Commentary
Business & Economics
Mayors join I-LAW in fight against lawsuit abuse
Marion Mayor Robert Butler and West Frankfort Mayor Marion Presley joined other mayors from throughout Southern Illinois in recognizing the work of Illinois Lawsuit Abuse Watch(I-LAW). Travis Akin, Executive Director of I-LAW, cited a recent report from the Harris Company that ranked Illinois 46th out of all 50 states for ...
Commentary
Choice and Good Schools—Swedish Style
Say “Sweden” and most Americans think Volvo and IKEA. There is more to the Scandinavian country, however, than just sturdy cars and innovative furniture. Sweden is the world leader when it comes to parental choice in education. Up until 1991 local governments operated almost all Swedish schools. That changed with ...
Commentary
Drug Importation is a ‘Reform’ We Can Do Without
Last month, both presidential candidates announced that they were reconsidering their long-standing support for the importation of prescription drugs from abroad. Their timing couldn’t have been better. Days later, Belgian authorities seized over two million counterfeit drugs on their way from India to Africa. This incident serves as a chilling ...
Commentary
“Universal” Health Care in Hawaii: A Quarter Century of Failure
Today, the world learned that Hawaii is dropping its plan for “universal” health care for kids, Keiki Care, just seven months after it launched. (For some insightful commentary, see here.) But wait a minute… Hawaii already imposed “universal” health care in 1974! Or maybe not, I guess. In my analysis ...
Business & Economics
Cheer Up: There’s a Silver Lining for Tech
Chipmaker Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) said this week that despite its record US$10.2 billion in revenue for the third quarter, the company is worried that the global economic crisis will affect future performance. Despite such a general malaise across the industry, however, there is some very good news on the tech ...
California
Nickel & Dimed in San Francisco Health Care
Despite a (possibly short-term) victory in court, San Francisco’s Health Access Program faces an uphill struggle to provide so-called “universal” health care to San Franciscans. SF HAP, a.k.a. “Healthy San Francisco”, is the name given to the City’s tax hike on small businesses to fund it’s public health bureaucracy. Apparently, ...
Commentary
Costing Out California’s Global Warming Solutions Act
On Sept. 17, the California Air Resources Board released an economic analysis of their own implementation scheme for AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. The analysis said, “not only will the economy grow by a similar amount as we move toward 2020, but it will grow at ...
Business & Economics
Upper Midwest: Land of economically free
The Republicans held their convention in St. Paul this summer, but the real news from the Upper Midwest is the region’s renaissance in economic freedom, led by South Dakota. The Mount Rushmore State is number one among all 50 states in economic freedom, according to the recently released 2008 U.S. ...
Commentary
Port-Wine Stains: A Particularly Idiotic Statement on State Benefit Mandates
Me, that’s who. Alabama came in first place in the second edition of the Index of Health Ownership. I was so pleased that I asked Michael Ciamarra of the Alabama Policy Institute to collaborate with me on an op-ed for placement in local newspapers. As a result, I managed to ...
Commentary
A Ten Year View of Progress In Improving the Transition to College-1998-2008
This is a long blog, but puts together my analysis of our progress and integrates many components of past blogs. Revised version is in the Chronicle of Higher education on line, October 7, 2008 Most of the nation’s eighth graders aspire to college. Unfortunately, however, the majority of them will ...
Mayors join I-LAW in fight against lawsuit abuse
Marion Mayor Robert Butler and West Frankfort Mayor Marion Presley joined other mayors from throughout Southern Illinois in recognizing the work of Illinois Lawsuit Abuse Watch(I-LAW). Travis Akin, Executive Director of I-LAW, cited a recent report from the Harris Company that ranked Illinois 46th out of all 50 states for ...
Choice and Good Schools—Swedish Style
Say “Sweden” and most Americans think Volvo and IKEA. There is more to the Scandinavian country, however, than just sturdy cars and innovative furniture. Sweden is the world leader when it comes to parental choice in education. Up until 1991 local governments operated almost all Swedish schools. That changed with ...
Drug Importation is a ‘Reform’ We Can Do Without
Last month, both presidential candidates announced that they were reconsidering their long-standing support for the importation of prescription drugs from abroad. Their timing couldn’t have been better. Days later, Belgian authorities seized over two million counterfeit drugs on their way from India to Africa. This incident serves as a chilling ...
“Universal” Health Care in Hawaii: A Quarter Century of Failure
Today, the world learned that Hawaii is dropping its plan for “universal” health care for kids, Keiki Care, just seven months after it launched. (For some insightful commentary, see here.) But wait a minute… Hawaii already imposed “universal” health care in 1974! Or maybe not, I guess. In my analysis ...
Cheer Up: There’s a Silver Lining for Tech
Chipmaker Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) said this week that despite its record US$10.2 billion in revenue for the third quarter, the company is worried that the global economic crisis will affect future performance. Despite such a general malaise across the industry, however, there is some very good news on the tech ...
Nickel & Dimed in San Francisco Health Care
Despite a (possibly short-term) victory in court, San Francisco’s Health Access Program faces an uphill struggle to provide so-called “universal” health care to San Franciscans. SF HAP, a.k.a. “Healthy San Francisco”, is the name given to the City’s tax hike on small businesses to fund it’s public health bureaucracy. Apparently, ...
Costing Out California’s Global Warming Solutions Act
On Sept. 17, the California Air Resources Board released an economic analysis of their own implementation scheme for AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. The analysis said, “not only will the economy grow by a similar amount as we move toward 2020, but it will grow at ...
Upper Midwest: Land of economically free
The Republicans held their convention in St. Paul this summer, but the real news from the Upper Midwest is the region’s renaissance in economic freedom, led by South Dakota. The Mount Rushmore State is number one among all 50 states in economic freedom, according to the recently released 2008 U.S. ...
Port-Wine Stains: A Particularly Idiotic Statement on State Benefit Mandates
Me, that’s who. Alabama came in first place in the second edition of the Index of Health Ownership. I was so pleased that I asked Michael Ciamarra of the Alabama Policy Institute to collaborate with me on an op-ed for placement in local newspapers. As a result, I managed to ...
A Ten Year View of Progress In Improving the Transition to College-1998-2008
This is a long blog, but puts together my analysis of our progress and integrates many components of past blogs. Revised version is in the Chronicle of Higher education on line, October 7, 2008 Most of the nation’s eighth graders aspire to college. Unfortunately, however, the majority of them will ...
