California
Blog
What We’re Watching – February 15
Rowena Itchon – The Economics of Valentine’s Day https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDbcboJwuPc You may just have gotten over the sticker shock of the flowers, candy, wine, and expensive dinner you shelled out for your sweetheart on Valentine’s Day, but the “day of love” actually encompasses three important free-market principles as this video from ...
Blog
Green New Deal is Already Here in California
A lot has already been said about the Green New Deal, including my favorite: “What planet is she on?” from Brian Kilmeade of FOX. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is on planet California, that’s where. The “green dream or whatever” as Nancy Pelosi dismissively called it, is being realized in her own home ...
CEQA
CEQA: How to mend it since you can’t end it
By Daniel Kolkey It’s no coincidence that California’s housing prices began to diverge from the rest of the country in 1970 – the very year that the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) was enacted. According to California’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst, “Between 1970 and 1980, California home prices went from 30 ...
Blog
Newsom Eats More Cake in First State of the State
A few weeks back, in writing about Gov. Newsom’s first budget proposal – I noted that the Governor was demonstrating how one could have his cake and eat it, too, in his spending plan for the state. As I watched the Governor’s first State of the State address yesterday, it’s ...
Blog
A Modest Start to Solving the Housing Crisis
San Francisco Mayor London Breed’s proposal to boost home building won’t alone relieve the city’ housing shortage. But as starts go, it’s not a bad one. Breed is rolling out a bill that would kill permits and inspection fees, eliminating “thousands of dollars” in building costs, the San Francisco Chronicle ...
California
Sally Pipes on Single-Payer Healthcare
Sally Pipes, president and CEO of PRI and PRI’s health care expert, discusses the future of single-payer health care, which is shaping up to be a hot political issue in the 2020 presidential elections. She also talks about the future of single-payer in California, especially now that both houses and ...
Blog
New Polling Shows Free Market Ideas Still Hold Sway in Liberal California
The first weeks of 2019 have been dominated by the push from emboldened Sacramento liberals to enact measures increasing our tax burden, imposing new regulations on employers, and taking away some of our personal freedom. Most observers argue, based on the massive 2018 Democrat victories, that voters were giving a ...
Blog
What We’re Watching – Bad Laws Cause California’s Homeless Crisis
Ben Smithwick – Bad Laws Cause Homeless Crisis This latest video by John Stossel echoes what PRI’s Kerry Jackson has studied and written about extensively in recent months – well-intentioned laws are exacerbating the state’s housing and homeless crises. As the video concludes, we must unleash the power of free ...
Blog
Go Ahead and Enjoy That Coke and Coffee – The Nannies Have Lost, At Least For Now
It doesn’t happen often enough, but sometimes freedom wins in California. In the most recent of these rare events, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals – yes, the Ninth – affirmed late last month a lower-court ruling that said the San Francisco ordinance which forces beverage makers to post health warning ...
California
Does California Even Know How to Fix Its Housing Problem?
New Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget asks for $500 million to boost construction of housing for “moderate income” Californians. Housing, he said while introducing his first budget, “is the issue.” He is correct. Everyone is aware of the grim state of housing in California. But no one, at least those with enough political influence to shift policy, seems ...
What We’re Watching – February 15
Rowena Itchon – The Economics of Valentine’s Day https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDbcboJwuPc You may just have gotten over the sticker shock of the flowers, candy, wine, and expensive dinner you shelled out for your sweetheart on Valentine’s Day, but the “day of love” actually encompasses three important free-market principles as this video from ...
Green New Deal is Already Here in California
A lot has already been said about the Green New Deal, including my favorite: “What planet is she on?” from Brian Kilmeade of FOX. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is on planet California, that’s where. The “green dream or whatever” as Nancy Pelosi dismissively called it, is being realized in her own home ...
CEQA: How to mend it since you can’t end it
By Daniel Kolkey It’s no coincidence that California’s housing prices began to diverge from the rest of the country in 1970 – the very year that the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) was enacted. According to California’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst, “Between 1970 and 1980, California home prices went from 30 ...
Newsom Eats More Cake in First State of the State
A few weeks back, in writing about Gov. Newsom’s first budget proposal – I noted that the Governor was demonstrating how one could have his cake and eat it, too, in his spending plan for the state. As I watched the Governor’s first State of the State address yesterday, it’s ...
A Modest Start to Solving the Housing Crisis
San Francisco Mayor London Breed’s proposal to boost home building won’t alone relieve the city’ housing shortage. But as starts go, it’s not a bad one. Breed is rolling out a bill that would kill permits and inspection fees, eliminating “thousands of dollars” in building costs, the San Francisco Chronicle ...
Sally Pipes on Single-Payer Healthcare
Sally Pipes, president and CEO of PRI and PRI’s health care expert, discusses the future of single-payer health care, which is shaping up to be a hot political issue in the 2020 presidential elections. She also talks about the future of single-payer in California, especially now that both houses and ...
New Polling Shows Free Market Ideas Still Hold Sway in Liberal California
The first weeks of 2019 have been dominated by the push from emboldened Sacramento liberals to enact measures increasing our tax burden, imposing new regulations on employers, and taking away some of our personal freedom. Most observers argue, based on the massive 2018 Democrat victories, that voters were giving a ...
What We’re Watching – Bad Laws Cause California’s Homeless Crisis
Ben Smithwick – Bad Laws Cause Homeless Crisis This latest video by John Stossel echoes what PRI’s Kerry Jackson has studied and written about extensively in recent months – well-intentioned laws are exacerbating the state’s housing and homeless crises. As the video concludes, we must unleash the power of free ...
Go Ahead and Enjoy That Coke and Coffee – The Nannies Have Lost, At Least For Now
It doesn’t happen often enough, but sometimes freedom wins in California. In the most recent of these rare events, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals – yes, the Ninth – affirmed late last month a lower-court ruling that said the San Francisco ordinance which forces beverage makers to post health warning ...
Does California Even Know How to Fix Its Housing Problem?
New Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget asks for $500 million to boost construction of housing for “moderate income” Californians. Housing, he said while introducing his first budget, “is the issue.” He is correct. Everyone is aware of the grim state of housing in California. But no one, at least those with enough political influence to shift policy, seems ...
