Publications
Business & Economics
20 years later: Self esteem movement was utopian hucksterism
Twenty years ago, a California state document was flying off the shelves. “Toward a State of Esteem” was the final report of the California Task Force to Promote Self-Esteem and Personal and Social Responsibility. That body shut down in 1990, but Californians have good reason to look back. Then-Assemblyman John ...
K. Lloyd Billingsley
August 15, 2010
Health Care
BOOK RELEASE: THE TRUTH ABOUT OBAMACARE
San Francisco— President Obama’s national healthcare mandate will undoubtedly lead to the largest expansion of government in the history of the United States and will cost taxpayers at least $1 trillion over ten years. And that’s just the beginning, says Sally Pipes, author of The Truth About Obamacare. As candidates ...
Pacific Research Institute
August 5, 2010
Health Care
Leviathan’s Drug Problem
This study concludes that allowing American patients to access medicines that have already been approved in Europe would increase regulatory competition, enable more patient choice, and potentially save the lives of those suffering life-threatening illnesses and who currently have no treatment options. During a 12-month period in 2008 and 2009, ...
John R. Graham
July 27, 2010
Commentary
Medical Tort: Ranking the 50 States
Key Points States’ liability laws drive medical-tort costs, which increase health costs. Evidence indicates that medical-tort costs are higher than optimal, with consequences including unfair verdicts, reduced availability of doctors, and increased use of wasteful “defensive” medicine. Eight variables contribute to a medical-tort index that measures all 50 states’ success ...
John R. Graham
July 13, 2010
Education
Fostering Opportunity and Improving Achievement: The Benefits of a Foster-Care Scholarship Program in California
Fostering Opportunity and Improving Achievement: The Benefits of a Foster-Care Scholarship Program in California, by Vicki E. Murray, Ph.D., PRI associate director of Education Studies, and Evelyn B. Stacey, policy fellow, finds that adopting a Florida-style foster-care scholarship program in California would have no negative impact to state and public-school ...
Vicki E. Murray
June 30, 2010
California
Should The State Decide How Many Nurses a Hospital Must Hire?
Under ObamaCare, those who believe the government should decide how much medical care you deserve, and how it should be delivered, are eager to impose their preferences nationwide. Nurses’ unions lead the charge, armed with a recent study that could use more examination than it is getting from politicians and ...
John R. Graham
June 30, 2010
Business & Economics
Government by State Employees is Not Government by the People
SACRAMENTO—From Susanville to San Diego, California cities are struggling financially but now face more bad news. Assembly Bill 155, by Tony Mendoza, Artesia Democrat, would prevent California cities from filing for federal bankruptcy protection. The union-backed bill would allow a union-friendly state agency, the California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission, ...
K. Lloyd Billingsley
June 16, 2010
Business & Economics
Tech Titans or Political Pinatas: How Global Antitrust Laws String Up, Beat Down, and Hold Back America’s Leading Innovators
America’s leading tech companies are increasingly under fire from antitrust laws that are being used to crush competition, according to a new report by the Pacific Research Institute, a free-market think tank based in California. Tech Titans or Political Piñatas: How Global Antitrust Laws Spring Up, Beat Down, and Hold ...
Daniel R. Ballon
June 13, 2010
Health Care
The Federal Government Can Never “Fix” the “Doc Fix”
Key Points: Medicare Part B beneficiaries are facing a crisis of access to physicians, because the federal government sets fees at an inadequate level. The U.S. government has promised physicians that it will “fix” the fees for the long term, but has proven incompetent to do anything more than patch ...
John R. Graham
June 8, 2010
20 years later: Self esteem movement was utopian hucksterism
Twenty years ago, a California state document was flying off the shelves. “Toward a State of Esteem” was the final report of the California Task Force to Promote Self-Esteem and Personal and Social Responsibility. That body shut down in 1990, but Californians have good reason to look back. Then-Assemblyman John ...
BOOK RELEASE: THE TRUTH ABOUT OBAMACARE
San Francisco— President Obama’s national healthcare mandate will undoubtedly lead to the largest expansion of government in the history of the United States and will cost taxpayers at least $1 trillion over ten years. And that’s just the beginning, says Sally Pipes, author of The Truth About Obamacare. As candidates ...
Leviathan’s Drug Problem
This study concludes that allowing American patients to access medicines that have already been approved in Europe would increase regulatory competition, enable more patient choice, and potentially save the lives of those suffering life-threatening illnesses and who currently have no treatment options. During a 12-month period in 2008 and 2009, ...
Medical Tort: Ranking the 50 States
Key Points States’ liability laws drive medical-tort costs, which increase health costs. Evidence indicates that medical-tort costs are higher than optimal, with consequences including unfair verdicts, reduced availability of doctors, and increased use of wasteful “defensive” medicine. Eight variables contribute to a medical-tort index that measures all 50 states’ success ...
Fostering Opportunity and Improving Achievement: The Benefits of a Foster-Care Scholarship Program in California
Fostering Opportunity and Improving Achievement: The Benefits of a Foster-Care Scholarship Program in California, by Vicki E. Murray, Ph.D., PRI associate director of Education Studies, and Evelyn B. Stacey, policy fellow, finds that adopting a Florida-style foster-care scholarship program in California would have no negative impact to state and public-school ...
Should The State Decide How Many Nurses a Hospital Must Hire?
Under ObamaCare, those who believe the government should decide how much medical care you deserve, and how it should be delivered, are eager to impose their preferences nationwide. Nurses’ unions lead the charge, armed with a recent study that could use more examination than it is getting from politicians and ...
Government by State Employees is Not Government by the People
SACRAMENTO—From Susanville to San Diego, California cities are struggling financially but now face more bad news. Assembly Bill 155, by Tony Mendoza, Artesia Democrat, would prevent California cities from filing for federal bankruptcy protection. The union-backed bill would allow a union-friendly state agency, the California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission, ...
Tech Titans or Political Pinatas: How Global Antitrust Laws String Up, Beat Down, and Hold Back America’s Leading Innovators
America’s leading tech companies are increasingly under fire from antitrust laws that are being used to crush competition, according to a new report by the Pacific Research Institute, a free-market think tank based in California. Tech Titans or Political Piñatas: How Global Antitrust Laws Spring Up, Beat Down, and Hold ...
The Federal Government Can Never “Fix” the “Doc Fix”
Key Points: Medicare Part B beneficiaries are facing a crisis of access to physicians, because the federal government sets fees at an inadequate level. The U.S. government has promised physicians that it will “fix” the fees for the long term, but has proven incompetent to do anything more than patch ...