Business & Economics
Business & Economics
Tort reform can stop defensive medicine
David W. Oliker was absolutely right to identify tort reform as key to combating skyrocketing health care costs (Nov. 30 essay, “Quality, affordability, accessibility are all key”). Defensive medicine adds significantly to America’s health care bill. To protect themselves against costly and often frivolous medical-malpractice lawsuits, doctors and hospitals order ...
Agriculture
Synthetic biology is a key to energy independence
Barack Obama recently pledged to establish a $150 billion “Apollo project” for energy independence. A new field known as synthetic biology presents one of the most promising opportunities to achieve his goal, but influential interest groups within his own party are fighting to kill this technology in its cradle. Just ...
Business & Economics
Does labor need Employee Free Choice Act?
AS THE election dust settles, attention turns to President-elect Obama’s governing agenda. If he prioritizes the labor-law changes he favored as a senator and candidate, he will inflict serious, lasting costs on American workers and the economy. The size of the federal deficit will constrain the taxing and spending initiatives ...
Business & Economics
Note to Obama: The FCC Needs Transparency
This week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee released a report accusing Kevin Martin, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), of being deceptive and opaque in his management of the agency’s affairs. That a politician would pull such moves is no surprise, but the report should send a ...
Business & Economics
The South can boost prosperity
The South may abound in sunshine, but when it comes to economic freedom, the region is mixed, according to the 2008 U.S. Economic Freedom Index from the Pacific Research Institute. The Index measures how friendly or unfriendly each state’s government policies are toward free enterprise and consumer choice. Only Virginia, ...
Business & Economics
Idaho’s a great place to do business according to study
In fact, Idaho was ranked second in the nation for economic freedom in a study by the Pacific Research Institute in Association with Forbes Magazine. The study looks at a state based on how friendly state government policies are towards free enterprise or consumer choice. According to the study, states ...
Business & Economics
Ohio taxes and spends too much
What’s the biggest political myth in Ohio? Maybe it’s the idea that our state government is a model of responsibility because it “lives within its means” – that is, it pays for its spending in the present, through taxes, rather than in the future, through debt. It’s true that our ...
Business & Economics
State legislators need to find a way to boost ranking
California legislators are in the midst of a “special session” to deal with this fiscal year’s budget deficit, estimated at $10 billion. They should use this session to boost California’s ability to generate economic growth and the tax revenues that go with it. The Golden State could stand for much ...
Business & Economics
Welfare is bad for automobile companies, too
Various commentators have tried to blame the dreadful condition of the Big Three automakers on unreasonable union demands, greedy and incompetent management or the government. In truth, these claims are all partially true. The United Auto Workers have saddled the Big Three with expensive compensation packages making it difficult to ...
Business & Economics
State Stem Cell Institute Short on Responsibility – and Results
Last month, California’s Little Hoover Commission, a public watchdog agency, completed its first hearing on the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). The proceedings flagged problems of governance and responsibility with the state’s stem-cell institute. At the same time, a medical breakthrough in Europe points out the shortfall in CIRM ...
Tort reform can stop defensive medicine
David W. Oliker was absolutely right to identify tort reform as key to combating skyrocketing health care costs (Nov. 30 essay, “Quality, affordability, accessibility are all key”). Defensive medicine adds significantly to America’s health care bill. To protect themselves against costly and often frivolous medical-malpractice lawsuits, doctors and hospitals order ...
Synthetic biology is a key to energy independence
Barack Obama recently pledged to establish a $150 billion “Apollo project” for energy independence. A new field known as synthetic biology presents one of the most promising opportunities to achieve his goal, but influential interest groups within his own party are fighting to kill this technology in its cradle. Just ...
Does labor need Employee Free Choice Act?
AS THE election dust settles, attention turns to President-elect Obama’s governing agenda. If he prioritizes the labor-law changes he favored as a senator and candidate, he will inflict serious, lasting costs on American workers and the economy. The size of the federal deficit will constrain the taxing and spending initiatives ...
Note to Obama: The FCC Needs Transparency
This week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee released a report accusing Kevin Martin, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), of being deceptive and opaque in his management of the agency’s affairs. That a politician would pull such moves is no surprise, but the report should send a ...
The South can boost prosperity
The South may abound in sunshine, but when it comes to economic freedom, the region is mixed, according to the 2008 U.S. Economic Freedom Index from the Pacific Research Institute. The Index measures how friendly or unfriendly each state’s government policies are toward free enterprise and consumer choice. Only Virginia, ...
Idaho’s a great place to do business according to study
In fact, Idaho was ranked second in the nation for economic freedom in a study by the Pacific Research Institute in Association with Forbes Magazine. The study looks at a state based on how friendly state government policies are towards free enterprise or consumer choice. According to the study, states ...
Ohio taxes and spends too much
What’s the biggest political myth in Ohio? Maybe it’s the idea that our state government is a model of responsibility because it “lives within its means” – that is, it pays for its spending in the present, through taxes, rather than in the future, through debt. It’s true that our ...
State legislators need to find a way to boost ranking
California legislators are in the midst of a “special session” to deal with this fiscal year’s budget deficit, estimated at $10 billion. They should use this session to boost California’s ability to generate economic growth and the tax revenues that go with it. The Golden State could stand for much ...
Welfare is bad for automobile companies, too
Various commentators have tried to blame the dreadful condition of the Big Three automakers on unreasonable union demands, greedy and incompetent management or the government. In truth, these claims are all partially true. The United Auto Workers have saddled the Big Three with expensive compensation packages making it difficult to ...
State Stem Cell Institute Short on Responsibility – and Results
Last month, California’s Little Hoover Commission, a public watchdog agency, completed its first hearing on the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). The proceedings flagged problems of governance and responsibility with the state’s stem-cell institute. At the same time, a medical breakthrough in Europe points out the shortfall in CIRM ...
