Domestic Policy: November 2011 Archives

Governments Consider New Taxes on Soda and Candy

In 2011, 14 states proposed new soda taxes, in some cases raising product prices by as much as 264 percent...

The Price of Public Health Care Insurance in Canada

An average Canadian family consisting of two adults and two children (earning a little more than $105,700) will pay about $10,486 for public health care insurance...

Five Myths about the World's Population

Most serious demographers, economists and population specialists rarely use the term "overpopulation" because there is no clear demographic definition...

The New Power of the United States Preventive Services Task Force

The sudden transition that the United States Preventive Services Task Force made from advisory to regulatory roles has allowed it to avoid many of the checks on regulatory agencies...

Greenhouse Gas Tax Could Inflate Airfares

U.S. airlines estimate an EU program forcing airlines to pay a carbon tax for emissions over a specific level will cost them $3.1 billion over the next decade...

NCPA Blogs

John Goodman's
Health Policy Blog
The premier right-of-center health policy blog on
the Internet.

Bob McTeer's
Economic Policy Blog
Expert insights into economic growth and
monetary policy.

Retirement and Taxes: Reforms that Make "Cents"
Retirement reforms based on common sense.

Energy and Environment: Clearing the Air
Expert analysis on energy and environment issues.

Policymakers Should Prepare For Major Uncertainties under Health Reform

The number of additional people enrolling in Medicaid under health reform may vary by more than 10 million...

Easing Drug Shortages

Drug shortages almost tripled to 178 in 2010 from 61 in 2005, according to a report from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration...

Weathering Global Warming in Agriculture

If governments continue to subsidize and mandate biofuel production, midcentury prices of crops could be 30 percent above current levels...

High-Speed Rail Goes Off the Track

The new estimate for the cost of California's planned bullet train puts the bill at nearly $100 billion, though it was originally pegged by the state at $34 billion...

Assessing the Compensation of Public School Teachers

Teachers receive salary and benefits that are 52 percent greater than fair market levels...

NCPA Blogs

John Goodman's
Health Policy Blog
The premier right-of-center health policy blog on
the Internet.

Bob McTeer's
Economic Policy Blog
Expert insights into economic growth and
monetary policy.

Retirement and Taxes: Reforms that Make "Cents"
Retirement reforms based on common sense.

Energy and Environment: Clearing the Air
Expert analysis on energy and environment issues.

I've talked about health care and Social Security reform solutions we have sent to the Super Committee. Now I'd like to address another subject near (but probably not dear!) to your hearts: taxes.

The tax system we have now is complicated and unpredictable. We need tax reform that lowers rates, simplifies the code, taxes everyone fairly and makes the economy stronger, not weaker.

Click here for details about the NCPA's plan.

Thanks for your support!

Richard W. Walker
Chief Operating Officer

The Material Well-Being of the Poor and the Middle Class since 1980

Over the past three decades, median income and average consumption have increased amongst the poor, and their access to physical assets such as air conditioning and personal clothing dryers has also improved...

AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE

Entitlements Must Be Reformed

In looking at 100 instances in which a given country attempted to reduce its debt ratio, successful government efforts usually relied upon spending cuts over tax increases...

REASON MAGAZINE

When the Color of Unemployment Is Green

MIT economist Michael Greenstone found that changes to the Clean Air Act eliminated 590,000 jobs over a 15-year period (1972 to 1987)...

THE AMERICAN

Texas Wind Power Lines Bust Budget

The total estimated cost of Texas' wind energy infrastructure rose $4.9 billion to $6.8 billion -- a 40 percent increase that amounts to $800 per household in the state...

HEARTLAND INSTITUTE

Ditch the Dollar Bill and Live with Change

The Government Accountability Office estimates that savings from switching from paper to coins would amount to $184 million a year...

USA TODAY

NCPA Blogs

John Goodman's
Health Policy Blog
The premier right-of-center health policy blog on
the Internet.

Bob McTeer's
Economic Policy Blog
Expert insights into economic growth and
monetary policy.

Retirement and Taxes: Reforms that Make "Cents"
Retirement reforms based on common sense.

Energy and Environment: Clearing the Air
Expert analysis on energy and environment issues.

The Swedish Model Reassessed

The period in which welfare economics were most strongly implemented in Sweden (the 1970s and 1980s) saw low rates of growth...

LIBERA FOUNDATION

The High Cost of Wind Energy

Installing an additional 320,000 megawatts of wind power at $2.43 million per megawatt will cost the United States about $777.6 billion or about $44.7 billion every year for the next 19 years, amounting to a carbon tax of $54 per ton...

MANHATTAN INSTITUTE

The Promise of Online Learning and Education Savings Accounts

Initial empirical studies suggest that students who use to any degree some form of online learning perform better academically...

GOLDWATER INSTITUTE

Environmental Protection Agency Rules Threaten Jobs

The Environmental Protection Agency plans to regulate over 10,000 commercial and industrial boilers that by some estimates will cost up to 800,000 jobs...

INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY

Harrisburg Is Having a Yard Sale

Harrisburg, Penn., faces $310 million dollars in debt, brought on by ballooning pension costs and other economic woes...

WALL STREET JOURNAL

NCPA Blogs

John Goodman's
Health Policy Blog
The premier right-of-center health policy blog on
the Internet.

Bob McTeer's
Economic Policy Blog
Expert insights into economic growth and
monetary policy.

Retirement and Taxes: Reforms that Make "Cents"
Retirement reforms based on common sense.

Energy and Environment: Clearing the Air
Expert analysis on energy and environment issues.

Will Green Energy Make the United States Less Secure?

Production of solar panels in countries other than China fell from 85 percent of the world market in 2003 to 58 percent in 2009, says H. Sterling Burnett, a senior fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis...

Overpopulation Isn't the Problem

By 2030, many countries will have only two workers for every retiree; economic superpowers such as the United States and China will fair only slightly better with three workers per retiree...

Make the Treasury Responsible for "Unofficial" Debt

Treasury debt increased 17 times from 1970 to 2006, but agency debt multiplied 148 times during this period...

Assessing the Perry Flat Tax

No taxpayer would see a net increase in the percentage of their income that is paid in taxes under presidential candidate Rick Perry's proposed flat tax...

California's New Green Tax

A 2009 study by the California Small Business Roundtable concluded that the costs of California's new cap-and-trade tax could total $3,857 per household by the end of 2020...

NCPA Blogs

John Goodman's
Health Policy Blog
The premier right-of-center health policy blog on
the Internet.

Bob McTeer's
Economic Policy Blog
Expert insights into economic growth and
monetary policy.

Retirement and Taxes: Reforms that Make "Cents"
Retirement reforms based on common sense.

Energy and Environment: Clearing the Air
Expert analysis on energy and environment issues.