Category: National Policy Analysis
Thanks to Congress, Ethanol and Biofuel Mandates Cause Food Prices to Soar, by Dana Joel Gattuso
Thanks to U.S. policies mandating ethanol and biofuel usage, bountiful meals this holiday season will probably cost you. For the past four decades, food prices have remained fairly stable, lagging far behind inflation.1 But as the USDA reports, food prices ...
Things the Nobel Committee Doesn’t Want You to Know
Poor Al Gore. He's been in a downward spiral all year long. First, he received an Oscar for his documentary (or was it a "mockumentary"?), An Inconvenient Truth, from the out-of-touch motion picture industry. Then he received an International Emmy ...
“Medicare for All” Universal Health Care Would Not Solve the Problem of Rising Health Care Costs
In mid-2006, the governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, succeeded in passing his health care reform through the Massachusetts legislature. This ignited a debate on health care policy in the U.S. that shows no signs of subsiding. From the governors, to ...
SCHIP Expansion: Socialized Medicine on the Installment Plan
INTRODUCTION The State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) was created by Congress and President Bill Clinton as part of Balanced Budget Act of 1997. SCHIP was intended to give $24 billion in federal matching funds over ten years to state ...
Maybe It’s Time for A Law Against Price-Gouging After All
A Personal Reflection Free market advocates have long opposed price gouging laws on the grounds that such laws interfere with market forces and ultimately lead to shortages. But I'm now rethinking this position. It is getting increasingly difficult to ignore ...
The “Energy Bill” That Isn’t: Rep. Nick Rahall’s Energy Policy Reform and Revitalization Act of 2007, by Peyton Knight
It is no secret that congressmen frequently take liberties when assigning their bills attractive names that are not representative of the contents within. The "Energy Policy Reform and Revitalization Act of 2007" (H.R. 2377), sponsored by Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV), ...
“Sicko” Presents False View of Cuba’s Health System, by Ryan Balis
Leftist filmmaker Michael Moore claims his latest documentary, "Sicko," will "rip the band-aid off America's health care industry,"1 which Moore sees as wrongfully dominated by private drug companies and profit-seeking HMOs. In part of "Sicko," released June 29, Moore takes ...
No to New Fuel Economy Standards: Consumer Choice, Not Congress, Should Drive Detroit’s Decisionmaking, by Eric Peters
If the government decides to pass a law requiring that McDonalds sell only low-fat chicken breast wraps and diet soda, the result would be more business for Wendy's and Burger King -- and empty stores for McDonalds. So it is ...
Sweden’s Single-Payer Health System Provides a Warning to Other Nations
Sweden is a country of about 9.1 million people on the Scandinavian Peninsula of Northern Europe. Geographically, it is slightly larger than California. It is by any measure a first world country, with a labor force working primarily in industry ...
Mental Health Parity Act Shifts Practice of Imposing Mandates from the States to the Federal Level; Likely to Raise Insurance Premiums, by David Hogberg, Ph.D. and Paul Gessing
Outside of the Iraq War, the debate over health care reform is one of the most contentious issues in politics today. With ongoing debate in Washington and a flurry of activity in the states, the need to make health care ...
