Business & Economics

Business & Economics

The Best Way To Help Patients Afford Health Care Is To Make Health Care More Affordable

Cultures from biblical times to the ancient Chinese have all expressed some form of the wisdom that the best form of charity is to prevent poverty in the first place. This wisdom is lacking today, particularly with respect to the U.S. health care sector. A recent analysis by investment research ...
Business & Economics

Puerto Rico’s Illness Is Threatening To Become A National Epidemic

10-years of economic stagnation has taken its toll on Puerto Rico. Unemployment is skyrocketing, infrastructure is degrading, and the exodus away from the island is accelerating. Structural reforms that will stabilize the financial crisis in the short-term, and revitalize the economy in the long-term, are necessary. Such reforms will benefit ...
California

Would Single Payer Violate The Gann Limit?

The California Senate voted late on June 1 to create a single-payer health-care system that will cover every resident in the state with no money out of their pockets. But this “free” health care would be anything but. Its costs are going to be steep, painful, probably deadly – and ...
Business & Economics

Rising Regulatory Burdens, Declining Health Outcomes

Tweaks do not turn bad regulatory proposals into good ones. Yet, with only minor modifications, Congress is once again considering the CREATES Act (Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples Act of 2017), and its close cousin, the FAST Act (Fair Access for Safe and Timely Generics Act of ...
Business & Economics

Step One: Recognize The Public Pension Crisis

As Milton Friedman famously noted, there are four ways to spend money; the fourth being spending somebody else’s money on somebody else. And, when people spend money this way, they tend to disregard both the costs and the outcomes. Simply put, people spend such money unwisely. Not only, as Milton ...
Business & Economics

Pensions: The Case For Defined Contribution Retirement Plans

Three problems, exemplified by the crises afflicting the public pension systems in Houston and Dallas, plague state and local pension systems across the country. First, state and local governments have only contributed 88 percent of the required annual contributions into their public pension funds between 2001 and 2015. In total, ...
Business & Economics

Lack Of Transparency In Public Contract Negotiations Would Lead To Higher Taxpayer Costs

No state needs to reform the relationship that governments have with public-employee unions more than California. Yet lawmakers keep going in the wrong direction. Contract negotiations between government and the labor unions who represent the public employees should be transparent. Too often, both sides are working toward a common goal ...
Business & Economics

CAPITAL IDEAS: Time for Return to Reasonableness in Federal Land Grabs

Download the Brief Nearly half of California isn’t actually California. It’s an extension of Washington, D.C. Almost 46 percent of the state’s land mass is owned by the federal government, according to the Congressional Research Service. This means business opportunities in virtually half of the state are greatly restricted. In ...
Business & Economics

Free Speech Can Improve Health Care Outcomes

In a unanimous and bipartisan vote, Arizona’s legislature passed the Free Speech in Medicine Act, which was signed into law about two months ago. Passing anything with bipartisan support is noteworthy in today’s hyper-partisan environment. Passing a bill with such important and positive implications for patients, even if the law ...
Business & Economics

New Study Finds High Prescription Drug Costs Are Not Driving Up U.S. Healthcare Costs

It’s easy for politicians and consumers to rage about the high price of prescription drugs, but Wayne Winegarden, Pacific Research Institute’s senior fellow in business and economics, said those prices are not to blame for the high cost of healthcare in the United States. Recently, U.S. Bernie Sanders has been ...
Business & Economics

The Best Way To Help Patients Afford Health Care Is To Make Health Care More Affordable

Cultures from biblical times to the ancient Chinese have all expressed some form of the wisdom that the best form of charity is to prevent poverty in the first place. This wisdom is lacking today, particularly with respect to the U.S. health care sector. A recent analysis by investment research ...
Business & Economics

Puerto Rico’s Illness Is Threatening To Become A National Epidemic

10-years of economic stagnation has taken its toll on Puerto Rico. Unemployment is skyrocketing, infrastructure is degrading, and the exodus away from the island is accelerating. Structural reforms that will stabilize the financial crisis in the short-term, and revitalize the economy in the long-term, are necessary. Such reforms will benefit ...
California

Would Single Payer Violate The Gann Limit?

The California Senate voted late on June 1 to create a single-payer health-care system that will cover every resident in the state with no money out of their pockets. But this “free” health care would be anything but. Its costs are going to be steep, painful, probably deadly – and ...
Business & Economics

Rising Regulatory Burdens, Declining Health Outcomes

Tweaks do not turn bad regulatory proposals into good ones. Yet, with only minor modifications, Congress is once again considering the CREATES Act (Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples Act of 2017), and its close cousin, the FAST Act (Fair Access for Safe and Timely Generics Act of ...
Business & Economics

Step One: Recognize The Public Pension Crisis

As Milton Friedman famously noted, there are four ways to spend money; the fourth being spending somebody else’s money on somebody else. And, when people spend money this way, they tend to disregard both the costs and the outcomes. Simply put, people spend such money unwisely. Not only, as Milton ...
Business & Economics

Pensions: The Case For Defined Contribution Retirement Plans

Three problems, exemplified by the crises afflicting the public pension systems in Houston and Dallas, plague state and local pension systems across the country. First, state and local governments have only contributed 88 percent of the required annual contributions into their public pension funds between 2001 and 2015. In total, ...
Business & Economics

Lack Of Transparency In Public Contract Negotiations Would Lead To Higher Taxpayer Costs

No state needs to reform the relationship that governments have with public-employee unions more than California. Yet lawmakers keep going in the wrong direction. Contract negotiations between government and the labor unions who represent the public employees should be transparent. Too often, both sides are working toward a common goal ...
Business & Economics

CAPITAL IDEAS: Time for Return to Reasonableness in Federal Land Grabs

Download the Brief Nearly half of California isn’t actually California. It’s an extension of Washington, D.C. Almost 46 percent of the state’s land mass is owned by the federal government, according to the Congressional Research Service. This means business opportunities in virtually half of the state are greatly restricted. In ...
Business & Economics

Free Speech Can Improve Health Care Outcomes

In a unanimous and bipartisan vote, Arizona’s legislature passed the Free Speech in Medicine Act, which was signed into law about two months ago. Passing anything with bipartisan support is noteworthy in today’s hyper-partisan environment. Passing a bill with such important and positive implications for patients, even if the law ...
Business & Economics

New Study Finds High Prescription Drug Costs Are Not Driving Up U.S. Healthcare Costs

It’s easy for politicians and consumers to rage about the high price of prescription drugs, but Wayne Winegarden, Pacific Research Institute’s senior fellow in business and economics, said those prices are not to blame for the high cost of healthcare in the United States. Recently, U.S. Bernie Sanders has been ...
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