Business & Economics
Business & Economics
To cut state prison budget, start with perks for guards
California’s voters will soon consider two ballot initiatives that aim to reduce the state’s unsustainable spending on prisons. The cost of jail is punishing and not just for the prisoners. Incarcerating an inmate runs an average of $47,000 a year. That figure certainly is not chump change, but the ...
Business & Economics
California’s politicians failing taxpayers
California’s state and local politicians are failing their fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers. As the taxpayers’ agents, California’s politicians should be establishing compensation policies that are generous enough to attract and retain the right people, but not so generous that government workers earn a substantial premium compared to their private ...
Business & Economics
Economists argue about sequestration’s effect on jobs
As a prominent analyst of the local economy, Stephen S. Fuller of George Mason Universitys Center for Regional Analysis attracted plenty of attention when he estimated that the mandatory budget cuts coming in January could cost more than 2 million jobs nationwide, including nearly 450,000 in the District, Maryland and ...
Business & Economics
More taxes won’t fix state debt
The Golden State continues to lead the nation in accumulating public debt, a race where being in first place isn’t the same thing as winning. “California again trumped other states with a $617 billion debt,” reported State Budget Solutions, a nonpartisan organization advocating “fundamental reforms” for state budgets. For the ...
Business & Economics
Weekly Standard: The Obamacare Bowl
Have you ever watched a football game in which a team runs the ball seemingly at will and wins in a rout? And then, in a rematch, that same team for no good reason throws the ball repeatedly, with little success? Meet Team Republican. In 2010, it ran Obamacare down ...
Business & Economics
Economist Finds Dental Service Organizations (DSOs) More Cost-Effective Than Average Independent Dentists
Laffer Study of TX Medicaid Claims Shows DSOs Treat Patients More Conservatively, Contrary to Claims by Detractors of the Dental Business Model Nashville, Tenn. — An in-depth study of state reimbursement claims data conducted by economist Arthur Laffer shows that Dental Service Organizations (DSO) in Texas are providing more cost-efficient ...
Business & Economics
FOR STATE BUDGET, NOTHING TO ‘LIKE’ ABOUT FACEBOOK IPO
Facebooks stock price is currently hovering just above its all-time low. Shares have lost nearly half their value since they hit the market in May. The social networks executives, employees and investors arent the only ones disappointed by the stocks underperformance. The state of California was hoping for roughly $2 ...
Business & Economics
The Policy Value Gap, Part 1: A Fiscal Perspective
In the spirit of Jimmy Carter, an economic malaise plagues the country. Rather than being the product of a fundamental flaw in our economic system, though, the current stagnation is mainly the result of the nations misguided economic policies. The federal governments response to the financial crisis of 2008 was ...
Business & Economics
Brown should go back to idea of a flat tax to help economy
Gov. Jerry Brown just signed bills finalizing California’s budget and closing the Golden State’s $16 billion budget deficit. But the governor’s budget is contingent on voters approving a proposed $8.5 billion tax hike at the ballot box this November. If they don’t, some $6 billion in spending cuts will go ...
Business & Economics
Arthur B. Laffer: Right to work, wrong to tax in California
Gov. Jerry Brown just enacted a $91.3 billion budget measure to close California’s $16 billion deficit. After pleading with legislators to approve billions of dollars in spending cuts, he’s asking voters to approve major tax increases in November. If they don’t, some $6 billion in cuts would take effect in ...
To cut state prison budget, start with perks for guards
California’s voters will soon consider two ballot initiatives that aim to reduce the state’s unsustainable spending on prisons. The cost of jail is punishing and not just for the prisoners. Incarcerating an inmate runs an average of $47,000 a year. That figure certainly is not chump change, but the ...
California’s politicians failing taxpayers
California’s state and local politicians are failing their fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers. As the taxpayers’ agents, California’s politicians should be establishing compensation policies that are generous enough to attract and retain the right people, but not so generous that government workers earn a substantial premium compared to their private ...
Economists argue about sequestration’s effect on jobs
As a prominent analyst of the local economy, Stephen S. Fuller of George Mason Universitys Center for Regional Analysis attracted plenty of attention when he estimated that the mandatory budget cuts coming in January could cost more than 2 million jobs nationwide, including nearly 450,000 in the District, Maryland and ...
More taxes won’t fix state debt
The Golden State continues to lead the nation in accumulating public debt, a race where being in first place isn’t the same thing as winning. “California again trumped other states with a $617 billion debt,” reported State Budget Solutions, a nonpartisan organization advocating “fundamental reforms” for state budgets. For the ...
Weekly Standard: The Obamacare Bowl
Have you ever watched a football game in which a team runs the ball seemingly at will and wins in a rout? And then, in a rematch, that same team for no good reason throws the ball repeatedly, with little success? Meet Team Republican. In 2010, it ran Obamacare down ...
Economist Finds Dental Service Organizations (DSOs) More Cost-Effective Than Average Independent Dentists
Laffer Study of TX Medicaid Claims Shows DSOs Treat Patients More Conservatively, Contrary to Claims by Detractors of the Dental Business Model Nashville, Tenn. — An in-depth study of state reimbursement claims data conducted by economist Arthur Laffer shows that Dental Service Organizations (DSO) in Texas are providing more cost-efficient ...
FOR STATE BUDGET, NOTHING TO ‘LIKE’ ABOUT FACEBOOK IPO
Facebooks stock price is currently hovering just above its all-time low. Shares have lost nearly half their value since they hit the market in May. The social networks executives, employees and investors arent the only ones disappointed by the stocks underperformance. The state of California was hoping for roughly $2 ...
The Policy Value Gap, Part 1: A Fiscal Perspective
In the spirit of Jimmy Carter, an economic malaise plagues the country. Rather than being the product of a fundamental flaw in our economic system, though, the current stagnation is mainly the result of the nations misguided economic policies. The federal governments response to the financial crisis of 2008 was ...
Brown should go back to idea of a flat tax to help economy
Gov. Jerry Brown just signed bills finalizing California’s budget and closing the Golden State’s $16 billion budget deficit. But the governor’s budget is contingent on voters approving a proposed $8.5 billion tax hike at the ballot box this November. If they don’t, some $6 billion in spending cuts will go ...
Arthur B. Laffer: Right to work, wrong to tax in California
Gov. Jerry Brown just enacted a $91.3 billion budget measure to close California’s $16 billion deficit. After pleading with legislators to approve billions of dollars in spending cuts, he’s asking voters to approve major tax increases in November. If they don’t, some $6 billion in cuts would take effect in ...
