Studies
Blog
CAPITAL IDEAS: New Lithium Tax Latest Battle in California’s War on Cars
DOWNLOAD THE PDF California’s 2022 budget includes a tax on lithium, which is necessary for building electric vehicle batteries. It’s almost as if policymakers aren’t as interested in forcing people into electric vehicles as they are pushing them out of cars altogether. The flat-rate tax, which goes into effect in ...
Business & Economics
NEW STUDY: U.K. Vaping Regulations Based on Risks of Vaping Relative to Smoking Provide Lessons for U.S.
DOWNLOAD THE STUDY As the federal government and states such as California consider taxing and imposing new or stricter regulations on vaping products, particularly flavored products, Roger Bate, Ph.D. finds that there are important lessons U.S. policymakers can learn from the tax and regulatory environment in the U.K. in a ...
Blackouts
CAPITAL IDEAS: When June Gloom Lasts All Year
DOWNLOAD THE BRIEF The overcast days of June Gloom, a month of cloud and fog cover along the usually sunny Southern California coastal regions, can be a bit depressing. It’s a natural phenomenon that can’t be controlled. The same can’t be said about the man-made darkness ahead that will affect ...
Business & Economics
NEW BRIEF: City and State Climate Change Lawsuits Drive Up Gas Prices, Discourage Clean Energy Innovation
SACRAMENTO – City and state climate change lawsuits discourage private sector innovation required to meet America’s clean energy goals – and expensive judgements in these cases can increase gas prices by 31-cents per gallon, finds a new issue brief released today by the nonpartisan Pacific Research Institute. “Sustainably addressing ...
Featured
NEW BRIEF: Broken System Imposes Higher Out-of-Pocket Costs on Patients, Puts Interests of Government and Insurers First
America’s broken third-party healthcare payment system prioritizes government and insurance companies as the largest payers, leaving patients with higher out-of-pocket costs, greater exposure to healthcare financial risk, and reduced access to care – finds the latest paper in the Coverage Denied series released today by the Center for Medical Economics ...
Blog
CAPITAL IDEAS: The 2022 Education Landscape and the Coming Homeschool Tsunami
Lance Izumi, senior director of PRI’s Center for Education, recently delivered the following speech to the Northern California Lincoln Club.
Business & Economics
NEW STUDY: Pandemic Response Grew Government ‘Barriers to Opportunity’ for Entrepreneurs
Government actions to “help” small businesses in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic have worsened pre-pandemic government-imposed burdens to entrepreneurship, finds the final paper in the Breaking Down Barriers to Opportunityseries released today by the nonpartisan Pacific Research Institute, a California-based, free-market think tank. Click here to download a copy ...
Business & Economics
NEW STUDY: Competitive Markets Reduce Electricity Costs, Improve Reliability, Lower Emissions
States with competitive electricity markets saw cheaper energy prices, more energy infrastructure investment to improve efficiency and reliability, and greater emission reductions compared to monopoly states, finds a new study released today by the nonpartisan Pacific Research Institute, a California-based, free-market think tank. “Residents and businesses lose out when states ...
Health Care
The Flawed Third-Party Payer System Drives the Drug Affordability Problem
CLICK TO READ THE REPORT The problem of drug affordability is caused by the perverse incentives created by the third-party payer system that have disempowered patients in favor of insurers and other supply-chain intermediaries. The insurance flaws have created pricing systems that inequitably transfer a disproportionate share of drug costs ...
Blog
California Should Embrace Nuclear in Race to Meet All Renewables Mandate
DOWNLOAD THE PDF California is the first state to surpass a million plug-in electric vehicle registrations. It’s a proud moment for those who are determined to eliminate fossil fuel vehicles. But it’s not the grand achievement they think it is. At the end of 2021, 663,014 electric cars and 379,125 ...
CAPITAL IDEAS: New Lithium Tax Latest Battle in California’s War on Cars
DOWNLOAD THE PDF California’s 2022 budget includes a tax on lithium, which is necessary for building electric vehicle batteries. It’s almost as if policymakers aren’t as interested in forcing people into electric vehicles as they are pushing them out of cars altogether. The flat-rate tax, which goes into effect in ...
NEW STUDY: U.K. Vaping Regulations Based on Risks of Vaping Relative to Smoking Provide Lessons for U.S.
DOWNLOAD THE STUDY As the federal government and states such as California consider taxing and imposing new or stricter regulations on vaping products, particularly flavored products, Roger Bate, Ph.D. finds that there are important lessons U.S. policymakers can learn from the tax and regulatory environment in the U.K. in a ...
CAPITAL IDEAS: When June Gloom Lasts All Year
DOWNLOAD THE BRIEF The overcast days of June Gloom, a month of cloud and fog cover along the usually sunny Southern California coastal regions, can be a bit depressing. It’s a natural phenomenon that can’t be controlled. The same can’t be said about the man-made darkness ahead that will affect ...
NEW BRIEF: City and State Climate Change Lawsuits Drive Up Gas Prices, Discourage Clean Energy Innovation
SACRAMENTO – City and state climate change lawsuits discourage private sector innovation required to meet America’s clean energy goals – and expensive judgements in these cases can increase gas prices by 31-cents per gallon, finds a new issue brief released today by the nonpartisan Pacific Research Institute. “Sustainably addressing ...
NEW BRIEF: Broken System Imposes Higher Out-of-Pocket Costs on Patients, Puts Interests of Government and Insurers First
America’s broken third-party healthcare payment system prioritizes government and insurance companies as the largest payers, leaving patients with higher out-of-pocket costs, greater exposure to healthcare financial risk, and reduced access to care – finds the latest paper in the Coverage Denied series released today by the Center for Medical Economics ...
CAPITAL IDEAS: The 2022 Education Landscape and the Coming Homeschool Tsunami
Lance Izumi, senior director of PRI’s Center for Education, recently delivered the following speech to the Northern California Lincoln Club.
NEW STUDY: Pandemic Response Grew Government ‘Barriers to Opportunity’ for Entrepreneurs
Government actions to “help” small businesses in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic have worsened pre-pandemic government-imposed burdens to entrepreneurship, finds the final paper in the Breaking Down Barriers to Opportunityseries released today by the nonpartisan Pacific Research Institute, a California-based, free-market think tank. Click here to download a copy ...
NEW STUDY: Competitive Markets Reduce Electricity Costs, Improve Reliability, Lower Emissions
States with competitive electricity markets saw cheaper energy prices, more energy infrastructure investment to improve efficiency and reliability, and greater emission reductions compared to monopoly states, finds a new study released today by the nonpartisan Pacific Research Institute, a California-based, free-market think tank. “Residents and businesses lose out when states ...
The Flawed Third-Party Payer System Drives the Drug Affordability Problem
CLICK TO READ THE REPORT The problem of drug affordability is caused by the perverse incentives created by the third-party payer system that have disempowered patients in favor of insurers and other supply-chain intermediaries. The insurance flaws have created pricing systems that inequitably transfer a disproportionate share of drug costs ...
California Should Embrace Nuclear in Race to Meet All Renewables Mandate
DOWNLOAD THE PDF California is the first state to surpass a million plug-in electric vehicle registrations. It’s a proud moment for those who are determined to eliminate fossil fuel vehicles. But it’s not the grand achievement they think it is. At the end of 2021, 663,014 electric cars and 379,125 ...
