Blog
Blog
You Should’ve Been There – On PRI’s Vancouver Conference on Free-Market Environmentalism
Whenever you hear about efforts to preserve our environment, it always involves ill-conceived policy prescriptions, taxpayer-funded subsidies, or heavy-handed government mandates. Take, for example, the work by PRI’s Wayne Winegarden on electric car subsidies. While noble in intent, the subsidies amount to government playing car salesman. Using your money, government ...
Blog
A post-Janus California — will we look more like Wisconsin or Michigan?
On the heels of the Supreme Court’s decision on Janus, the State Controller’s Office announced that beginning in July, it would stop deducting “fair share fees” from the paychecks of state workers who are not full union members. The fair share fee, or agency fee, is the fee that’s charged ...
Blog
What We’re Watching – July 13
Rowena Itchon – The Case for a Political Elite? Really? Check out this lecture from Professor Richard Samuelson, historian and John Adams expert of Cal State San Bernardino. We’ll be airing a podcast with Prof. Samuelson later this summer. Here’s a sneak preview: Kerry Jackson – Why We’re Losing Liberty ...
Blog
Is Crony Capitalism Alive and Well in California?
If there’s one thing that unites Californians, it’s a disdain for crony capitalism. What is crony capitalism, you ask? We see it all the time. Think local elected officials throwing everything but the kitchen sink at Amazon to try and lure their second global headquarters to their city. PRI’s senior ...
Blog
Emulating Europe’s High-Speed Rail Gets California Nowhere Fast
The political left has long wanted the United States to be more like Europe. Its appetite for Europeanization is clearly visible in California where the political class that runs the state has demanded a bullet train of its very own. At the groundbreaking ceremony in 2015 kicking off the high-speed ...
Blog
Free Markets 101: The Landscape of American Opportunity
One of the most common themes in American politics is the emphasis on preserving or restoring our role as a land of opportunity. Across the political spectrum, there is a general sense that the intergenerational promise of upward mobility is becoming harder and harder to keep. For those on the ...
Blog
Celebrating the Sound of Freedom
That sound you heard on the Fourth of July was not bands playing “God Bless America” or other patriotic songs. No, it was people complaining on social media about fireworks being set off in their neighborhoods. Where I live in Sacramento, you can buy fireworks for your family 4th of ...
Blog
What We’re Watching – July 6, 2018
Rowena Itchon – Keynes vs. Hayek, Rounds 1 and 2 For my summer reading list, I like to re-read a classic or two. So for my summer video recommendation, here are a couple of classics: Keynes vs. Hayek, Rounds 1 and 2. Fear the Boom and Bust Fight of the ...
Blog
Soda Tax Vote Forces Lawmakers to Eat Carrot or Face Local Tax Spigot Shut Off
Usually around this time of year, you’ll see state lawmakers wielding a big stick. In search of headlines or political points, lawmakers will routinely target some politically incorrect industry with punitive legislation. Unless that industry agrees to eat a legislative carrot of new regulations, taxes, or fees that aren’t as ...
Blog
Riddle: Who is single, has no kids, and getting a tax increase?
Tax Calculator Part 2 In my last blog, I ran some numbers on the Tax Foundation’s new tax calculator to show the average tax cut for California households by congressional district under the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. But I thought what would be even more interesting is to ...
You Should’ve Been There – On PRI’s Vancouver Conference on Free-Market Environmentalism
Whenever you hear about efforts to preserve our environment, it always involves ill-conceived policy prescriptions, taxpayer-funded subsidies, or heavy-handed government mandates. Take, for example, the work by PRI’s Wayne Winegarden on electric car subsidies. While noble in intent, the subsidies amount to government playing car salesman. Using your money, government ...
A post-Janus California — will we look more like Wisconsin or Michigan?
On the heels of the Supreme Court’s decision on Janus, the State Controller’s Office announced that beginning in July, it would stop deducting “fair share fees” from the paychecks of state workers who are not full union members. The fair share fee, or agency fee, is the fee that’s charged ...
What We’re Watching – July 13
Rowena Itchon – The Case for a Political Elite? Really? Check out this lecture from Professor Richard Samuelson, historian and John Adams expert of Cal State San Bernardino. We’ll be airing a podcast with Prof. Samuelson later this summer. Here’s a sneak preview: Kerry Jackson – Why We’re Losing Liberty ...
Is Crony Capitalism Alive and Well in California?
If there’s one thing that unites Californians, it’s a disdain for crony capitalism. What is crony capitalism, you ask? We see it all the time. Think local elected officials throwing everything but the kitchen sink at Amazon to try and lure their second global headquarters to their city. PRI’s senior ...
Emulating Europe’s High-Speed Rail Gets California Nowhere Fast
The political left has long wanted the United States to be more like Europe. Its appetite for Europeanization is clearly visible in California where the political class that runs the state has demanded a bullet train of its very own. At the groundbreaking ceremony in 2015 kicking off the high-speed ...
Free Markets 101: The Landscape of American Opportunity
One of the most common themes in American politics is the emphasis on preserving or restoring our role as a land of opportunity. Across the political spectrum, there is a general sense that the intergenerational promise of upward mobility is becoming harder and harder to keep. For those on the ...
Celebrating the Sound of Freedom
That sound you heard on the Fourth of July was not bands playing “God Bless America” or other patriotic songs. No, it was people complaining on social media about fireworks being set off in their neighborhoods. Where I live in Sacramento, you can buy fireworks for your family 4th of ...
What We’re Watching – July 6, 2018
Rowena Itchon – Keynes vs. Hayek, Rounds 1 and 2 For my summer reading list, I like to re-read a classic or two. So for my summer video recommendation, here are a couple of classics: Keynes vs. Hayek, Rounds 1 and 2. Fear the Boom and Bust Fight of the ...
Soda Tax Vote Forces Lawmakers to Eat Carrot or Face Local Tax Spigot Shut Off
Usually around this time of year, you’ll see state lawmakers wielding a big stick. In search of headlines or political points, lawmakers will routinely target some politically incorrect industry with punitive legislation. Unless that industry agrees to eat a legislative carrot of new regulations, taxes, or fees that aren’t as ...
Riddle: Who is single, has no kids, and getting a tax increase?
Tax Calculator Part 2 In my last blog, I ran some numbers on the Tax Foundation’s new tax calculator to show the average tax cut for California households by congressional district under the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. But I thought what would be even more interesting is to ...
