California
Business & Economics
California Supreme Court Decision Quashes Innovation, Threatens Health, and Encourages Costly Lawsuit Abuse
Traditional tort law holds that manufacturers are responsible only for their own products, not those made by competitors. The California Supreme Court changed that in late January by declining to review Conte v. Wyeth, which leaves name-brand drug manufacturers liable for harm caused by another manufacturer’s generic version. This unprecedented ...
Agriculture
Bank Bailout Blues
Undeterred by the failure of the last injection of taxpayer dollars into a bloated banking system, our financial crusaders in DC are scratching their heads over the best way to flush another few hundred billion away. The latest scheme involves the creation of a “bad bank” that would purchase the ...
California
A Bad Message from California on Offshore Drilling
As I posted at the Pacific Research Institute website, the California State Lands Commission (SLC) has rejected a proposal that would have led to the first new oil drilling project off the California coast in 40 years. On January 29, the panel voted 2-1 against Plains Exploration & Production Company’s ...
Business & Economics
Calif.’s Fertility Flap and the Future of Reproductive Tech
The news of octuplets born recently near Los Angeles shocked many people, especially since the mother, Nadya Suleman, apparently already had six children and is reported to be jobless and living with her parents. Such rare stories certainly sell newspapers, but they can also lead to knee-jerk calls for overly ...
Business & Economics
Don’t blame China for U.S. woes
Several Chinese readers have contacted me to express astonishment at the chorus of voices blaming China for the U.S. recession. They wonder: Is this the preamble of a protectionist backlash? There is plenty that China deserves to be bashed for – its political system and its backing of Sudan and ...
Business & Economics
The Fine Whine of California
Shortly after the national election last year, the UC Davis Graduate School of Management called a press conference at the Sacramento campus to announce their fourth UC Davis Study of California Women Business Leaders. This sounds interesting but there’s less here than meets the eye. As it turns out, UC ...
Business & Economics
“Do You Austrians Have a Better Idea?”
A lot of people get annoyed with Austrian economists because they tend to be so dogmatic (we prefer the term consistent) and because they cloak their strictly economic claims with self-righteousness (we prefer the term morality). After a good Austrian bashing of the latest call to steal taxpayer money and ...
Commentary
Charge health insurance equally
January President Barack Obama and his new health czar, former U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle, have promised big changes for our health care system. In a number of states, though, many of their government-heavy ideas have already been tried — and failed. Paramount among the proposed changes are “guaranteed issue” and ...
Commentary
Our View: Despite qualms of some, universal health care becoming a reality
When Juan Figueroa, president of Meriden-based Universal Health Care Foundation, introduced “SustiNet” two weeks ago the response was, for the most part, enthusiastic. And why shouldn’t it be? Foundation officials said that if implemented over a five-year timeline, SustiNet would save households and businesses a combined total of $1.75 billion ...
Commentary
Overhauling health care could boost the economy
There are plenty of reasons to overhaul our creaky health care system, ranging from its status as the most expensive system in the world to its failure to provide for the health of millions of our fellow citizens. But several recent studies suggest that there’s one more reason for reform: ...
California Supreme Court Decision Quashes Innovation, Threatens Health, and Encourages Costly Lawsuit Abuse
Traditional tort law holds that manufacturers are responsible only for their own products, not those made by competitors. The California Supreme Court changed that in late January by declining to review Conte v. Wyeth, which leaves name-brand drug manufacturers liable for harm caused by another manufacturer’s generic version. This unprecedented ...
Bank Bailout Blues
Undeterred by the failure of the last injection of taxpayer dollars into a bloated banking system, our financial crusaders in DC are scratching their heads over the best way to flush another few hundred billion away. The latest scheme involves the creation of a “bad bank” that would purchase the ...
A Bad Message from California on Offshore Drilling
As I posted at the Pacific Research Institute website, the California State Lands Commission (SLC) has rejected a proposal that would have led to the first new oil drilling project off the California coast in 40 years. On January 29, the panel voted 2-1 against Plains Exploration & Production Company’s ...
Calif.’s Fertility Flap and the Future of Reproductive Tech
The news of octuplets born recently near Los Angeles shocked many people, especially since the mother, Nadya Suleman, apparently already had six children and is reported to be jobless and living with her parents. Such rare stories certainly sell newspapers, but they can also lead to knee-jerk calls for overly ...
Don’t blame China for U.S. woes
Several Chinese readers have contacted me to express astonishment at the chorus of voices blaming China for the U.S. recession. They wonder: Is this the preamble of a protectionist backlash? There is plenty that China deserves to be bashed for – its political system and its backing of Sudan and ...
The Fine Whine of California
Shortly after the national election last year, the UC Davis Graduate School of Management called a press conference at the Sacramento campus to announce their fourth UC Davis Study of California Women Business Leaders. This sounds interesting but there’s less here than meets the eye. As it turns out, UC ...
“Do You Austrians Have a Better Idea?”
A lot of people get annoyed with Austrian economists because they tend to be so dogmatic (we prefer the term consistent) and because they cloak their strictly economic claims with self-righteousness (we prefer the term morality). After a good Austrian bashing of the latest call to steal taxpayer money and ...
Charge health insurance equally
January President Barack Obama and his new health czar, former U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle, have promised big changes for our health care system. In a number of states, though, many of their government-heavy ideas have already been tried — and failed. Paramount among the proposed changes are “guaranteed issue” and ...
Our View: Despite qualms of some, universal health care becoming a reality
When Juan Figueroa, president of Meriden-based Universal Health Care Foundation, introduced “SustiNet” two weeks ago the response was, for the most part, enthusiastic. And why shouldn’t it be? Foundation officials said that if implemented over a five-year timeline, SustiNet would save households and businesses a combined total of $1.75 billion ...
Overhauling health care could boost the economy
There are plenty of reasons to overhaul our creaky health care system, ranging from its status as the most expensive system in the world to its failure to provide for the health of millions of our fellow citizens. But several recent studies suggest that there’s one more reason for reform: ...
