Commentary

Commentary

How Competition Drives Healthcare Innovation & Affordability

Making healthcare more affordable requires reforms that strengthen competitive markets, as I outlined in a recent Pacific Research Institute1 paper. Unfortunately, as we’re seeing in California and elsewhere, the trend in government is away from competition and toward fewer choices, hurting patients and increasing costs. When applied to other industries, ...
Business & Economics

Government Shutdowns Are a Reminder To Privatize

Federal government shutdowns mean many things to different people. For ordinary Americans, they are a reminder of dysfunction in Washington. For partisans, they are an opportunity to blame the other side. But they can also be an opportunity for Americans to reconsider how and why the federal government does some ...
California

Checking the fine print on Newsom’s “donor state” boast

California brags about its donor state status, that is, it forwards more in tax dollars to Washington than it gets back in federal spending. But that’s changed. According to the Rockefeller Institute of Government, California’s balance of payments with the federal government – the net difference between federal revenue collected ...
California

Los Angeles Tries to ‘Fix’ Rent Control

Los Angeles is one of more than a dozen California cities with rent-control laws, and by no coincidence, is one of the most unaffordable places to live. The City Council recently approved a proposal that gives owners more leeway to raise rents. It’s by no means a bold plan. It ...
Commentary

Trade Policy Is The Right Way To Fight Foreign Freeloading

Last week, the United States and the United Kingdom announced a trade deal that will require Britain’s National Health Service to pay more for novel prescription drugs in exchange for a reprieve of at least three years from tariffs on its pharmaceutical exports. It’s a perfect example of how the ...
California

California Looking For ‘Foreign’ Aid

If there were a list of faltering, ineffective and counterproductive programs and projects that California policymakers are bitterly clinging to, the “bullet train” would be at the top. Voters asked for an ambitious high-speed rail that never leaves the state, but California cannot get the job done alone. The rest ...
Commentary

‘Soak the Rich’ Won’t Rescue Calif. Healthcare

A group of unions in California has proposed a new plan for paying for healthcare — soak the rich. That’s the idea behind the Billionaire Tax Act, a 2026 ballot initiative that would impose a 5% tax on the state’s billionaires in order to raise money for healthcare programs and ...
Commentary

Competition, not price controls, just slashed GLP-1 prices

Novo Nordisk just announced price cuts for Ozempic and Wegovy, whose list prices as recently as last year were around $1,000 a month. Patients buying directly from the manufacturer will be able to pay as little as $349 for a monthly dose of these medicines. The company has also dropped ...
Commentary

From Obamacare To Credit Cards, Price Controls Don’t Work

The House of Representatives just passed a resolution condemning the “horrors of socialism” by a 285 to 98 margin. All the no votes were cast by Democrats indicating that a majority of the members from the left side of the aisle fail to recognize socialism’s overwhelming failures. Thus, despite the ...
Commentary

A Healthy Dose Of Competition Sends Weight-Loss Drug Prices Plummeting

Prices for GLP-1 weight-loss medications are dropping fast. Last week, Novo Nordisk—maker of Ozempic and Wegovy—announced it would cut prices for monthly supplies of both drugs to as low as $349 for existing patients buying directly. For new customers, the price will fall to just $199 a month for the ...
Commentary

How Competition Drives Healthcare Innovation & Affordability

Making healthcare more affordable requires reforms that strengthen competitive markets, as I outlined in a recent Pacific Research Institute1 paper. Unfortunately, as we’re seeing in California and elsewhere, the trend in government is away from competition and toward fewer choices, hurting patients and increasing costs. When applied to other industries, ...
Business & Economics

Government Shutdowns Are a Reminder To Privatize

Federal government shutdowns mean many things to different people. For ordinary Americans, they are a reminder of dysfunction in Washington. For partisans, they are an opportunity to blame the other side. But they can also be an opportunity for Americans to reconsider how and why the federal government does some ...
California

Checking the fine print on Newsom’s “donor state” boast

California brags about its donor state status, that is, it forwards more in tax dollars to Washington than it gets back in federal spending. But that’s changed. According to the Rockefeller Institute of Government, California’s balance of payments with the federal government – the net difference between federal revenue collected ...
California

Los Angeles Tries to ‘Fix’ Rent Control

Los Angeles is one of more than a dozen California cities with rent-control laws, and by no coincidence, is one of the most unaffordable places to live. The City Council recently approved a proposal that gives owners more leeway to raise rents. It’s by no means a bold plan. It ...
Commentary

Trade Policy Is The Right Way To Fight Foreign Freeloading

Last week, the United States and the United Kingdom announced a trade deal that will require Britain’s National Health Service to pay more for novel prescription drugs in exchange for a reprieve of at least three years from tariffs on its pharmaceutical exports. It’s a perfect example of how the ...
California

California Looking For ‘Foreign’ Aid

If there were a list of faltering, ineffective and counterproductive programs and projects that California policymakers are bitterly clinging to, the “bullet train” would be at the top. Voters asked for an ambitious high-speed rail that never leaves the state, but California cannot get the job done alone. The rest ...
Commentary

‘Soak the Rich’ Won’t Rescue Calif. Healthcare

A group of unions in California has proposed a new plan for paying for healthcare — soak the rich. That’s the idea behind the Billionaire Tax Act, a 2026 ballot initiative that would impose a 5% tax on the state’s billionaires in order to raise money for healthcare programs and ...
Commentary

Competition, not price controls, just slashed GLP-1 prices

Novo Nordisk just announced price cuts for Ozempic and Wegovy, whose list prices as recently as last year were around $1,000 a month. Patients buying directly from the manufacturer will be able to pay as little as $349 for a monthly dose of these medicines. The company has also dropped ...
Commentary

From Obamacare To Credit Cards, Price Controls Don’t Work

The House of Representatives just passed a resolution condemning the “horrors of socialism” by a 285 to 98 margin. All the no votes were cast by Democrats indicating that a majority of the members from the left side of the aisle fail to recognize socialism’s overwhelming failures. Thus, despite the ...
Commentary

A Healthy Dose Of Competition Sends Weight-Loss Drug Prices Plummeting

Prices for GLP-1 weight-loss medications are dropping fast. Last week, Novo Nordisk—maker of Ozempic and Wegovy—announced it would cut prices for monthly supplies of both drugs to as low as $349 for existing patients buying directly. For new customers, the price will fall to just $199 a month for the ...
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