Publications
Business & Economics
Going Down Swinging in 2010
Here at the Contrarian we would be lax in our duties if we ignored the sporting world. Our readers will recall that we took notice of Billy-Jean King, still crowing about her 1973 win over Bobby Riggs, a washed-up player old enough to be her father. We also noted that ...
Commentary
Demography Is Still Not Destiny
Florida ’s low-income, Hispanic, and black fourth graders now outperform all California fourth graders on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading assessment according to a policy brief released today by the Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a California-based think tank. Demography is Still Not Destiny attributes this striking gap ...
Education
Lessons from Florida for California’s New Legislators
California’s new state education boss, Tom Torlakson, has his work cut out for him. He might start by explaining to parents why Florida, a demographically similar state, continues to outpace California in student achievement. On that score the Golden State still sputters around the bottom of national rankings. California apologists ...
Commentary
Should Your State Establish an Obamacare Health Insurance Exchange?
Obamacare is unpopular, unwieldy, expensive, likely unconstitutional, and will shortly be a prime target for repeal. Obamacare is unpopular, unwieldy, expensive, likely unconstitutional, and will shortly be a prime target for repeal. And the worst is yet to come: Obamacare expects states to do much of the law’s dirty work. ...
Health Care
Beyond ObamaCare: The Ninth and Tenth Amendments and the “Right to Health Care”
Key Points: Libertarians and conservatives need not fear a “right to health care,” because defining such a right prevents ObamaCare and similar federal interference, according to the Ninth and Tenth Amendments. A number of legislators and attorneys general have decided to challenge ObamaCare on constitutional grounds, citing the Tenth Amendment, ...
Agriculture
Is Your Food Making the Planet Sick?
Modern agriculture has been blamed for a host of environmental problems, including global warming, water pollution, and ecosystem damage. While growing crops and raising livestock does have significant environmental impact, in many cases the situation has been misrepresented or oversimplified, and some of the proposed solutions have been ineffective or ...
Business & Economics
Costs and Consequences: Rate-of-Return Biases, Rate Suppression, and Market Incentives for Quality in Property/Casualty Insurance Regulation
The imposition of legal and regulatory constraints on market pricesprice controls, or rate suppression in the case of the property/casualty insurance marketis an important tool with which public officials can effect wealth transfers among groups and economic sectors. Rate suppression can take the form of allowed rates too low to ...
Business & Economics
California Tax Facts 2011
State of California General Fund Tax Revenue, Fiscal Year 2010 July 1, 2009 June 30, 2010 up 5.6% from FY 2009 Source: California State Controller (p. 12) $86.58 billion California Tax Facts 2011 – Revenue Sour Personal Income Taxes $44.83 billion 52% Retail Sales and Use Taxes $26.74 billion ...
Business & Economics
No Bang for the Taxpayer’s Buck: Why California Must Reform Spending and Trim Government
California Government Spending The estimate for California’s total state spending in 2009–10 is $125.1 billion, of which General Fund spending constitutes 69.1 percent. Total state spending (nominal) has increased from $75.3 billion in 1998–99 to $125.1 billion in 2009–10 (an increase of 66.2 percent). The increases over this period outpaced ...
Business & Economics
PRI Study: Californians Deserve Better Value for Tax Dollars
San Francisco— California government can do more with fewer taxpayer dollars, according to a new study released today by the Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a free-market think tank based in San Francisco. No Bang for the Taxpayer’s Buck: Why California Must Reform Spending and Trim Government finds that California is ...
Going Down Swinging in 2010
Here at the Contrarian we would be lax in our duties if we ignored the sporting world. Our readers will recall that we took notice of Billy-Jean King, still crowing about her 1973 win over Bobby Riggs, a washed-up player old enough to be her father. We also noted that ...
Demography Is Still Not Destiny
Florida ’s low-income, Hispanic, and black fourth graders now outperform all California fourth graders on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading assessment according to a policy brief released today by the Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a California-based think tank. Demography is Still Not Destiny attributes this striking gap ...
Lessons from Florida for California’s New Legislators
California’s new state education boss, Tom Torlakson, has his work cut out for him. He might start by explaining to parents why Florida, a demographically similar state, continues to outpace California in student achievement. On that score the Golden State still sputters around the bottom of national rankings. California apologists ...
Should Your State Establish an Obamacare Health Insurance Exchange?
Obamacare is unpopular, unwieldy, expensive, likely unconstitutional, and will shortly be a prime target for repeal. Obamacare is unpopular, unwieldy, expensive, likely unconstitutional, and will shortly be a prime target for repeal. And the worst is yet to come: Obamacare expects states to do much of the law’s dirty work. ...
Beyond ObamaCare: The Ninth and Tenth Amendments and the “Right to Health Care”
Key Points: Libertarians and conservatives need not fear a “right to health care,” because defining such a right prevents ObamaCare and similar federal interference, according to the Ninth and Tenth Amendments. A number of legislators and attorneys general have decided to challenge ObamaCare on constitutional grounds, citing the Tenth Amendment, ...
Is Your Food Making the Planet Sick?
Modern agriculture has been blamed for a host of environmental problems, including global warming, water pollution, and ecosystem damage. While growing crops and raising livestock does have significant environmental impact, in many cases the situation has been misrepresented or oversimplified, and some of the proposed solutions have been ineffective or ...
Costs and Consequences: Rate-of-Return Biases, Rate Suppression, and Market Incentives for Quality in Property/Casualty Insurance Regulation
The imposition of legal and regulatory constraints on market pricesprice controls, or rate suppression in the case of the property/casualty insurance marketis an important tool with which public officials can effect wealth transfers among groups and economic sectors. Rate suppression can take the form of allowed rates too low to ...
California Tax Facts 2011
State of California General Fund Tax Revenue, Fiscal Year 2010 July 1, 2009 June 30, 2010 up 5.6% from FY 2009 Source: California State Controller (p. 12) $86.58 billion California Tax Facts 2011 – Revenue Sour Personal Income Taxes $44.83 billion 52% Retail Sales and Use Taxes $26.74 billion ...
No Bang for the Taxpayer’s Buck: Why California Must Reform Spending and Trim Government
California Government Spending The estimate for California’s total state spending in 2009–10 is $125.1 billion, of which General Fund spending constitutes 69.1 percent. Total state spending (nominal) has increased from $75.3 billion in 1998–99 to $125.1 billion in 2009–10 (an increase of 66.2 percent). The increases over this period outpaced ...
PRI Study: Californians Deserve Better Value for Tax Dollars
San Francisco— California government can do more with fewer taxpayer dollars, according to a new study released today by the Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a free-market think tank based in San Francisco. No Bang for the Taxpayer’s Buck: Why California Must Reform Spending and Trim Government finds that California is ...
