Studies

Book

Just Released: New Book Shows Parents and Students are Choosing Diversity When Enrolling in Charter Schools

One of the key traits that distinguishes charter schools from traditional public schools is the diversity of educational experiences promoted by the ability to choose, writes Lance Izumi in his new book Choosing Diversity, published by the Pacific Research Institute. Watch a brief video of Izumi talking about his new ...
Blog

NEW STUDY: Costly Regulations Hurt Entrepreneurship, Reform Needed to ‘Break Down Barriers’ for Jobs, Innovation

Costly regulations serve as a barrier to entrepreneurship, small business growth, innovation, and job opportunities to lift people into the middle class, concludes the first paper in a new series from the California-based, free-market think tank, the Pacific Research Institute. Click here to download the first paper in the Breaking ...
Blog

CAPITAL IDEAS: California’s Plastic Police Always on The Job

DOWNLOAD THE PDF It was inevitable. California lawmakers’ assault on choice continues in 2019. The plastic-bag ban already in effect is not enough to satisfy their appetite for micromanaging others’ lives. After successfully outlawing single-use plastic bags in grocery stores and other large retailers, with the help of voters in ...
Blog

CAPITAL IDEAS – CEQA: How To Mend It Since You Can’t End It

It is no coincidence that California’s housing prices began to diverge from the rest of the country in 1970 – the very year that the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) was enacted. According to California’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst, “Between 1970 and 1980, California home prices went from 30 percent above ...
Business & Economics

Facing $22 Trillion National Debt, New PRI Report Shows How “15 Percent Solution” Can Cut Debt, Grow Economy

On the heels of the news that the national debt has surpassed $22 trillion, the Pacific Research Institute today recommended reforms to bring spending under control, reduce the national debt and maximize economic growth in the latest report in its Beyond the New Normal series. “Just last week, as we learned ...
Agriculture

CAPITAL IDEAS: The Ripple Effects of Scientific Illiteracy Can Have Dire Consequences

DOWNLOAD THE PDF There is currently a trend toward misunderstanding or misrepresenting science, and it starts early. A grade-school teacher asked the class whether a whale is a fish or a mammal. One boy raised his hand and offered, “Let’s take a vote!” This phenomenon, variously dubbed “the death of ...
Agriculture

CAPITAL IDEAS: California’s Recent History of Manipulative Taxation

Download the PDF The rest of the country wasn’t surprised when California recently considered becoming the first state in the country to tax text messages. It almost seems as if there is a group of unelected bureaucrats that does nothing but cloister itself behind closed doors and dream up new ...
Business & Economics

New Study Shows California/New York Approach to Fighting Global Warming Hurts Working Class and Minority Communities

Legislating Energy Poverty Shows Market-Based Policies More Effective in Cutting Emissions The big government approach to fighting ‘global warming’ taken by California and New York hits working class and minority communities the hardest, a new report released today by the California-based free-market think tank, the Pacific Research Institute, concludes. “Overzealous ...
Blog

CAPITAL IDEAS: California Ranked Last Again – Do Lawmakers Even Care?

DOWNLOAD THE PDF Keeping track of the many informative lists in which California ranks at or near the bottom is a wearying task. It is also discouraging. This state, once the envy of all others, is losing its luster because policymakers continue to take it down a dark road. While ...
Health Care

New PRI Study: Congress Has Some Unfinished Business – Acting to Repeal the Medical Device Tax

The controversial medical device tax hurts doctors, patients and manufacturers and should be repealed by Congress – according a new study released today by the California-based, free-market think tank, the Pacific Research Institute. Click here to download a copy of the study. “As the congressional session winds down, Congress has ...
Book

Just Released: New Book Shows Parents and Students are Choosing Diversity When Enrolling in Charter Schools

One of the key traits that distinguishes charter schools from traditional public schools is the diversity of educational experiences promoted by the ability to choose, writes Lance Izumi in his new book Choosing Diversity, published by the Pacific Research Institute. Watch a brief video of Izumi talking about his new ...
Blog

NEW STUDY: Costly Regulations Hurt Entrepreneurship, Reform Needed to ‘Break Down Barriers’ for Jobs, Innovation

Costly regulations serve as a barrier to entrepreneurship, small business growth, innovation, and job opportunities to lift people into the middle class, concludes the first paper in a new series from the California-based, free-market think tank, the Pacific Research Institute. Click here to download the first paper in the Breaking ...
Blog

CAPITAL IDEAS: California’s Plastic Police Always on The Job

DOWNLOAD THE PDF It was inevitable. California lawmakers’ assault on choice continues in 2019. The plastic-bag ban already in effect is not enough to satisfy their appetite for micromanaging others’ lives. After successfully outlawing single-use plastic bags in grocery stores and other large retailers, with the help of voters in ...
Blog

CAPITAL IDEAS – CEQA: How To Mend It Since You Can’t End It

It is no coincidence that California’s housing prices began to diverge from the rest of the country in 1970 – the very year that the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) was enacted. According to California’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst, “Between 1970 and 1980, California home prices went from 30 percent above ...
Business & Economics

Facing $22 Trillion National Debt, New PRI Report Shows How “15 Percent Solution” Can Cut Debt, Grow Economy

On the heels of the news that the national debt has surpassed $22 trillion, the Pacific Research Institute today recommended reforms to bring spending under control, reduce the national debt and maximize economic growth in the latest report in its Beyond the New Normal series. “Just last week, as we learned ...
Agriculture

CAPITAL IDEAS: The Ripple Effects of Scientific Illiteracy Can Have Dire Consequences

DOWNLOAD THE PDF There is currently a trend toward misunderstanding or misrepresenting science, and it starts early. A grade-school teacher asked the class whether a whale is a fish or a mammal. One boy raised his hand and offered, “Let’s take a vote!” This phenomenon, variously dubbed “the death of ...
Agriculture

CAPITAL IDEAS: California’s Recent History of Manipulative Taxation

Download the PDF The rest of the country wasn’t surprised when California recently considered becoming the first state in the country to tax text messages. It almost seems as if there is a group of unelected bureaucrats that does nothing but cloister itself behind closed doors and dream up new ...
Business & Economics

New Study Shows California/New York Approach to Fighting Global Warming Hurts Working Class and Minority Communities

Legislating Energy Poverty Shows Market-Based Policies More Effective in Cutting Emissions The big government approach to fighting ‘global warming’ taken by California and New York hits working class and minority communities the hardest, a new report released today by the California-based free-market think tank, the Pacific Research Institute, concludes. “Overzealous ...
Blog

CAPITAL IDEAS: California Ranked Last Again – Do Lawmakers Even Care?

DOWNLOAD THE PDF Keeping track of the many informative lists in which California ranks at or near the bottom is a wearying task. It is also discouraging. This state, once the envy of all others, is losing its luster because policymakers continue to take it down a dark road. While ...
Health Care

New PRI Study: Congress Has Some Unfinished Business – Acting to Repeal the Medical Device Tax

The controversial medical device tax hurts doctors, patients and manufacturers and should be repealed by Congress – according a new study released today by the California-based, free-market think tank, the Pacific Research Institute. Click here to download a copy of the study. “As the congressional session winds down, Congress has ...
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