Business & Economics
Business & Economics
Small-Business Health Care Tax Credits Are having a Miniscule Impact
The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council recently surveyed 304 small business owners about how satisfied they were with the new healthcare reform laws tax credits. Nearly 90% had not applied for the credits. Some had no idea they existed, others were deemed ineligible, and more than a fifth found that ...
Business & Economics
Legislators Cry “Less Power to the People”
California legislators —- who seem unable to come up with an honest balanced budget, who always seek tax increases, and who won’t pass even modest reforms to the state’s unfunded pension system or to anything else, for that matter —- want to blame the government’s problems on voters, rather than ...
Business & Economics
California Amazon Tax Will Kill 25,000 Small Businesses
With the California legislature having just passed a flawed budget full of accounting tricks, budget gimmicks and money grabs, one area of small business is about to be taxed right out of business – just so that the state can fill a budget hole instead of making necessary and substantive ...
Business & Economics
It’s about free markets, not Texas
As California’s budget battle continues, Republicans and Democrats have engaged in a rhetorical battle regarding the relative merits and demerits of our lovely state and one of the nation’s other growing megastates —- Texas. This debate started after a legislative delegation made up mostly of Republicans went eastward in April ...
Business & Economics
Are low interest rates doing more harm than good? with Lee Hoskins
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke announce that the Federal Reserve’s latest policy decision would be to keep interest rates as they are for an extended period of time. PRI’s Lee Hoskins, Robert Heller, SDR Capital Market and William Ford, Middle Tennessee State University answer questions regarding the announcement and whether ...
Business & Economics
Brown Busts the Budget
The California Legislature just passed a budget. Less than 24 hours later, the governor vetoed it, leaving many scratching their heads why Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a budget from his own party. For the first time in history, the state budget has been vetoed, Brown said in a news conference. ...
Business & Economics
New consumer bureau will be a bust – guaranteed
In July, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) formally begins operations. Republicans oppose President Obama’s top choice, Elizabeth Warren, to head the new bureau, which should not have been created in the first place. The CFPB will drive up prices, but won’t actually protect consumers. Consider first the sheer implausibility ...
Business & Economics
Redevelopment Might Really be a Goner
Hours before the Wednesday midnight deadline for passing a state budget, legislative Democrats rammed through a ridiculous, gimmick-laden, majority-vote spending plan that failed to reform anything and failed to impress Gov. Jerry Brown, who wisely vetoed it less than a day later. The budget succeeded mainly in one area:ensuring the ...
Business & Economics
Federal Health Reform and Stock Market Returns of Health Insurers
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) would not have passed without the support of business interests in the health sector. Stock prices of for-profit health plans have significantly outperformed the broader stock market since President Obamas election in 2008, but also since the Republican wave of 2010. ...
Business & Economics
A Case for Affirmative Disclosure of Public Pensions
An appeals court has ruled that a public agency must hand over pension data to a newspaper. This is a welcome development but a recent case confirms that California remains far behind the curve on government transparency. The Sacramento Bee has been conducting investigations into public employee pensions and finds ...
Small-Business Health Care Tax Credits Are having a Miniscule Impact
The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council recently surveyed 304 small business owners about how satisfied they were with the new healthcare reform laws tax credits. Nearly 90% had not applied for the credits. Some had no idea they existed, others were deemed ineligible, and more than a fifth found that ...
Legislators Cry “Less Power to the People”
California legislators —- who seem unable to come up with an honest balanced budget, who always seek tax increases, and who won’t pass even modest reforms to the state’s unfunded pension system or to anything else, for that matter —- want to blame the government’s problems on voters, rather than ...
California Amazon Tax Will Kill 25,000 Small Businesses
With the California legislature having just passed a flawed budget full of accounting tricks, budget gimmicks and money grabs, one area of small business is about to be taxed right out of business – just so that the state can fill a budget hole instead of making necessary and substantive ...
It’s about free markets, not Texas
As California’s budget battle continues, Republicans and Democrats have engaged in a rhetorical battle regarding the relative merits and demerits of our lovely state and one of the nation’s other growing megastates —- Texas. This debate started after a legislative delegation made up mostly of Republicans went eastward in April ...
Are low interest rates doing more harm than good? with Lee Hoskins
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke announce that the Federal Reserve’s latest policy decision would be to keep interest rates as they are for an extended period of time. PRI’s Lee Hoskins, Robert Heller, SDR Capital Market and William Ford, Middle Tennessee State University answer questions regarding the announcement and whether ...
Brown Busts the Budget
The California Legislature just passed a budget. Less than 24 hours later, the governor vetoed it, leaving many scratching their heads why Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a budget from his own party. For the first time in history, the state budget has been vetoed, Brown said in a news conference. ...
New consumer bureau will be a bust – guaranteed
In July, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) formally begins operations. Republicans oppose President Obama’s top choice, Elizabeth Warren, to head the new bureau, which should not have been created in the first place. The CFPB will drive up prices, but won’t actually protect consumers. Consider first the sheer implausibility ...
Redevelopment Might Really be a Goner
Hours before the Wednesday midnight deadline for passing a state budget, legislative Democrats rammed through a ridiculous, gimmick-laden, majority-vote spending plan that failed to reform anything and failed to impress Gov. Jerry Brown, who wisely vetoed it less than a day later. The budget succeeded mainly in one area:ensuring the ...
Federal Health Reform and Stock Market Returns of Health Insurers
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) would not have passed without the support of business interests in the health sector. Stock prices of for-profit health plans have significantly outperformed the broader stock market since President Obamas election in 2008, but also since the Republican wave of 2010. ...
A Case for Affirmative Disclosure of Public Pensions
An appeals court has ruled that a public agency must hand over pension data to a newspaper. This is a welcome development but a recent case confirms that California remains far behind the curve on government transparency. The Sacramento Bee has been conducting investigations into public employee pensions and finds ...
