Publications
Business & Economics
Tort Tally 2009
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 18 reforms to state civil-justice systems that significantly reduce tort losses and/or tort ...
Business & Economics
Why the Silver State Mines the Golden State for Business
Nevada is running a rather edgy advertising campaign to lure businesses from the Golden State to the Silver State. This could serve as a wakeup call for California, but the response so far is not encouraging. The $1 million campaign from the Nevada Development Authority puts a porcine spin on ...
Education
Will “Race to the Top” Money Talk Loud Enough to Drown Out Union Complaints?
On July 24, President Obama laid out a plan for incentive-based education reform in a speech at the United States Department of Education. The incentives come in the form of $4 billion in federal “Race to the Top” money up for grabs by schools as part of his Economic Recovery ...
Climate Change
Climate Modeling is Far From a Precise Science
A recent study of paleoclimate, the results of which appear in the August issue of Nature Geoscience, finds that today’s climate models do not accurately predict the most similar previous episode of climate warming in the geologic record. California Republic, August 21, 2009 A recent study of paleoclimate, the results ...
Business & Economics
Assessing the State of the Golden State
The Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a free-market think tank based in California, found that California’s labor performance over the last five years is among the worst performing in the nation, ranking 48th and besting only Michigan and Mississippi. The ranking was published in the new study “Assessing the State of ...
Education
Down but Not Out in D.C.: Bi-Partisan, Bi-Cameral Efforts to Continue the Opportunity Scholarship Program
This Policy Brief was co-authored by Evelyn B. Stacey, Education Studies Policy Fellow at the Pacific Research Institute in Sacramento, California. Executive Summary This June, dozens of students who had used D.C. Opportunity Scholarships graduated from their chosen private high schools. “We stand as examples of just how successful this ...
California
Governor Schwarzenegger Misunderstands California’s Lessons for Federal Health Reform
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently wrote a letter to congressional leaders expressing concern about three elements of the looming federal health care take-over: increasing Medicaid costs; wellness, prevention, and quality; and coverage for all. The July 31 letter shows that the governor has failed to learn the lessons of his ...
Health Care
The Health Care Crisis Ain’t What It Used to Be: Personal Spending on Non-Health Goods and Services Has Increased by One-Third Since 1995
“The cost of our health care has weighed down the economy and the conscience of our nation long enough,” claims President Obama.1 This belief,unfortunately,does not jibe with the facts. In 1959,before massive government involvement in taxing,financing,and controlling Americans’access to medical services,spending on health goods and services accounted for only 6 ...
Business & Economics
Will a California-Style Texting Ban Make the Nation Safer?
Four Senate Democrats last week introduced the Avoiding Life-Endangering and Reckless Texting by Drivers (ALERT) which bans text messaging while driving in all 50 states. Lead sponsor Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) believes that “drivers will finally be held responsible for dangerous behavior that puts the public at risk.” ALERT is ...
Business & Economics
The Gender Gap in Happiness
“By many objective measures the lives of women in the United States have improved over the past 35 years, yet we show that measures of subjective well-being indicate that women’s happiness had declined both absolutely and relative to men. . . These declines have continued and a new gender gap ...
Tort Tally 2009
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 18 reforms to state civil-justice systems that significantly reduce tort losses and/or tort ...
Why the Silver State Mines the Golden State for Business
Nevada is running a rather edgy advertising campaign to lure businesses from the Golden State to the Silver State. This could serve as a wakeup call for California, but the response so far is not encouraging. The $1 million campaign from the Nevada Development Authority puts a porcine spin on ...
Will “Race to the Top” Money Talk Loud Enough to Drown Out Union Complaints?
On July 24, President Obama laid out a plan for incentive-based education reform in a speech at the United States Department of Education. The incentives come in the form of $4 billion in federal “Race to the Top” money up for grabs by schools as part of his Economic Recovery ...
Climate Modeling is Far From a Precise Science
A recent study of paleoclimate, the results of which appear in the August issue of Nature Geoscience, finds that today’s climate models do not accurately predict the most similar previous episode of climate warming in the geologic record. California Republic, August 21, 2009 A recent study of paleoclimate, the results ...
Assessing the State of the Golden State
The Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a free-market think tank based in California, found that California’s labor performance over the last five years is among the worst performing in the nation, ranking 48th and besting only Michigan and Mississippi. The ranking was published in the new study “Assessing the State of ...
Down but Not Out in D.C.: Bi-Partisan, Bi-Cameral Efforts to Continue the Opportunity Scholarship Program
This Policy Brief was co-authored by Evelyn B. Stacey, Education Studies Policy Fellow at the Pacific Research Institute in Sacramento, California. Executive Summary This June, dozens of students who had used D.C. Opportunity Scholarships graduated from their chosen private high schools. “We stand as examples of just how successful this ...
Governor Schwarzenegger Misunderstands California’s Lessons for Federal Health Reform
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently wrote a letter to congressional leaders expressing concern about three elements of the looming federal health care take-over: increasing Medicaid costs; wellness, prevention, and quality; and coverage for all. The July 31 letter shows that the governor has failed to learn the lessons of his ...
The Health Care Crisis Ain’t What It Used to Be: Personal Spending on Non-Health Goods and Services Has Increased by One-Third Since 1995
“The cost of our health care has weighed down the economy and the conscience of our nation long enough,” claims President Obama.1 This belief,unfortunately,does not jibe with the facts. In 1959,before massive government involvement in taxing,financing,and controlling Americans’access to medical services,spending on health goods and services accounted for only 6 ...
Will a California-Style Texting Ban Make the Nation Safer?
Four Senate Democrats last week introduced the Avoiding Life-Endangering and Reckless Texting by Drivers (ALERT) which bans text messaging while driving in all 50 states. Lead sponsor Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) believes that “drivers will finally be held responsible for dangerous behavior that puts the public at risk.” ALERT is ...
The Gender Gap in Happiness
“By many objective measures the lives of women in the United States have improved over the past 35 years, yet we show that measures of subjective well-being indicate that women’s happiness had declined both absolutely and relative to men. . . These declines have continued and a new gender gap ...
