state’s northern stretches. What should be the past now seems to be the future. Pacific Gas and Electric began shutting down power early the morning of Oct. 9, when electricity was cut to ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...