Business & Economics
Business & Economics
Does California Need a Commission on the Status of Women?
The California Commission on the Status of Women bills itself as an “independent, non-partisan agency working to advance the causes of women.” That claim invites scrutiny of the Commission’s 2009-2010 priorities. Look at what we find at the very top of their list. “Establish a universal health care system to ...
Business & Economics
Anonymous Online Comments Case Reaches Illinois Court
A coalition of news organizations is asking the Third District Appellate Court of Illinois to preserve the right to comment anonymously online. The controversy stems from a lawsuit filed against the owners of the Ottawa Times newspaper in Illinois by the owners of a bed and breakfast inn. Readers of ...
Business & Economics
A Clarion Call for Expanding E-Commerce
America’s winemakers have won a victory for online wine sales in Kansas, but the legislative battle demonstrates the challenges that e-commerce, a key force for economic recovery, still faces from outdated thinking and entrenched political institutions. Signed into law in April, 2009, Kansas Senate Bill 212 allows direct-to-consumer (DTC) wine ...
Business & Economics
Things could be worse – we could be California
As bad as the deficit woes of Arizona are – and they are very, very bad – we still have the comfort of knowing that things could always be worse. We could be California. On Tuesday, California voters overwhelmingly rejected five ballot propositions intended to shore up the state’s $15.4 ...
Business & Economics
An Agenda For California’s Fiscal Reform
The California state budget for years has been “balanced” with heavy borrowing, various kinds of raids on localities and special funds, and transfers from the future to the present. More generally, spending profligacy, high tax rates and onerous regulations have worked their magic: The gap between the ability of the ...
Business & Economics
State voters signal loud and clear: Down with taxes
Californians did not solve all our state problems at the ballot box Tuesday. Far from it. They did, however, send a signal that could help end our economic nightmare if politicians take heed. On Tuesday, Californians made it clear they reject higher taxes, with good reason. We are already one ...
Business & Economics
Is California Too Big To Fail?
California, the state that gave us wheatgrass, the microprocessor and the summer of love, is about to provide us with yet another first: a bailout of a failing state government. Preliminary returns on Tuesday night show that voters soundly rejected ballot measures calling for higher taxes, meaning that the not-so-Golden ...
Business & Economics
Health Care Hold Up: Why Obama Won’t Give California Its Medi-Cal Bailout
Senator Barbara Boxer promised that California would get $11 billion in federal “stimulus” cash, which the embattled Golden State could use for a Medi-Cal bailout. But now President Obama is holding back almost $7 billion at the urging of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The union was upset at ...
Business & Economics
A Closer Look at Personal Genomic Testing
PRI senior policy fellow in Technology Studies, Daniel Ballon, Ph.D., participated in a panel discussion at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on Tuesday, May 19, 2009. The discussion examined genomic testing’s technology, its ramifications, government regulation of the industry, and whether individuals should have their genome analyzed. (Video length ...
Business & Economics
Oh Canada! … Role-Reversal in North America?
Stereotypes are often rooted in some current or past reality, but they can also become outdated. While the USA and Japan have for a long time been regarded as small-government countries, among industrial countries, Canada has long been considered more ‘socialistic’ and closer to the big-government model of Western Europe. ...
Does California Need a Commission on the Status of Women?
The California Commission on the Status of Women bills itself as an “independent, non-partisan agency working to advance the causes of women.” That claim invites scrutiny of the Commission’s 2009-2010 priorities. Look at what we find at the very top of their list. “Establish a universal health care system to ...
Anonymous Online Comments Case Reaches Illinois Court
A coalition of news organizations is asking the Third District Appellate Court of Illinois to preserve the right to comment anonymously online. The controversy stems from a lawsuit filed against the owners of the Ottawa Times newspaper in Illinois by the owners of a bed and breakfast inn. Readers of ...
A Clarion Call for Expanding E-Commerce
America’s winemakers have won a victory for online wine sales in Kansas, but the legislative battle demonstrates the challenges that e-commerce, a key force for economic recovery, still faces from outdated thinking and entrenched political institutions. Signed into law in April, 2009, Kansas Senate Bill 212 allows direct-to-consumer (DTC) wine ...
Things could be worse – we could be California
As bad as the deficit woes of Arizona are – and they are very, very bad – we still have the comfort of knowing that things could always be worse. We could be California. On Tuesday, California voters overwhelmingly rejected five ballot propositions intended to shore up the state’s $15.4 ...
An Agenda For California’s Fiscal Reform
The California state budget for years has been “balanced” with heavy borrowing, various kinds of raids on localities and special funds, and transfers from the future to the present. More generally, spending profligacy, high tax rates and onerous regulations have worked their magic: The gap between the ability of the ...
State voters signal loud and clear: Down with taxes
Californians did not solve all our state problems at the ballot box Tuesday. Far from it. They did, however, send a signal that could help end our economic nightmare if politicians take heed. On Tuesday, Californians made it clear they reject higher taxes, with good reason. We are already one ...
Is California Too Big To Fail?
California, the state that gave us wheatgrass, the microprocessor and the summer of love, is about to provide us with yet another first: a bailout of a failing state government. Preliminary returns on Tuesday night show that voters soundly rejected ballot measures calling for higher taxes, meaning that the not-so-Golden ...
Health Care Hold Up: Why Obama Won’t Give California Its Medi-Cal Bailout
Senator Barbara Boxer promised that California would get $11 billion in federal “stimulus” cash, which the embattled Golden State could use for a Medi-Cal bailout. But now President Obama is holding back almost $7 billion at the urging of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The union was upset at ...
A Closer Look at Personal Genomic Testing
PRI senior policy fellow in Technology Studies, Daniel Ballon, Ph.D., participated in a panel discussion at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on Tuesday, May 19, 2009. The discussion examined genomic testing’s technology, its ramifications, government regulation of the industry, and whether individuals should have their genome analyzed. (Video length ...
Oh Canada! … Role-Reversal in North America?
Stereotypes are often rooted in some current or past reality, but they can also become outdated. While the USA and Japan have for a long time been regarded as small-government countries, among industrial countries, Canada has long been considered more ‘socialistic’ and closer to the big-government model of Western Europe. ...
