Business & Economics
Business & Economics
Network Neutrality – Michael Dresser Show
PRI’s Technology Studies Policy Fellow, Daniel Ballon, PhD., discussed the issue of net neutrality and why it is so important to avoid excessive regulation of the internet. Service providers need to be free to implement new technology and that is what net neutrality regulations would take away from them. The ...
Pacific Research Institute
June 25, 2008
Business & Economics
Group Says Illinois Has Worst Litigation Climate
Among the 50 states, Illinois has the worst litigation climate for business and the highest risk for lawsuits, according to a non-profit business coalition. The rankings for best and worst states were produced by the American Justice Partnership Foundation (AJP), in collaboration with the Directorship publication. According to the group’s ...
Daniel Hays
June 24, 2008
Business & Economics
Rising Demand, Weak Dollar Cause Pain at the Pump
The price of oil just soared above $130 per barrel. Consumers want to know why oil prices are so high and what they can do about it. Politicians claim that greedy oil companies are hiking prices to fatten profits. But weren’t oil companies greedy in 2002, when the price was ...
Robert P. Murphy
June 23, 2008
Business & Economics
Tort reform would spark lagging local economy
The Dow Jones industrial average has fallen more than 1,500 points since last year. Bear Stearns has gone belly up. Every week talking heads point to a different blue-chip company supposedly teetering on the brink of financial ruin. It seems as if things couldn’t get worse for Wall Street and ...
Lawrence J. McQuillan
June 23, 2008
Business & Economics
Directorship’s Annual Boardroom Guide to State Litigation Climates
BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Illinois and West Virginia are about the last states in which you would want your company to do business. Following close behind are California and Pennsylvania as among the states with the worst litigation climates for business and the highest risk for lawsuits. These are just some of the ...
Pacific Research Institute
June 19, 2008
Business & Economics
New legislation could lower credit card interchange fees
A subcommittee of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee recently began considering legislation that would control the rising interchange fees credit card companies charge to merchants who accept plastic from their customers. Titled the Credit Card Fair Fee Act of 2008 (H.R. 5546), the bill was introduced by Rep. John Conyers ...
Susan Dickenson
June 19, 2008
Business & Economics
Florida Offers Case Study In Worthy Legal Reform
Legal reform is needed across the country, especially given today’s sluggish economy and job market. Florida is a case study in its importance. When the Jeb Bush administration began in 1999, Florida’s legal climate was hurting the state’s economy. Spiraling litigation costs were quashing job creation, and lawsuit abuse was ...
Lawrence J. McQuillan
June 18, 2008
Business & Economics
Bye Bye Nerdy!
The Sacramento Union, June 18, 2008 San Francisco Business Times, June 13, 2008 Last week, the House Judiciary Committee considered a proposal by Silicon Valley Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, to end restrictions on the most critical resource driving technological innovation. This resource is human talent, and with the greatest ...
Daniel R. Ballon
June 18, 2008
Business & Economics
Regress assured
Regress assured I wholeheartedly agree with “The ‘nos’ have it: Session wasn’t one for the ages” (Our Views, June 1) excoriating Oklahoma’s Legislature for failing to pass lawsuit reform. Tort reform is an important issue for Oklahoma. The Pacific Research Institute’s 2008 U.S. Tort Liability Index, a study I co-authored, ...
Lawrence J. McQuillan
June 17, 2008
Business & Economics
Intel punished for being too competitive
European authorities recently stormed Intel’s offices in a surprise early morning raid. The “raids should come as good news to consumers across Europe,” exclaimed Thomas McCoy, a spokesperson for rival microchip-maker Advanced Micro Devices. What crime did the world’s dominant computer chip manufacturer commit to warrant such heavy-handed tactics? According ...
Daniel R. Ballon
June 16, 2008
Network Neutrality – Michael Dresser Show
PRI’s Technology Studies Policy Fellow, Daniel Ballon, PhD., discussed the issue of net neutrality and why it is so important to avoid excessive regulation of the internet. Service providers need to be free to implement new technology and that is what net neutrality regulations would take away from them. The ...
Group Says Illinois Has Worst Litigation Climate
Among the 50 states, Illinois has the worst litigation climate for business and the highest risk for lawsuits, according to a non-profit business coalition. The rankings for best and worst states were produced by the American Justice Partnership Foundation (AJP), in collaboration with the Directorship publication. According to the group’s ...
Rising Demand, Weak Dollar Cause Pain at the Pump
The price of oil just soared above $130 per barrel. Consumers want to know why oil prices are so high and what they can do about it. Politicians claim that greedy oil companies are hiking prices to fatten profits. But weren’t oil companies greedy in 2002, when the price was ...
Tort reform would spark lagging local economy
The Dow Jones industrial average has fallen more than 1,500 points since last year. Bear Stearns has gone belly up. Every week talking heads point to a different blue-chip company supposedly teetering on the brink of financial ruin. It seems as if things couldn’t get worse for Wall Street and ...
Directorship’s Annual Boardroom Guide to State Litigation Climates
BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Illinois and West Virginia are about the last states in which you would want your company to do business. Following close behind are California and Pennsylvania as among the states with the worst litigation climates for business and the highest risk for lawsuits. These are just some of the ...
New legislation could lower credit card interchange fees
A subcommittee of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee recently began considering legislation that would control the rising interchange fees credit card companies charge to merchants who accept plastic from their customers. Titled the Credit Card Fair Fee Act of 2008 (H.R. 5546), the bill was introduced by Rep. John Conyers ...
Florida Offers Case Study In Worthy Legal Reform
Legal reform is needed across the country, especially given today’s sluggish economy and job market. Florida is a case study in its importance. When the Jeb Bush administration began in 1999, Florida’s legal climate was hurting the state’s economy. Spiraling litigation costs were quashing job creation, and lawsuit abuse was ...
Bye Bye Nerdy!
The Sacramento Union, June 18, 2008 San Francisco Business Times, June 13, 2008 Last week, the House Judiciary Committee considered a proposal by Silicon Valley Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, to end restrictions on the most critical resource driving technological innovation. This resource is human talent, and with the greatest ...
Regress assured
Regress assured I wholeheartedly agree with “The ‘nos’ have it: Session wasn’t one for the ages” (Our Views, June 1) excoriating Oklahoma’s Legislature for failing to pass lawsuit reform. Tort reform is an important issue for Oklahoma. The Pacific Research Institute’s 2008 U.S. Tort Liability Index, a study I co-authored, ...
Intel punished for being too competitive
European authorities recently stormed Intel’s offices in a surprise early morning raid. The “raids should come as good news to consumers across Europe,” exclaimed Thomas McCoy, a spokesperson for rival microchip-maker Advanced Micro Devices. What crime did the world’s dominant computer chip manufacturer commit to warrant such heavy-handed tactics? According ...