Business & Economics
Business & Economics
The Nuttiness of Negative Interest Rates
In his April 18 New York Times op-ed, Harvard professor (and Bush adviser) Greg Mankiw calls on the Federal Reserve to promise future inflation, in order to fix the economy. Mankiw’s article beautifully illustrates what is wrong with today’s economics profession: it consists of very sharp guys (and gals) who ...
Robert P. Murphy
April 27, 2009
Agriculture
Our Obama opportunity
In his first 100 days in office, President Barack Obama favoured us with a visit, said very gracious things about us, made supporting our Afghan mission politically respectable again, offered to help out our economy by buying maple leaf cookies for his daughters and hit approval ratings not seen since ...
William Watson
April 24, 2009
Business & Economics
The Legal Problems Facing Florida Demand Attention From Our Legislators
Letter to the Editor: Florida’s legal system is in shamble as indicated by three national rankings. Several months ago the American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) ranked South Florida as the No. 2 “judicial hellhole” in the nation. A few months later the Pacific Research Institute ranked Florida’s entire legal system ...
Carlos Muhletaler
April 24, 2009
Business & Economics
How curious… GOPers in “target” seats endorse massive tax increases…
I am scratching my head a bit this morning, as I caught up with the news that two GOP Assemblymen from the Central Valley, Tom Berryhill and Danny Gilmore, have endorsed Proposition 1A. Other than the three infamous Republican Assemblymembers (Adams, Niello and Villines) who voted to tie $16 billion ...
Jon Fleischman
April 24, 2009
Business & Economics
Will New Fed “Tools” Avert Hyperinflation?
04/22/09 Nashville, Tennessee People often accuse me of making “irresponsible” forecasts of massive price inflation. Even though they know that history is replete with examples of central banks ruining their currencies, these critics are sure that “it can’t happen here.” So in the present article I’d like to make the ...
Robert P. Murphy
April 22, 2009
Business & Economics
Has California finally hit the wall?
In a recent interview with Jason Clemens, Economist and Director of Research for the Pacific Research Institute, he explained that California’s budget problems are not really about taxes or the costs of illegal immigration. PRI is near completion of a large detailed study on California’s prosperity, or the lack thereof, ...
Michael Haley
April 22, 2009
Business & Economics
California Has Fourth Latest Tax Freedom Day
The Tax Foundation recently released its annual Tax Freedom Day calculations. The news emanating from the report should be cause for great concern for all Americans, and Californians in particular. Tax Freedom Day represents the day when Americans begin to work for themselves after having paid their federal, state, and ...
Jason Clemens
April 21, 2009
Business & Economics
Nationalizing the Banks
Discussing the “backdoor” government takeover of banks, with Robert Albertson, Sandler O’Neill & Partners; Noam Scheiber, The New Republic; Lee Hoskins, Pacific Research Institute; and CNBC’s Larry Kudlow.
Pacific Research Institute
April 20, 2009
Business & Economics
The Real Lessons of the Great Depression
Since late 2007, more and more commentators have drawn parallels between our current financial crisis and the Great Depression. Nobel laureates and presidential advisorsDownload PDF confidently proclaim that it was Herbert Hoover’s laissez-faire penny pinching that exacerbated the Depression, and that the American economy was saved only when FDR boldly ...
Robert P. Murphy
April 20, 2009
Business & Economics
Prop. 1A’s passage would open doors to more taxation
In 1987, Gov. George Deukmejian gave California taxpayers a $1.1 billion rebate. Due to the Gann spending limit enacted in 1979, named after Proposition 13 co-author Paul Gann, the state had a budget surplus, making the rebate mandatory. Subsequent ballot measures, however, rendered the limit meaningless. Now we are being ...
MargaretA. Bengs
April 20, 2009
The Nuttiness of Negative Interest Rates
In his April 18 New York Times op-ed, Harvard professor (and Bush adviser) Greg Mankiw calls on the Federal Reserve to promise future inflation, in order to fix the economy. Mankiw’s article beautifully illustrates what is wrong with today’s economics profession: it consists of very sharp guys (and gals) who ...
Our Obama opportunity
In his first 100 days in office, President Barack Obama favoured us with a visit, said very gracious things about us, made supporting our Afghan mission politically respectable again, offered to help out our economy by buying maple leaf cookies for his daughters and hit approval ratings not seen since ...
The Legal Problems Facing Florida Demand Attention From Our Legislators
Letter to the Editor: Florida’s legal system is in shamble as indicated by three national rankings. Several months ago the American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) ranked South Florida as the No. 2 “judicial hellhole” in the nation. A few months later the Pacific Research Institute ranked Florida’s entire legal system ...
How curious… GOPers in “target” seats endorse massive tax increases…
I am scratching my head a bit this morning, as I caught up with the news that two GOP Assemblymen from the Central Valley, Tom Berryhill and Danny Gilmore, have endorsed Proposition 1A. Other than the three infamous Republican Assemblymembers (Adams, Niello and Villines) who voted to tie $16 billion ...
Will New Fed “Tools” Avert Hyperinflation?
04/22/09 Nashville, Tennessee People often accuse me of making “irresponsible” forecasts of massive price inflation. Even though they know that history is replete with examples of central banks ruining their currencies, these critics are sure that “it can’t happen here.” So in the present article I’d like to make the ...
Has California finally hit the wall?
In a recent interview with Jason Clemens, Economist and Director of Research for the Pacific Research Institute, he explained that California’s budget problems are not really about taxes or the costs of illegal immigration. PRI is near completion of a large detailed study on California’s prosperity, or the lack thereof, ...
California Has Fourth Latest Tax Freedom Day
The Tax Foundation recently released its annual Tax Freedom Day calculations. The news emanating from the report should be cause for great concern for all Americans, and Californians in particular. Tax Freedom Day represents the day when Americans begin to work for themselves after having paid their federal, state, and ...
Nationalizing the Banks
Discussing the “backdoor” government takeover of banks, with Robert Albertson, Sandler O’Neill & Partners; Noam Scheiber, The New Republic; Lee Hoskins, Pacific Research Institute; and CNBC’s Larry Kudlow.
The Real Lessons of the Great Depression
Since late 2007, more and more commentators have drawn parallels between our current financial crisis and the Great Depression. Nobel laureates and presidential advisorsDownload PDF confidently proclaim that it was Herbert Hoover’s laissez-faire penny pinching that exacerbated the Depression, and that the American economy was saved only when FDR boldly ...
Prop. 1A’s passage would open doors to more taxation
In 1987, Gov. George Deukmejian gave California taxpayers a $1.1 billion rebate. Due to the Gann spending limit enacted in 1979, named after Proposition 13 co-author Paul Gann, the state had a budget surplus, making the rebate mandatory. Subsequent ballot measures, however, rendered the limit meaningless. Now we are being ...