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Immigration in California (By the Numbers)

According to Pew Research, immigration ranked second, after the economy, in a top ten list of potential Trump voter concerns going into the 2024 presidential election.   For potential Harris voters, immigration ranked last.  Upon his Nov 6th election, President-Elect Trump made immediate plans for the “mass deportation” of millions ...
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Support PRI on Giving Tuesday

Support PRI This Giving Tuesday

At the Pacific Research Institute, we are excited to participate in Giving Tuesday not just because of our status as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, but because we know that nonprofits are often at the forefront of innovative solutions to pressing social problems – problems that government bureaucracies are inadequately prepared ...
Blog

Learn how poorly California students scored on the latest national literacy test

Low Adult Literacy Screams for Science-of-Reading Instruction in Schools

The United States ranks 36th in the world at a 79% literacy rate, which is quite terrible considering the US’s status as one of the most developed nations in the world. “Developed nations consistently boast adult literacy rates of 96% or higher, while the least developed countries struggle with an ...
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PRI’s 2024 Holiday Book List

Sally Pipes – Doctor Sally by P.G. Wodehouse While not a policy book, my favorite this year and one that I read recently is Doctor Sally by my favorite author, P.G. Wodehouse.  After a long and grueling election campaign, this book is a tonic and breath of fresh air for ...
Blog

Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center

BOOK REVIEW: ‘Key to the City” – or the key to more control?

She is a “Mexican-American architect, attorney, professor and policymaker whose interdisciplinary work focuses on how law and policy can foster more equitable, sustainable, well-designed and connected places.” The author grew up in Houston, served for seven years as the head of Hartford, Conn.’s planning and zoning commission (her ex-husband was ...
Blog

Read about the latest victory in the war on cars

A Great Highway . . . But Not for Driving

Prop. K will permanently close a two-mile stretch – more than half its length – of the four-lane highway along Ocean Beach between Lincoln Way and Sloat Boulevard. It will become a public recreation space. The idea goes back to the early days of the COVID-19 panic. “In response to ...
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Despite latest defense, zoning is just government coercion

Despite latest defense, zoning is just government coercion By Kerry Jackson | November 22, 2024 Central planning never goes out of style on the political left. On occasion, though, it gets special attention. That’s the case with a new book written by, according to Governing magazine, “​​an architect and zoning ...
Blog

Gas Warfare in California

It took only a few hours after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a regulatory bill for Phillips 66 to announce that it is closing its Los Angeles refinery complex. Without actually using the words, the company is saying there’s no reason to stick around and be abused. In a ceremony designed ...
Blog

When Ambition And Ideology Outpace Reality And Prudent Policymaking

Turns out the electric trucks aren’t selling well, so manufacturers will be able to build more diesel trucks than regulations were allowing them to. Yet again, the state tacitly acknowledges that its net-zero ambitions are unrealistic. It was a lesson learned late, though. Several states that followed the California model ...
Blog

Read the latest about California's high speed rail boondoggle

Despite the promises, bullet train is lesson in ‘sunk costs’

Unfortunately, California officials pay no attention to sunk costs, which are reflected in the spending for the California High Speed Rail System. If there is a classic lesson regarding “sunk costs,” the ongoing project of building a bullet train from San Francisco to Los Angeles is the poster child. Yet, ...
Blog

Immigration in California (By the Numbers)

According to Pew Research, immigration ranked second, after the economy, in a top ten list of potential Trump voter concerns going into the 2024 presidential election.   For potential Harris voters, immigration ranked last.  Upon his Nov 6th election, President-Elect Trump made immediate plans for the “mass deportation” of millions ...
Blog

Support PRI on Giving Tuesday

Support PRI This Giving Tuesday

At the Pacific Research Institute, we are excited to participate in Giving Tuesday not just because of our status as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, but because we know that nonprofits are often at the forefront of innovative solutions to pressing social problems – problems that government bureaucracies are inadequately prepared ...
Blog

Learn how poorly California students scored on the latest national literacy test

Low Adult Literacy Screams for Science-of-Reading Instruction in Schools

The United States ranks 36th in the world at a 79% literacy rate, which is quite terrible considering the US’s status as one of the most developed nations in the world. “Developed nations consistently boast adult literacy rates of 96% or higher, while the least developed countries struggle with an ...
Blog

PRI’s 2024 Holiday Book List

Sally Pipes – Doctor Sally by P.G. Wodehouse While not a policy book, my favorite this year and one that I read recently is Doctor Sally by my favorite author, P.G. Wodehouse.  After a long and grueling election campaign, this book is a tonic and breath of fresh air for ...
Blog

Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center

BOOK REVIEW: ‘Key to the City” – or the key to more control?

She is a “Mexican-American architect, attorney, professor and policymaker whose interdisciplinary work focuses on how law and policy can foster more equitable, sustainable, well-designed and connected places.” The author grew up in Houston, served for seven years as the head of Hartford, Conn.’s planning and zoning commission (her ex-husband was ...
Blog

Read about the latest victory in the war on cars

A Great Highway . . . But Not for Driving

Prop. K will permanently close a two-mile stretch – more than half its length – of the four-lane highway along Ocean Beach between Lincoln Way and Sloat Boulevard. It will become a public recreation space. The idea goes back to the early days of the COVID-19 panic. “In response to ...
Blog

Despite latest defense, zoning is just government coercion

Despite latest defense, zoning is just government coercion By Kerry Jackson | November 22, 2024 Central planning never goes out of style on the political left. On occasion, though, it gets special attention. That’s the case with a new book written by, according to Governing magazine, “​​an architect and zoning ...
Blog

Gas Warfare in California

It took only a few hours after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a regulatory bill for Phillips 66 to announce that it is closing its Los Angeles refinery complex. Without actually using the words, the company is saying there’s no reason to stick around and be abused. In a ceremony designed ...
Blog

When Ambition And Ideology Outpace Reality And Prudent Policymaking

Turns out the electric trucks aren’t selling well, so manufacturers will be able to build more diesel trucks than regulations were allowing them to. Yet again, the state tacitly acknowledges that its net-zero ambitions are unrealistic. It was a lesson learned late, though. Several states that followed the California model ...
Blog

Read the latest about California's high speed rail boondoggle

Despite the promises, bullet train is lesson in ‘sunk costs’

Unfortunately, California officials pay no attention to sunk costs, which are reflected in the spending for the California High Speed Rail System. If there is a classic lesson regarding “sunk costs,” the ongoing project of building a bullet train from San Francisco to Los Angeles is the poster child. Yet, ...
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