Business & Economics
Business & Economics
Upper Midwest: Land of economically free
The Republicans held their convention in St. Paul this summer, but the real news from the Upper Midwest is the region’s renaissance in economic freedom, led by South Dakota. The Mount Rushmore State is number one among all 50 states in economic freedom, according to the recently released 2008 U.S. ...
Business & Economics
If We Can’t Get Price Transparency, Let’s Try Calorie Transparency
Who knows why Governor Schwarzenegger signed SB-1420, a silly law that requires chain restaurants (a.k.a. fast-food joints) to post calorie-counts of their burgers, fries, and shakes on the menu-boards. Maybe sign-makers lobbied for it? I doubt it: Governor Schwarzenegger is a huge supporter of the nanny-state when it comes to ...
Business & Economics
Blatant Contradictions From Larry Kudlow
I have always liked Larry Kudlow. When I was growing up as a budding free marketeer, there was a natural disaster (I don’t remember which one) and everyone was calling for the president (must have been Reagan) to disburse disaster assistance for rebuilding. I didn’t like that answer, but I ...
Business & Economics
Sacramento sellout
Only two weeks after lawmakers in Sacramento passed a budget, the state is already in the red. As Gov. Schwarzenegger and the Legislature debate more spending cuts and accounting tricks, another solution may be right in front of them: more laws. In California, government owns the laws and forces people ...
Business & Economics
Northeast policies oppress enterprise
THE RESULTS ARE IN, and for residents of America’s Northeast, the news is not good. With the notable exception of New Hampshire, the nine states of the Northeast continue to be the worst places for economic freedom. According to the 2008 U.S. Economic Freedom Index from the Pacific Research Institute, ...
Business & Economics
Sacramento Sell-Out: Even the Laws Have a Price
Only two weeks after lawmakers in Sacramento passed a budget, the state is already in the red. As Governor Schwarzenegger and the legislature debate more spending cuts and accounting tricks, another solution may be right in front of them: more laws. In California, government owns the laws and forces people ...
Business & Economics
Riding the Revenue Rollercoaster
After a record impasse, the sages of Sacramento have finally agreed on a budget for California, a $144-billion bonanza with unprecedented general fund spending but without structural reform in the state’s finances. The boom-bust revenue rollercoaster is still in place, and Californians can expect a bigger budget crisis in a ...
Business & Economics
Federal Reserve Employs Tools to Ease Credit Fears
JIM LEHRER: This day in the financial crisis began with the Federal Reserve. It took the unprecedented move to buy short-term debt to thaw out frozen credit markets. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke laid out just how bad those conditions are during a speech today. BEN BERNANKE, Federal Reserve Chairman: Even ...
Business & Economics
Whether McCain or Obama, Tech Policy Is Bound to Change
Technology policy is not center stage in this year’s presidential campaign, much as the competitive community might wish otherwise. Each candidate – Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Barack Obama, D-Ill. — is consumed with weightier subjects, namely the economy and Iraq, analysts and industry insiders say. That’s not to say ...
Business & Economics
A Strike Against Labor
If one were looking to make a statement about fiscal prudence in the $3.3 billion budget for the University of California system, wiping out a single $5.4 million research program probably wouldn’t be how you’d do it. Which suggests that, despite his remarks to the contrary, there was probably another ...
Upper Midwest: Land of economically free
The Republicans held their convention in St. Paul this summer, but the real news from the Upper Midwest is the region’s renaissance in economic freedom, led by South Dakota. The Mount Rushmore State is number one among all 50 states in economic freedom, according to the recently released 2008 U.S. ...
If We Can’t Get Price Transparency, Let’s Try Calorie Transparency
Who knows why Governor Schwarzenegger signed SB-1420, a silly law that requires chain restaurants (a.k.a. fast-food joints) to post calorie-counts of their burgers, fries, and shakes on the menu-boards. Maybe sign-makers lobbied for it? I doubt it: Governor Schwarzenegger is a huge supporter of the nanny-state when it comes to ...
Blatant Contradictions From Larry Kudlow
I have always liked Larry Kudlow. When I was growing up as a budding free marketeer, there was a natural disaster (I don’t remember which one) and everyone was calling for the president (must have been Reagan) to disburse disaster assistance for rebuilding. I didn’t like that answer, but I ...
Sacramento sellout
Only two weeks after lawmakers in Sacramento passed a budget, the state is already in the red. As Gov. Schwarzenegger and the Legislature debate more spending cuts and accounting tricks, another solution may be right in front of them: more laws. In California, government owns the laws and forces people ...
Northeast policies oppress enterprise
THE RESULTS ARE IN, and for residents of America’s Northeast, the news is not good. With the notable exception of New Hampshire, the nine states of the Northeast continue to be the worst places for economic freedom. According to the 2008 U.S. Economic Freedom Index from the Pacific Research Institute, ...
Sacramento Sell-Out: Even the Laws Have a Price
Only two weeks after lawmakers in Sacramento passed a budget, the state is already in the red. As Governor Schwarzenegger and the legislature debate more spending cuts and accounting tricks, another solution may be right in front of them: more laws. In California, government owns the laws and forces people ...
Riding the Revenue Rollercoaster
After a record impasse, the sages of Sacramento have finally agreed on a budget for California, a $144-billion bonanza with unprecedented general fund spending but without structural reform in the state’s finances. The boom-bust revenue rollercoaster is still in place, and Californians can expect a bigger budget crisis in a ...
Federal Reserve Employs Tools to Ease Credit Fears
JIM LEHRER: This day in the financial crisis began with the Federal Reserve. It took the unprecedented move to buy short-term debt to thaw out frozen credit markets. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke laid out just how bad those conditions are during a speech today. BEN BERNANKE, Federal Reserve Chairman: Even ...
Whether McCain or Obama, Tech Policy Is Bound to Change
Technology policy is not center stage in this year’s presidential campaign, much as the competitive community might wish otherwise. Each candidate – Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Barack Obama, D-Ill. — is consumed with weightier subjects, namely the economy and Iraq, analysts and industry insiders say. That’s not to say ...
A Strike Against Labor
If one were looking to make a statement about fiscal prudence in the $3.3 billion budget for the University of California system, wiping out a single $5.4 million research program probably wouldn’t be how you’d do it. Which suggests that, despite his remarks to the contrary, there was probably another ...
