Studies
Health Care
Presidential Prescriptions: Diagnosing the Candidates’ Health Reforms
Senator McCain proposes positive change, Senator Obama prefers business as usual—only more of it The Pacific Research Institute (PRI) released a voters’ guide to the health policies proposed by presidential candidates Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama. Presidential Prescriptions: Diagnosing the Candidates’ Health Reforms concludes that Senator McCain’s promise ...
Business & Economics
Lessons from the $388-Million Hyatt Case: How current tax policy hurts California, and how the state can fix its revenue problem
California’s financial problems may have gotten worse by $388 million, according to an August 16 Nevada trial verdict in favor of an inventor mistreated by California’s Franchise Tax Board. The unprecedented case highlights California’s enforcement tactics and points to the solution for state revenue instability. Gilbert P. Hyatt, an electrical ...
Business & Economics
New Report Reveals Which States Have Most Economic Freedom
South Dakota is most free, New York most economically oppressed San Francisco – The Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a free-market think tank based in California, today released the U.S. Economic Freedom Index: 2008 Report, a ranking of economic freedom in the 50 states. Published in association with Forbes, the Index ...
Education
Do the Math – Or Let Parents Pick a School That Will
Last summer, when the California State Board of Education unveiled a plan to require all 8th graders to take algebra by 2011, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell opposed the move. That stance might strike parents as odd but California educrats have been fighting higher standards in math for ...
Business & Economics
Will a lawsuit today keep Apple away?
Last week Psystar, an obscure Miami-based company, launched a legal attack on Apple that could cripple one of California’s key high-tech innovators. The case offers lessons for entrepreneurs and gives the courts an opportunity to end a legal scam that hurts consumers. In April, Psystar began selling inexpensive Mac knock-offs ...
Commentary
Court Re-Connects with Reality in Homeschool Reversal
SACRAMENTO – Earlier this year, California’s Second District Court of Appeal shocked parents and lawmakers by effectively banning the homeschooling of children. In my column “Court Out of Touch with Reality in Homeschool Decision ,” I pointed out that the court had ignored a longtime state practice that gave approval ...
Business & Economics
How Water, Oil, and Government Mix in California
On August 6, the California Coastal Commission approved a desalination plant at Carlsbad in San Diego County, a region with severe water needs in normal times and hard hit by the current drought. The $300-million for-profit venture by the Poseidon Resources Corporation aims to produce as much as 50 million ...
Health Care
2008 U.S. Index of Health Ownership
National Think Tank Releases State Rankings on Health Ownership Alabama Comes Out on Top, New York Finishes Last San Francisco-Americans lack the basic freedom to make their own health care decisions according to the second edition of the U.S. Index of Health Ownership, an annual report by the Pacific Research ...
Government Spending
Ranking Health Care in the States: The Most Important Input is the Patient
State-Based Health Reforms Demand State-Based Performance Measurements This month, PRI publishes the second edition of the U.S. Index of Health Ownership (IHOP), the only project that ranks states’ health care according to principles of individual choice. This is very different from other rankings of health care in the states, because ...
Education
Demography Is Not Destiny: Reform Lessons from Florida on Overcoming Achievement Gaps
The Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a free-market think tank based in California, today released a report showing that a disadvantaged socio-economic background does not necessarily consign students to poor academic performance. According to Demography Is Not Destiny: Reform Lessons from Florida on Overcoming Achievement Gaps, low-income students in Florida consistently ...
Presidential Prescriptions: Diagnosing the Candidates’ Health Reforms
Senator McCain proposes positive change, Senator Obama prefers business as usual—only more of it The Pacific Research Institute (PRI) released a voters’ guide to the health policies proposed by presidential candidates Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama. Presidential Prescriptions: Diagnosing the Candidates’ Health Reforms concludes that Senator McCain’s promise ...
Lessons from the $388-Million Hyatt Case: How current tax policy hurts California, and how the state can fix its revenue problem
California’s financial problems may have gotten worse by $388 million, according to an August 16 Nevada trial verdict in favor of an inventor mistreated by California’s Franchise Tax Board. The unprecedented case highlights California’s enforcement tactics and points to the solution for state revenue instability. Gilbert P. Hyatt, an electrical ...
New Report Reveals Which States Have Most Economic Freedom
South Dakota is most free, New York most economically oppressed San Francisco – The Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a free-market think tank based in California, today released the U.S. Economic Freedom Index: 2008 Report, a ranking of economic freedom in the 50 states. Published in association with Forbes, the Index ...
Do the Math – Or Let Parents Pick a School That Will
Last summer, when the California State Board of Education unveiled a plan to require all 8th graders to take algebra by 2011, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell opposed the move. That stance might strike parents as odd but California educrats have been fighting higher standards in math for ...
Will a lawsuit today keep Apple away?
Last week Psystar, an obscure Miami-based company, launched a legal attack on Apple that could cripple one of California’s key high-tech innovators. The case offers lessons for entrepreneurs and gives the courts an opportunity to end a legal scam that hurts consumers. In April, Psystar began selling inexpensive Mac knock-offs ...
Court Re-Connects with Reality in Homeschool Reversal
SACRAMENTO – Earlier this year, California’s Second District Court of Appeal shocked parents and lawmakers by effectively banning the homeschooling of children. In my column “Court Out of Touch with Reality in Homeschool Decision ,” I pointed out that the court had ignored a longtime state practice that gave approval ...
How Water, Oil, and Government Mix in California
On August 6, the California Coastal Commission approved a desalination plant at Carlsbad in San Diego County, a region with severe water needs in normal times and hard hit by the current drought. The $300-million for-profit venture by the Poseidon Resources Corporation aims to produce as much as 50 million ...
2008 U.S. Index of Health Ownership
National Think Tank Releases State Rankings on Health Ownership Alabama Comes Out on Top, New York Finishes Last San Francisco-Americans lack the basic freedom to make their own health care decisions according to the second edition of the U.S. Index of Health Ownership, an annual report by the Pacific Research ...
Ranking Health Care in the States: The Most Important Input is the Patient
State-Based Health Reforms Demand State-Based Performance Measurements This month, PRI publishes the second edition of the U.S. Index of Health Ownership (IHOP), the only project that ranks states’ health care according to principles of individual choice. This is very different from other rankings of health care in the states, because ...
Demography Is Not Destiny: Reform Lessons from Florida on Overcoming Achievement Gaps
The Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a free-market think tank based in California, today released a report showing that a disadvantaged socio-economic background does not necessarily consign students to poor academic performance. According to Demography Is Not Destiny: Reform Lessons from Florida on Overcoming Achievement Gaps, low-income students in Florida consistently ...
