Studies

Business & Economics

An Economic Assessment of New York’s Smoking Policies

By some measures, New York’s decline in smoking incidence, particularly youth smoking incidence, was even less flattering. The percentage of 9th through 12th graders in the U.S. who smoked more than 10 cigarettes per day fell from 13.8 percent in 1997 to 7.8 percent in 2011, it rose in New ...
California

2013 Supplement to the 2011 Environmental Almanac

The reduction in air pollution continues to be the most successful domain of pollution reduction since the first Earth Day in 1970. Since the first edition of this Almanac two years ago, reductions in air pollution have been astonishing. The EPA recently updated its inventory of ambient air pollution levels ...
Business & Economics

New Analysis of Orange County Toll Roads

New Analysis of Orange County Toll Roads Reveals Unsustainable Debt Levels, Cost Overruns, Financial Mismanagement, and an est. $1.7 Billion in Taxpayer Subsidies Proposed refinancing plans will add hundreds of millions in debt without addressing fundamental issues, former California Finance Director Donna Arduin finds The Pacific Research Institute released a ...
Business & Economics

Municipal Bankruptcy: An Overview for Local Officials

Cities and other municipalities falling on hard financial times is nothing new, but it is rare that any such entity files for bankruptcy as a way of addressing its massive debts. Out of nearly 89,500 municipalities in the country, there were just 239 municipal bankruptcy filings between 1980 and 2010.1 ...
Health Care

Myths and Realities of Obamacare

Introduction Three years ago on March 23, 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordability Act (Obamacare) was signed into law. With the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on June 28, 2012 that the individual mandate is constitutional under Congress’ power to tax and the November 6 election results, the law is in ...
Agriculture

New Report Provides Recommendations to Improve CA’s Agriculture Industry

San Francisco – The Pacific Research Institute, a free-market think tank based in San Francisco, released a new report today that reviews the state of California’s agriculture production, examines the barriers that are impeding California’s agricultural economy, and provides recommendations for policy reforms that will spur additional growth. Growing California’s ...
California

Educational Impact of the Khan Academy and Provides Recommendations for Greater Adoption in California

The Pacific Research Institute, a free-market think tank based in San Francisco, released a new report today highlighting the successes of the Khan Academy, including improved learning and significant cost savings. The report also discusses the bureaucratic obstacles that hold back its expansion in California and makes recommendations for removing ...
Business & Economics

California’s 33% Renewable Portfolio Standard Will Raise Power Rates by 13 Percent

San Francisco – The Pacific Research Institute, a free-market think tank based in San Francisco, released a new report today that finds that California’s 33 percent renewable portfolio standard (RPS) will impose upon the state in 2020 an aggregate marginal economic cost of about $5 billion in year 2011 dollars. ...
Education

Next-Gen Education

The Pacific Research Institute is pleased to co-sponsor the study “Education Savings Accounts: A Path to Give All Children an Effective Education and Prepare Them for Life” by Jonathan Butcher, Education Director at the Goldwater Institute. Education savings accounts provide an innovative solution to children’s educational needs. Conceived by the ...
Business & Economics

Corporate Income Tax Elasticity: How Republicans Can Have Lower Tax Rates and Democrats Can Collect More Tax Revenue!

When the government increases tax rates, it assumes that it will collect more tax revenue dollars. Generally, this is the case. But there may well be an important exception that occurs because of the elasticity of taxation. Despite the presence of many contaminating variables, a persistent pattern is present in ...
Business & Economics

An Economic Assessment of New York’s Smoking Policies

By some measures, New York’s decline in smoking incidence, particularly youth smoking incidence, was even less flattering. The percentage of 9th through 12th graders in the U.S. who smoked more than 10 cigarettes per day fell from 13.8 percent in 1997 to 7.8 percent in 2011, it rose in New ...
California

2013 Supplement to the 2011 Environmental Almanac

The reduction in air pollution continues to be the most successful domain of pollution reduction since the first Earth Day in 1970. Since the first edition of this Almanac two years ago, reductions in air pollution have been astonishing. The EPA recently updated its inventory of ambient air pollution levels ...
Business & Economics

New Analysis of Orange County Toll Roads

New Analysis of Orange County Toll Roads Reveals Unsustainable Debt Levels, Cost Overruns, Financial Mismanagement, and an est. $1.7 Billion in Taxpayer Subsidies Proposed refinancing plans will add hundreds of millions in debt without addressing fundamental issues, former California Finance Director Donna Arduin finds The Pacific Research Institute released a ...
Business & Economics

Municipal Bankruptcy: An Overview for Local Officials

Cities and other municipalities falling on hard financial times is nothing new, but it is rare that any such entity files for bankruptcy as a way of addressing its massive debts. Out of nearly 89,500 municipalities in the country, there were just 239 municipal bankruptcy filings between 1980 and 2010.1 ...
Health Care

Myths and Realities of Obamacare

Introduction Three years ago on March 23, 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordability Act (Obamacare) was signed into law. With the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on June 28, 2012 that the individual mandate is constitutional under Congress’ power to tax and the November 6 election results, the law is in ...
Agriculture

New Report Provides Recommendations to Improve CA’s Agriculture Industry

San Francisco – The Pacific Research Institute, a free-market think tank based in San Francisco, released a new report today that reviews the state of California’s agriculture production, examines the barriers that are impeding California’s agricultural economy, and provides recommendations for policy reforms that will spur additional growth. Growing California’s ...
California

Educational Impact of the Khan Academy and Provides Recommendations for Greater Adoption in California

The Pacific Research Institute, a free-market think tank based in San Francisco, released a new report today highlighting the successes of the Khan Academy, including improved learning and significant cost savings. The report also discusses the bureaucratic obstacles that hold back its expansion in California and makes recommendations for removing ...
Business & Economics

California’s 33% Renewable Portfolio Standard Will Raise Power Rates by 13 Percent

San Francisco – The Pacific Research Institute, a free-market think tank based in San Francisco, released a new report today that finds that California’s 33 percent renewable portfolio standard (RPS) will impose upon the state in 2020 an aggregate marginal economic cost of about $5 billion in year 2011 dollars. ...
Education

Next-Gen Education

The Pacific Research Institute is pleased to co-sponsor the study “Education Savings Accounts: A Path to Give All Children an Effective Education and Prepare Them for Life” by Jonathan Butcher, Education Director at the Goldwater Institute. Education savings accounts provide an innovative solution to children’s educational needs. Conceived by the ...
Business & Economics

Corporate Income Tax Elasticity: How Republicans Can Have Lower Tax Rates and Democrats Can Collect More Tax Revenue!

When the government increases tax rates, it assumes that it will collect more tax revenue dollars. Generally, this is the case. But there may well be an important exception that occurs because of the elasticity of taxation. Despite the presence of many contaminating variables, a persistent pattern is present in ...
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