Studies
California
NEW STUDY: Free-Market Reforms, Private Charities Key to Addressing San Francisco’s Growing Homeless Crisis
A new brief on San Francisco’s homeless crisis published today by the nonpartisan Pacific Research Institute concludes that the city could make great strides in reducing homelessness by encouraging and supporting private sector involvement, while making policy changes that will invite a homebuilding boom. The brief includes more than a ...
Health Care
Much-Publicized Report on Financial Returns on Cancer Treatments Contains Significant Flaws and Biases, Finds New PRI Brief
The World Health Organization (WHO) is advocating that the prices of cancer treatments are excessive, but its report that justifies this conclusion contains significant biases that drastically over-estimates the revenues multiple over research and development (R&D) costs, according to a new issue brief released today by the Center for Medical ...
Agriculture
Issue Brief: Dishonest Propaganda Sprouts from Organic Agriculture
In The Wealth of Nations, the 18th century economist and philosopher Adam Smith observed about the chicanery of some businessmen, “People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.” ...
Business & Economics
New Study Finds ESG Funds Underperform Broader Investment Funds Over Long-Term
ESG funds that champion environmental and social causes have historically underperformed funds investing in the broader market over the long-term, so finds a new study released today by California-based, free-market think tank, the Pacific Research Institute. “In recent years, ESG funds have been presented to investors as socially responsible as ...
Blog
CAPITAL IDEAS: Cracking Down on Fracking in California—Is it The Smart Thing to Do?
DOWNLOAD THE PDF Jerry Brown left office in January as one of the most popular governors in California history. He also left successor Gavin Newsom with a few headaches. Among the more prominent unresolved issues are the high-speed rail project, the housing and homeless crises, and runaway public-employee pension obligations. ...
Blog
CAPITAL IDEAS: Don’t Confuse Private Prisons with The Bastille
Download the PDF They are not as unpopular in California as President Trump is, but private prisons are becoming a preferred target of politicians. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has a large blue-plate special of problems to solve, is at the forefront of a campaign to end the state’s relationship with ...
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 ...
NEW STUDY: Free-Market Reforms, Private Charities Key to Addressing San Francisco’s Growing Homeless Crisis
A new brief on San Francisco’s homeless crisis published today by the nonpartisan Pacific Research Institute concludes that the city could make great strides in reducing homelessness by encouraging and supporting private sector involvement, while making policy changes that will invite a homebuilding boom. The brief includes more than a ...
Much-Publicized Report on Financial Returns on Cancer Treatments Contains Significant Flaws and Biases, Finds New PRI Brief
The World Health Organization (WHO) is advocating that the prices of cancer treatments are excessive, but its report that justifies this conclusion contains significant biases that drastically over-estimates the revenues multiple over research and development (R&D) costs, according to a new issue brief released today by the Center for Medical ...
Issue Brief: Dishonest Propaganda Sprouts from Organic Agriculture
In The Wealth of Nations, the 18th century economist and philosopher Adam Smith observed about the chicanery of some businessmen, “People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.” ...
New Study Finds ESG Funds Underperform Broader Investment Funds Over Long-Term
ESG funds that champion environmental and social causes have historically underperformed funds investing in the broader market over the long-term, so finds a new study released today by California-based, free-market think tank, the Pacific Research Institute. “In recent years, ESG funds have been presented to investors as socially responsible as ...
CAPITAL IDEAS: Cracking Down on Fracking in California—Is it The Smart Thing to Do?
DOWNLOAD THE PDF Jerry Brown left office in January as one of the most popular governors in California history. He also left successor Gavin Newsom with a few headaches. Among the more prominent unresolved issues are the high-speed rail project, the housing and homeless crises, and runaway public-employee pension obligations. ...
CAPITAL IDEAS: Don’t Confuse Private Prisons with The Bastille
Download the PDF They are not as unpopular in California as President Trump is, but private prisons are becoming a preferred target of politicians. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has a large blue-plate special of problems to solve, is at the forefront of a campaign to end the state’s relationship with ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
