Housing

Agriculture

Will the Supreme Court overrule California’s Proposition 12?

By The Hon. Daniel Oliver History repeats itself in California with a law that may prevent pork from being imported into the state. In 1986 and ’87 when I was Chairman of the Federal Commission, I (actually “we” at the FTC) took on then-New York State Agriculture Commissioner Joseph Gerace ...
Blog

Southern California Traffic Is Back to Pre-Pandemic Levels. Now What?

Well, it’s official: Southern California’s infamous traffic is back to pre-pandemic levels. Worse yet, according to one estimate for SR 91—connecting Los Angeles to her Orange and Riverside suburbs—it might actually be worse. While morning commutes have dampened with the rise of remote work and flexible scheduling, the data suggest ...
Agriculture

How well do you know your federal government? Take the Deep State Quiz

Our colleagues at Open The Books did a deep dive into the deep state with their outstanding new report: Mapping the Swamp: A Study of the Administrative State, FY 2020.  This eye-popping report shows just how big and bloated — not to mention costly — the federal government has become.  ...
Blog

Absent State Leadership, California Cities Continue to Lead on Parking Deregulation

Recently, San Diego moved to eliminate minimum parking regulations for businesses near transit and in neighborhood commercial areas. As reported in the San Diego Union-Tribune, the measure—which ended the practice of local regulators telling certain walkable and transit-accessible businesses how many off-street parking spaces they must build—enjoyed unanimous support from ...
Blog

Support PRI’s Campaign for America’s Future on Giving Tuesday

Today marks Giving Tuesday—a global movement to inspire generosity around the world. At the Pacific Research Institute, we are grateful to all our donors who have generously supported our work to advance market-driven policies that fulfill our mission to champion freedom, opportunity, and personal responsibility for all Americans. We certainly ...
Blog

First Data Shows Real Record of Controversial New DA Putting Public Safety at Risk

The San Francisco Chronicle recently asked if residents should “​​tolerate a high level of burglaries as a downside of city living, and focus on barricading their homes?” Or, if that’s not satisfactory, “should people who are repeatedly accused of stealing be targeted with rehabilitation services, or incarcerated so they can’t ...
Blog

Los Angeles Is Gearing Up to Ban Wood-Frame Construction. Renters Will Soon Pay the Price.

Over the summer, the Los Angeles City Council Public Safety Committee approved a proposal to expand Fire District 1, an anachronistic planning overlay that would effectively ban wood-frame construction in much of the city. Superficially premised as a measure to improve fire safety, the motion has been heavily promoted by ...
Blog

CAPITAL IDEAS: California Gets Kicked by Drought 66

DOWNLOAD THE PDF The recent record-breaking bomb cyclone that replenished depleted reservoirs and swelled shriveling rivers was not enough to break the drought. So parched is the state that Gov. Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency, a condition Californians, bedeviled by wildfires, unaffordable housing, growing homelessness, a punitive ...
Business & Economics

New study analyzes how federal relief efforts impact small business, innovation amid Covid pandemic

By Sarah Downey | Nov 9, 2021 As Californians and families nationwide struggle with rising prices, concerns persist about the extent to which federal relief programs have increased barriers to economic opportunity and contributed to historic inflation. “The federal government’s response to the pandemic’s economic consequences have been a failure,” ...
Blog

Biden’s 15% Corporate Minimum Tax Hurts Workers

The latest scheme to fund Pres. Biden’s multi-trillion social spending plan is to impose a 15 percent corporate minimum tax.  Taxpayers might be wondering why it matters, since former Pres. Trump already lowered the corporate tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent in 2018. The devil, as they say, ...
Agriculture

Will the Supreme Court overrule California’s Proposition 12?

By The Hon. Daniel Oliver History repeats itself in California with a law that may prevent pork from being imported into the state. In 1986 and ’87 when I was Chairman of the Federal Commission, I (actually “we” at the FTC) took on then-New York State Agriculture Commissioner Joseph Gerace ...
Blog

Southern California Traffic Is Back to Pre-Pandemic Levels. Now What?

Well, it’s official: Southern California’s infamous traffic is back to pre-pandemic levels. Worse yet, according to one estimate for SR 91—connecting Los Angeles to her Orange and Riverside suburbs—it might actually be worse. While morning commutes have dampened with the rise of remote work and flexible scheduling, the data suggest ...
Agriculture

How well do you know your federal government? Take the Deep State Quiz

Our colleagues at Open The Books did a deep dive into the deep state with their outstanding new report: Mapping the Swamp: A Study of the Administrative State, FY 2020.  This eye-popping report shows just how big and bloated — not to mention costly — the federal government has become.  ...
Blog

Absent State Leadership, California Cities Continue to Lead on Parking Deregulation

Recently, San Diego moved to eliminate minimum parking regulations for businesses near transit and in neighborhood commercial areas. As reported in the San Diego Union-Tribune, the measure—which ended the practice of local regulators telling certain walkable and transit-accessible businesses how many off-street parking spaces they must build—enjoyed unanimous support from ...
Blog

Support PRI’s Campaign for America’s Future on Giving Tuesday

Today marks Giving Tuesday—a global movement to inspire generosity around the world. At the Pacific Research Institute, we are grateful to all our donors who have generously supported our work to advance market-driven policies that fulfill our mission to champion freedom, opportunity, and personal responsibility for all Americans. We certainly ...
Blog

First Data Shows Real Record of Controversial New DA Putting Public Safety at Risk

The San Francisco Chronicle recently asked if residents should “​​tolerate a high level of burglaries as a downside of city living, and focus on barricading their homes?” Or, if that’s not satisfactory, “should people who are repeatedly accused of stealing be targeted with rehabilitation services, or incarcerated so they can’t ...
Blog

Los Angeles Is Gearing Up to Ban Wood-Frame Construction. Renters Will Soon Pay the Price.

Over the summer, the Los Angeles City Council Public Safety Committee approved a proposal to expand Fire District 1, an anachronistic planning overlay that would effectively ban wood-frame construction in much of the city. Superficially premised as a measure to improve fire safety, the motion has been heavily promoted by ...
Blog

CAPITAL IDEAS: California Gets Kicked by Drought 66

DOWNLOAD THE PDF The recent record-breaking bomb cyclone that replenished depleted reservoirs and swelled shriveling rivers was not enough to break the drought. So parched is the state that Gov. Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency, a condition Californians, bedeviled by wildfires, unaffordable housing, growing homelessness, a punitive ...
Business & Economics

New study analyzes how federal relief efforts impact small business, innovation amid Covid pandemic

By Sarah Downey | Nov 9, 2021 As Californians and families nationwide struggle with rising prices, concerns persist about the extent to which federal relief programs have increased barriers to economic opportunity and contributed to historic inflation. “The federal government’s response to the pandemic’s economic consequences have been a failure,” ...
Blog

Biden’s 15% Corporate Minimum Tax Hurts Workers

The latest scheme to fund Pres. Biden’s multi-trillion social spending plan is to impose a 15 percent corporate minimum tax.  Taxpayers might be wondering why it matters, since former Pres. Trump already lowered the corporate tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent in 2018. The devil, as they say, ...
Scroll to Top