Business & Economics
Blog
Who Are 2018’s Big Winners and Losers?
As is customary on New Year’s Eve, many are looking back today, compiling their lists of winners and losers and memorable moments from 2018. The PRI “All Stars” (Rowena Itchon, Kerry Jackson, Lance Izumi, Ben Smithwick, and myself) have also gotten in on the act. This week’s episode of PRI’s ...
Business & Economics
Let’s Hope a Trade Agreement with Xi Jinping Is In The Works
Americans of all stripes should be able to unite in support of trade. It’s fundamental to a diverse and healthy economy. Robust U.S. trade relationships around the world are also critical to the national economy. That’s especially true in California. The state leads the country in exports, totaling $171.9 billion ...
California
California’s energy mandates amount to state-legislated energy poverty
Every Californian wants to conserve energy and see cleaner air and water in the Golden State. But in their quest to safeguard the state’s environment for future generations, Sacramento policymakers have put in place an overzealous regulatory scheme that negatively impacts poor and minority communities. The new Pacific Research Institute ...
Blog
Universal Income Just Another Name for Putting Everyone on Welfare
One idea that has been gaining traction recently is a system of universal income, also known as basic income. The city of Stockton, California will be the nation’s first city to launch a universal income pilot program in 2019. While the specific policy proposals take many forms, the basic idea ...
Business & Economics
Wayne Winegarden – Legislating Energy Poverty
PRI’s Wayne Winegarden joins us to discuss his new study exploring how big government energy policies in California and New York are increasing energy burdens on rural, poor, and minority communities, and how free-market ideas can more effectively reduce emissions without new taxes or government programs.
Commentary
New York mandates create ‘energy poverty’ for citizens
New York has a proud tradition of environmental conservation. From Frederick Law Olmsted creating Central Park in the 1870s to the national environmental movement inspired by trailblazing President Theodore Roosevelt to the lush nature preserves created in the Adirondack and Catskills mountains, wise environmental stewardship has always been a cornerstone ...
Blog
California Supreme Court to Decide Fate of “Airtime”
Last week, the California Supreme Court heard the case Cal Fire Local 2881 v. CalPERS which challenged the 2013 law (the California Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act or PEPRA) that eliminated state employees’ ability to add up to five years of employment toward their pension benefit calculation by paying a ...
Business & Economics
Protecting The Medicines Of Tomorrow
Government solutions often come with a price. For the America Invents Act (AIA), this price was an unintended impediment to medical innovation. Proposed legislation known as the Hatch-Waxman Integrity Act can reduce these costs, if Congress takes advantage of the opportunity. The problem of patent trolls plaguing Silicon Valley was ...
Blog
Proxy Advisory Firms Are Worsening CalPERS and CalSTRS ESG Problem
My last blog post discussed the risks that ESG investing creates for CalPERS and CalSTRS. If not addressed, then both taxpayers and public employees will bear unnecessary costs and risks. Unfortunately, SEC rules are making this problem even worse. The SEC requires all institutional investors, such as CalPERS and CalSTRS, ...
Blog
Trouble in Paradise: Hawaii’s Hotel Strike
I just returned from my annual Thanksgiving family trip to Hawaii where it was Day 40-something of a hotel workers’ strike at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. I had a hunch something was amiss when our Uber driver pulled into the driveway and a lone young woman who weighed about 100 ...
Who Are 2018’s Big Winners and Losers?
As is customary on New Year’s Eve, many are looking back today, compiling their lists of winners and losers and memorable moments from 2018. The PRI “All Stars” (Rowena Itchon, Kerry Jackson, Lance Izumi, Ben Smithwick, and myself) have also gotten in on the act. This week’s episode of PRI’s ...
Let’s Hope a Trade Agreement with Xi Jinping Is In The Works
Americans of all stripes should be able to unite in support of trade. It’s fundamental to a diverse and healthy economy. Robust U.S. trade relationships around the world are also critical to the national economy. That’s especially true in California. The state leads the country in exports, totaling $171.9 billion ...
California’s energy mandates amount to state-legislated energy poverty
Every Californian wants to conserve energy and see cleaner air and water in the Golden State. But in their quest to safeguard the state’s environment for future generations, Sacramento policymakers have put in place an overzealous regulatory scheme that negatively impacts poor and minority communities. The new Pacific Research Institute ...
Universal Income Just Another Name for Putting Everyone on Welfare
One idea that has been gaining traction recently is a system of universal income, also known as basic income. The city of Stockton, California will be the nation’s first city to launch a universal income pilot program in 2019. While the specific policy proposals take many forms, the basic idea ...
Wayne Winegarden – Legislating Energy Poverty
PRI’s Wayne Winegarden joins us to discuss his new study exploring how big government energy policies in California and New York are increasing energy burdens on rural, poor, and minority communities, and how free-market ideas can more effectively reduce emissions without new taxes or government programs.
New York mandates create ‘energy poverty’ for citizens
New York has a proud tradition of environmental conservation. From Frederick Law Olmsted creating Central Park in the 1870s to the national environmental movement inspired by trailblazing President Theodore Roosevelt to the lush nature preserves created in the Adirondack and Catskills mountains, wise environmental stewardship has always been a cornerstone ...
California Supreme Court to Decide Fate of “Airtime”
Last week, the California Supreme Court heard the case Cal Fire Local 2881 v. CalPERS which challenged the 2013 law (the California Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act or PEPRA) that eliminated state employees’ ability to add up to five years of employment toward their pension benefit calculation by paying a ...
Protecting The Medicines Of Tomorrow
Government solutions often come with a price. For the America Invents Act (AIA), this price was an unintended impediment to medical innovation. Proposed legislation known as the Hatch-Waxman Integrity Act can reduce these costs, if Congress takes advantage of the opportunity. The problem of patent trolls plaguing Silicon Valley was ...
Proxy Advisory Firms Are Worsening CalPERS and CalSTRS ESG Problem
My last blog post discussed the risks that ESG investing creates for CalPERS and CalSTRS. If not addressed, then both taxpayers and public employees will bear unnecessary costs and risks. Unfortunately, SEC rules are making this problem even worse. The SEC requires all institutional investors, such as CalPERS and CalSTRS, ...
Trouble in Paradise: Hawaii’s Hotel Strike
I just returned from my annual Thanksgiving family trip to Hawaii where it was Day 40-something of a hotel workers’ strike at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. I had a hunch something was amiss when our Uber driver pulled into the driveway and a lone young woman who weighed about 100 ...
