Business & Economics
Business & Economics
Speculation not to blame for oil prices
Congress continues to wrangle on measures to curb the alleged influence of speculators on oil prices. Republicans want to insert provisions on offshore and ANWR drilling, while Democrats prefer to focus on enlarging the regulatory powers of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). However the political maneuvering turns out, cracking ...
Business & Economics
The Global Antitrust Arsenal
Earlier this week, European regulators said that they are investigating the online advertising deal between Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) and Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO), even though that deal affects only the U.S. and Canadian markets. Such a revelation is a disturbing sign of the globalization of government meddling and the out-of-control use ...
Business & Economics
Pacific Research Institute’s Report: South Dakota Ranks No. 1 in Economic Freedom
If you have wondered where you can live without tax burdens, the Pacific Research Institute has the answer for you. According to its new report, U.S. Economic Freedom Index: 2008 Report, the best place for economic freedom is South Dakota. The authors of the report define economic freedom as the ...
Business & Economics
Why do trial lawyers love Obama-Biden?
Richard Ward, chief executive officer of Lloyd’s of London, told USA Today recently that the rest of the world is catching up to the United States in the ignominious realm of lawsuits. He said growing litigiousness overseas is driving up costs and stifling risk-taking there, as it already has here. ...
Business & Economics
Lessons from the $388-Million Hyatt Case: How current tax policy hurts California, and how the state can fix its revenue problem
California’s financial problems may have gotten worse by $388 million, according to an August 16 Nevada trial verdict in favor of an inventor mistreated by California’s Franchise Tax Board. The unprecedented case highlights California’s enforcement tactics and points to the solution for state revenue instability. Gilbert P. Hyatt, an electrical ...
Business & Economics
The Candidates’ Record on Legal Reform
ShopFloor.org (NAM), September 17, 2008 The Examiner newspaper editorializes today on the tort reform records of the presidential and vice presidential candidates, asking a question of great interest to the business community: “Will either party’s presidential ticket keep a lid on the lawyers’ greed?” The editorial uses NAM’s “Key Vote” ...
Business & Economics
TIPS Have Underforecasted Inflation
Back in 2003, the Treasury began selling 5-year Treasury Inflation Protected Securities, or TIPS. (Longer maturities were available starting in 1997.) What happens is that the government pays a fixed coupon rate, but the principal is adjusted based on increases in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Thus, TIPS yields are ...
Commentary
Questions on healthcare reform
Healthcare reform will be front-and-center in the presidential debates. It’s a topic that’s full of complicated issues, so it can be hard to cut through all the rhetoric and figure out exactly what each candidate is proposing. So here’s the skinny on five questions that you’ll likely hear many times ...
Business & Economics
New Report Reveals Which States Have Most Economic Freedom
South Dakota is most free, New York most economically oppressed San Francisco – The Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a free-market think tank based in California, today released the U.S. Economic Freedom Index: 2008 Report, a ranking of economic freedom in the 50 states. Published in association with Forbes, the Index ...
Business & Economics
The Canadianization of America
Here comes ‘no-vote’ unionism In Canada, worrying about being Americanized is a national pastime, particularly in political and media circles. It seldom occurred to me the United States could become Canadianized until I moved here, in an election year, no less, and found Americans obsessed with many Canadian ideas at ...
Speculation not to blame for oil prices
Congress continues to wrangle on measures to curb the alleged influence of speculators on oil prices. Republicans want to insert provisions on offshore and ANWR drilling, while Democrats prefer to focus on enlarging the regulatory powers of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). However the political maneuvering turns out, cracking ...
The Global Antitrust Arsenal
Earlier this week, European regulators said that they are investigating the online advertising deal between Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) and Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO), even though that deal affects only the U.S. and Canadian markets. Such a revelation is a disturbing sign of the globalization of government meddling and the out-of-control use ...
Pacific Research Institute’s Report: South Dakota Ranks No. 1 in Economic Freedom
If you have wondered where you can live without tax burdens, the Pacific Research Institute has the answer for you. According to its new report, U.S. Economic Freedom Index: 2008 Report, the best place for economic freedom is South Dakota. The authors of the report define economic freedom as the ...
Why do trial lawyers love Obama-Biden?
Richard Ward, chief executive officer of Lloyd’s of London, told USA Today recently that the rest of the world is catching up to the United States in the ignominious realm of lawsuits. He said growing litigiousness overseas is driving up costs and stifling risk-taking there, as it already has here. ...
Lessons from the $388-Million Hyatt Case: How current tax policy hurts California, and how the state can fix its revenue problem
California’s financial problems may have gotten worse by $388 million, according to an August 16 Nevada trial verdict in favor of an inventor mistreated by California’s Franchise Tax Board. The unprecedented case highlights California’s enforcement tactics and points to the solution for state revenue instability. Gilbert P. Hyatt, an electrical ...
The Candidates’ Record on Legal Reform
ShopFloor.org (NAM), September 17, 2008 The Examiner newspaper editorializes today on the tort reform records of the presidential and vice presidential candidates, asking a question of great interest to the business community: “Will either party’s presidential ticket keep a lid on the lawyers’ greed?” The editorial uses NAM’s “Key Vote” ...
TIPS Have Underforecasted Inflation
Back in 2003, the Treasury began selling 5-year Treasury Inflation Protected Securities, or TIPS. (Longer maturities were available starting in 1997.) What happens is that the government pays a fixed coupon rate, but the principal is adjusted based on increases in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Thus, TIPS yields are ...
Questions on healthcare reform
Healthcare reform will be front-and-center in the presidential debates. It’s a topic that’s full of complicated issues, so it can be hard to cut through all the rhetoric and figure out exactly what each candidate is proposing. So here’s the skinny on five questions that you’ll likely hear many times ...
New Report Reveals Which States Have Most Economic Freedom
South Dakota is most free, New York most economically oppressed San Francisco – The Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a free-market think tank based in California, today released the U.S. Economic Freedom Index: 2008 Report, a ranking of economic freedom in the 50 states. Published in association with Forbes, the Index ...
The Canadianization of America
Here comes ‘no-vote’ unionism In Canada, worrying about being Americanized is a national pastime, particularly in political and media circles. It seldom occurred to me the United States could become Canadianized until I moved here, in an election year, no less, and found Americans obsessed with many Canadian ideas at ...
