Business & Economics
Blog
CAPITAL IDEAS: Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Undermines the Social Responsibility of Businesses and Investment Managers
The concepts behind Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing and management are the latest theory trying to address a long-standing question: What is the appropriate social function of a business? This question predates Milton Friedman’s 1970 New York Times piece “The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits,” ...
Wayne Winegarden
August 12, 2024
Blog
Read why latest employer is leaving California
Chevron’s Departure Highlights California’s Risky Economic Future
Companies have been decamping from California for greener pastures so frequently that, in some ways, Chevron’s announcement is barely newsworthy. The particulars of Chevron’s decision are important, however, because they exemplify the large economic risks California’s policymakers are taking. Judged by their actions, California’s political leaders, including Governor Newsom, have ...
Wayne Winegarden
August 7, 2024
Business & Economics
Read the latest on gig work and worker freedom
Kamala Harris Is Bad News for Gig Workers
Two million independent contractors caught a break from the California supreme court when it recently upheld a ballot initiative that was intended to overcome Sacramento’s patently obvious effort to outlaw gig work. Any celebrations should wait, though. The administration wants to take California’s war on worker freedom national. The PRO ...
Kerry Jackson
August 6, 2024
Business & Economics
New study shows fast food minimum wage law already a disaster
Is it too soon to declare California’s $20-an-hour minimum wage for fast food workers a disaster? After all, it became law only four months ago. How much harm could have been done in such a narrow time frame? Short answer? Quite a bit. The results of a just-released business survey ...
Kerry Jackson
August 1, 2024
Business & Economics
Biden’s rent-control plan will only make America’s housing crisis worse
President Joe Biden is suggesting that a federal limit on annual rent increases in residential units will ease housing costs. This is what happens when economist Milton Friedman isn’t “running the show”: Policymakers follow ideas that make the problem they say they’re solving infinitely worse. “While the prior administration gave special ...
Kerry Jackson
July 22, 2024
Blog
Read the latest on Gov. Newsom's national ambitions
President Newsom, For The Power And The Glory
Biden’s troubling performance in the June 27 CNN debate fueled the ongoing discussions of who could and should replace him as the Democratic candidate. Of course every list included Newsom, who was a Biden surrogate at the debate and obviously has his eye on the White House even as he ...
Kerry Jackson
July 9, 2024
Blog
Spending Watch
Californians Have Little to Show for All That Government Spending
Californians Have Little to Show for All That Government Spending Wayne Winegarden July 2024 It should not shock anyone that the FY2024-25 budget was short on fiscal discipline and long on budget gimmicks and fund shifts. Now that this year’s budget process is coming to an end, it is imperative ...
Wayne Winegarden
July 2, 2024
Blog
Fast food restaurants are raising prices after minimum wage hike
Their Pleasure: Legislators Cook Up A Law That Burns Fast Food
The new prices, which won’t go up in other states, depend on where the restaurant is. A double-double meal combo at San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf now costs $13.63 including taxes; not far away in Daly City, the same meal is $2 cheaper, says the New York Post. In Irvine, near ...
Kerry Jackson
June 19, 2024
Business & Economics
Professor Charles Kesler discusses former students book
Our guest this week is Charles Kesler, one of the nation’s most prominent political philosophers. He teaches government at Claremont McKenna and is the editor of the Claremont Review of Books. Prof. Kesler’s former students have produced a book celebrating his work entitled: “Leisure with Dignity: Essays in Celebration of ...
Pacific Research Institute
June 17, 2024
Business & Economics
Matt Beech – What Should Americans Think About the Upcoming British Elections
Dr. Matt Beech, director of the Center for British Politics at the University of Hull and senior fellow at UC Berkeley’s Institute of European Studies, is back with a preview of the upcoming UK elections on July 4. We discuss the major contenders and their platforms, what kind of prime ...
Pacific Research Institute
June 10, 2024
CAPITAL IDEAS: Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Undermines the Social Responsibility of Businesses and Investment Managers
The concepts behind Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing and management are the latest theory trying to address a long-standing question: What is the appropriate social function of a business? This question predates Milton Friedman’s 1970 New York Times piece “The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits,” ...
Read why latest employer is leaving California
Chevron’s Departure Highlights California’s Risky Economic Future
Companies have been decamping from California for greener pastures so frequently that, in some ways, Chevron’s announcement is barely newsworthy. The particulars of Chevron’s decision are important, however, because they exemplify the large economic risks California’s policymakers are taking. Judged by their actions, California’s political leaders, including Governor Newsom, have ...
Read the latest on gig work and worker freedom
Kamala Harris Is Bad News for Gig Workers
Two million independent contractors caught a break from the California supreme court when it recently upheld a ballot initiative that was intended to overcome Sacramento’s patently obvious effort to outlaw gig work. Any celebrations should wait, though. The administration wants to take California’s war on worker freedom national. The PRO ...
New study shows fast food minimum wage law already a disaster
Is it too soon to declare California’s $20-an-hour minimum wage for fast food workers a disaster? After all, it became law only four months ago. How much harm could have been done in such a narrow time frame? Short answer? Quite a bit. The results of a just-released business survey ...
Biden’s rent-control plan will only make America’s housing crisis worse
President Joe Biden is suggesting that a federal limit on annual rent increases in residential units will ease housing costs. This is what happens when economist Milton Friedman isn’t “running the show”: Policymakers follow ideas that make the problem they say they’re solving infinitely worse. “While the prior administration gave special ...
Read the latest on Gov. Newsom's national ambitions
President Newsom, For The Power And The Glory
Biden’s troubling performance in the June 27 CNN debate fueled the ongoing discussions of who could and should replace him as the Democratic candidate. Of course every list included Newsom, who was a Biden surrogate at the debate and obviously has his eye on the White House even as he ...
Spending Watch
Californians Have Little to Show for All That Government Spending
Californians Have Little to Show for All That Government Spending Wayne Winegarden July 2024 It should not shock anyone that the FY2024-25 budget was short on fiscal discipline and long on budget gimmicks and fund shifts. Now that this year’s budget process is coming to an end, it is imperative ...
Fast food restaurants are raising prices after minimum wage hike
Their Pleasure: Legislators Cook Up A Law That Burns Fast Food
The new prices, which won’t go up in other states, depend on where the restaurant is. A double-double meal combo at San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf now costs $13.63 including taxes; not far away in Daly City, the same meal is $2 cheaper, says the New York Post. In Irvine, near ...
Professor Charles Kesler discusses former students book
Our guest this week is Charles Kesler, one of the nation’s most prominent political philosophers. He teaches government at Claremont McKenna and is the editor of the Claremont Review of Books. Prof. Kesler’s former students have produced a book celebrating his work entitled: “Leisure with Dignity: Essays in Celebration of ...
Matt Beech – What Should Americans Think About the Upcoming British Elections
Dr. Matt Beech, director of the Center for British Politics at the University of Hull and senior fellow at UC Berkeley’s Institute of European Studies, is back with a preview of the upcoming UK elections on July 4. We discuss the major contenders and their platforms, what kind of prime ...