Commentary
Business & Economics
The 2009 Wacky Warning Label Contest results are in!
To the joy of connoisseurs everywhere, the winners of the annual Wacky Warning Label Contest have just been announced. A toilet seat that attaches to a trailer hitch has gained national recognition — for a warning label that says you’d better not use it while the vehicle is moving. “The ...
Pacific Research Institute
April 29, 2009
Commentary
Obama’s Credibility Chasm
Barack Obama’s stubborn refusal to re-think his opposition to the school-choice voucher program in Washington, DC is further evidence, as if we need any more, that the centrist-talking candidate of 2008 was a smokescreen for the ideologically liberal now president who’s unafraid to show his true colors. Throughout the campaign ...
Lance T. izumi
April 29, 2009
Commentary
Fuzzy funding for L.A. County schools make little sense
CALIFORNIA’S fiscal outlook continues to worsen. Concern is now mounting over the impact the state’s budget deficit will have on education funding. The California Teachers Association, along with State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell, claims California’s per-pupil funding now ranks 47th nationally. Most experts agree California is around the ...
Vicki E. Murray
April 29, 2009
Commentary
Bandwidth Fines Bad, But Not Net Neutrality Issue
Slashdot.com, April 29, 2009 Frequent Slashdot contributor Bennett Haselton writes with his take on the recent Time Warner Cable fiasco: “Net Neutrality crusaders at FreePress.net recently called attention to Time Warner’s plan (later rescinded) to impose fines on users for going over bandwidth limits. I agree generally, but I think ...
Pacific Research Institute
April 29, 2009
Business & Economics
Canada’s advantage
As Canada’s experience in the 1990s showed, the path to economic growth lies in shrinking government, not growing it This past weekend, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty encouraged the G20 countries to rapidly implement their stimulus packages, highlighting that his government provided a greater stimulus budget than the G20 countries agreed ...
Jason Clemens
April 28, 2009
Business & Economics
Tort Law Tally
San Francisco – The Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a free-market think tank based in California, released Tort Law Tally, a new report identifying which state tort reforms reduce tort losses and tort insurance premiums the most. The analysis identifies 18 reforms to state civil-justice systems that significantly reduce tort losses ...
Lawrence J. McQuillan
April 28, 2009
Business & Economics
Tort Laws that Save Americans the Most Money
Attorney-Retention Sunshine and Daubert Rule are Most Effective Tort Reforms San Francisco – The Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a free-market think tank based in California, today released Tort Law Tally, a new report identifying which state tort reforms reduce tort losses and tort insurance premiums the most. The analysis identifies ...
Pacific Research Institute
April 28, 2009
Commentary
Mandatory Health Insurance is Not Universal Choice
“Covering the uninsured” through more government power is a misplaced priority. It gives politicians, instead of patients, control of health-care dollars. Nevertheless, many Americans understandably view the fact that the U.S. is the only developed country that does not have so-called “universal” coverage as a national disgrace. Furthermore, many believe ...
John R. Graham
April 28, 2009
Business & Economics
Don’t Know Much About Capitalism
After eight years of watching conservatives blow trillions of dollars and comport themselves like anti-intellectual, jingoistic blockheads, I found myself ashamed to admit that the Left seemed to have all the genuine intellectuals—people who seemed to possess real curiosity, who refused to accept whatever official line the government was shelling ...
W. Lee Hoskins
April 28, 2009
Business & Economics
The Nuttiness of Negative Interest Rates
In his April 18 New York Times op-ed, Harvard professor (and Bush adviser) Greg Mankiw calls on the Federal Reserve to promise future inflation, in order to fix the economy. Mankiw’s article beautifully illustrates what is wrong with today’s economics profession: it consists of very sharp guys (and gals) who ...
Robert P. Murphy
April 27, 2009
The 2009 Wacky Warning Label Contest results are in!
To the joy of connoisseurs everywhere, the winners of the annual Wacky Warning Label Contest have just been announced. A toilet seat that attaches to a trailer hitch has gained national recognition — for a warning label that says you’d better not use it while the vehicle is moving. “The ...
Obama’s Credibility Chasm
Barack Obama’s stubborn refusal to re-think his opposition to the school-choice voucher program in Washington, DC is further evidence, as if we need any more, that the centrist-talking candidate of 2008 was a smokescreen for the ideologically liberal now president who’s unafraid to show his true colors. Throughout the campaign ...
Fuzzy funding for L.A. County schools make little sense
CALIFORNIA’S fiscal outlook continues to worsen. Concern is now mounting over the impact the state’s budget deficit will have on education funding. The California Teachers Association, along with State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell, claims California’s per-pupil funding now ranks 47th nationally. Most experts agree California is around the ...
Bandwidth Fines Bad, But Not Net Neutrality Issue
Slashdot.com, April 29, 2009 Frequent Slashdot contributor Bennett Haselton writes with his take on the recent Time Warner Cable fiasco: “Net Neutrality crusaders at FreePress.net recently called attention to Time Warner’s plan (later rescinded) to impose fines on users for going over bandwidth limits. I agree generally, but I think ...
Canada’s advantage
As Canada’s experience in the 1990s showed, the path to economic growth lies in shrinking government, not growing it This past weekend, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty encouraged the G20 countries to rapidly implement their stimulus packages, highlighting that his government provided a greater stimulus budget than the G20 countries agreed ...
Tort Law Tally
San Francisco – The Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a free-market think tank based in California, released Tort Law Tally, a new report identifying which state tort reforms reduce tort losses and tort insurance premiums the most. The analysis identifies 18 reforms to state civil-justice systems that significantly reduce tort losses ...
Tort Laws that Save Americans the Most Money
Attorney-Retention Sunshine and Daubert Rule are Most Effective Tort Reforms San Francisco – The Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a free-market think tank based in California, today released Tort Law Tally, a new report identifying which state tort reforms reduce tort losses and tort insurance premiums the most. The analysis identifies ...
Mandatory Health Insurance is Not Universal Choice
“Covering the uninsured” through more government power is a misplaced priority. It gives politicians, instead of patients, control of health-care dollars. Nevertheless, many Americans understandably view the fact that the U.S. is the only developed country that does not have so-called “universal” coverage as a national disgrace. Furthermore, many believe ...
Don’t Know Much About Capitalism
After eight years of watching conservatives blow trillions of dollars and comport themselves like anti-intellectual, jingoistic blockheads, I found myself ashamed to admit that the Left seemed to have all the genuine intellectuals—people who seemed to possess real curiosity, who refused to accept whatever official line the government was shelling ...
The Nuttiness of Negative Interest Rates
In his April 18 New York Times op-ed, Harvard professor (and Bush adviser) Greg Mankiw calls on the Federal Reserve to promise future inflation, in order to fix the economy. Mankiw’s article beautifully illustrates what is wrong with today’s economics profession: it consists of very sharp guys (and gals) who ...