Business & Economics
Business & Economics
Uncle Sam’s Phantom Loan Revenues
You may have heard that lawmakers in Washington struck a deal last week to preserve the current low student-loan rates for at least another year. You may not have heard that for fiscal year 2013 the federal government booked $32 million in revenuesprofits, if it were a private entityfor every ...
Commentary
If no changes, no Medicare
Medicare has two more years to live than previously thought. The program’s trustees recently estimated that the “depletion date for the trust fund is 2026, two years later than was shown in last year’s report.” But that conclusion is less a vote of confidence than a two-year stay of execution. ...
Business & Economics
New Pacific Research Institute Study Finds that “Plan Bay Area” Will Drive Housing Prices Higher, Intensify Traffic, and Increase Air Pollution
The Pacific Research Institute released a new study on the proposed Plan Bay Area. The study describes the proposals regulatory overreach and its detrimental consequences for Bay Area residents and the metropolitan economy. In addition, the study shows that improved fuel efficiency by 2035 will more than meet the requirements ...
Business & Economics
Obama’s Green Team
The four leaders of Barack Obamas second-term Green Team are nearly all in place: John Kerry has been confirmed as Secretary of State, Sally Jewell has been confirmed as Secretary of the Interior, Ernest Moniz has been confirmed as Secretary of Energy, and only the confirmation of Gina McCarthy remains ...
Business & Economics
Outside Opinion: ‘Swipe fees’ aren’t so bad
Most Americans swipe their credit cards in the checkout line without thinking twice. But our ability to do so is under attack. Seven years ago, a group of stores launched a lawsuit alleging that credit card issuers unfairly dictate the so-called swipe fees. Although the parties agreed to a settlement ...
Business & Economics
Startup Business Are America’s Best Job Creators
‘Small business” is the recipient of much official love (as well as heavy regulatory intrusion), but it receives its loudest applause as the supposed source of most employment growth. Alas, that conventional wisdom is incorrect: The modern scholarly literature finds that it is new (not small) businesses startups ...
Business & Economics
New Study Finds Startup Business Increases Growth of Real SGP
A new study examining the effect of net employment creation by startup businesses on state gross product was released today. Startup Businesses and the Growth of Real State Gross Product is authored by PRI senior fellow Benjamin Zycher, Ph.D. Dr. Zycher uses a sample of 49 states for the period ...
Business & Economics
The U.S. Corporate Tax Code: Ripe for Bipartisan Reform
The U.S. corporate tax code is ripe for bipartisan reformthe U.S. has the highest corporate tax rate of any OECD country but collects some of the lowest federal corporate tax revenues as a share of GDP. A low-rate flat tax on the broad base of business value added, with minimal ...
Business & Economics
An Economic Assessment of New York’s Smoking Policies
By some measures, New Yorks decline in smoking incidence, particularly youth smoking incidence, was even less flattering. The percentage of 9th through 12th graders in the U.S. who smoked more than 10 cigarettes per day fell from 13.8 percent in 1997 to 7.8 percent in 2011, it rose in New ...
Business & Economics
Consumers paying at retailer’s expense
Most Americans swipe credit cards without thinking twice. But our ability to do so is under attack. Seven years ago, a group of retailers launched a lawsuit alleging that card issuers unfairly dictate merchant credit card fees. Although the parties agreed to a legal settlement, some retailers are threatening to ...
Uncle Sam’s Phantom Loan Revenues
You may have heard that lawmakers in Washington struck a deal last week to preserve the current low student-loan rates for at least another year. You may not have heard that for fiscal year 2013 the federal government booked $32 million in revenuesprofits, if it were a private entityfor every ...
If no changes, no Medicare
Medicare has two more years to live than previously thought. The program’s trustees recently estimated that the “depletion date for the trust fund is 2026, two years later than was shown in last year’s report.” But that conclusion is less a vote of confidence than a two-year stay of execution. ...
New Pacific Research Institute Study Finds that “Plan Bay Area” Will Drive Housing Prices Higher, Intensify Traffic, and Increase Air Pollution
The Pacific Research Institute released a new study on the proposed Plan Bay Area. The study describes the proposals regulatory overreach and its detrimental consequences for Bay Area residents and the metropolitan economy. In addition, the study shows that improved fuel efficiency by 2035 will more than meet the requirements ...
Obama’s Green Team
The four leaders of Barack Obamas second-term Green Team are nearly all in place: John Kerry has been confirmed as Secretary of State, Sally Jewell has been confirmed as Secretary of the Interior, Ernest Moniz has been confirmed as Secretary of Energy, and only the confirmation of Gina McCarthy remains ...
Outside Opinion: ‘Swipe fees’ aren’t so bad
Most Americans swipe their credit cards in the checkout line without thinking twice. But our ability to do so is under attack. Seven years ago, a group of stores launched a lawsuit alleging that credit card issuers unfairly dictate the so-called swipe fees. Although the parties agreed to a settlement ...
Startup Business Are America’s Best Job Creators
‘Small business” is the recipient of much official love (as well as heavy regulatory intrusion), but it receives its loudest applause as the supposed source of most employment growth. Alas, that conventional wisdom is incorrect: The modern scholarly literature finds that it is new (not small) businesses startups ...
New Study Finds Startup Business Increases Growth of Real SGP
A new study examining the effect of net employment creation by startup businesses on state gross product was released today. Startup Businesses and the Growth of Real State Gross Product is authored by PRI senior fellow Benjamin Zycher, Ph.D. Dr. Zycher uses a sample of 49 states for the period ...
The U.S. Corporate Tax Code: Ripe for Bipartisan Reform
The U.S. corporate tax code is ripe for bipartisan reformthe U.S. has the highest corporate tax rate of any OECD country but collects some of the lowest federal corporate tax revenues as a share of GDP. A low-rate flat tax on the broad base of business value added, with minimal ...
An Economic Assessment of New York’s Smoking Policies
By some measures, New Yorks decline in smoking incidence, particularly youth smoking incidence, was even less flattering. The percentage of 9th through 12th graders in the U.S. who smoked more than 10 cigarettes per day fell from 13.8 percent in 1997 to 7.8 percent in 2011, it rose in New ...
Consumers paying at retailer’s expense
Most Americans swipe credit cards without thinking twice. But our ability to do so is under attack. Seven years ago, a group of retailers launched a lawsuit alleging that card issuers unfairly dictate merchant credit card fees. Although the parties agreed to a legal settlement, some retailers are threatening to ...
