Next Round

Join us for a special presentation of remarks by noted economist Stephen Moore, who was the keynote speaker and honoree at this year's PRI Baroness Thatcher Dinner in Newport Beach.  He talks about the challenges facing the US economy today and gives a preview of what economic policy would look like under a re-elected President Biden or President Trump.  Tim and Ro also discuss the start of the su...

California is in a deep budget deficit.  In the May Revised budget, Gov. Newsom's makes real cuts and suggests some efficiency improvements but are they enough?  PRI senior fellow in business and economics Wayne Winegarden unpacks the governor's plan.  The proposal still relies on too many budget gimmicks and fund shifts, and underestimates the severity of the current budget shortfall.

From PRI's 2024 Sacramento policy conference, senior director of education studies Lance Izumi moderates a panel discussing the implosion of academic rigor in California's schools, and how that affects California's students – particularly those most vulnerable – and impacts the state's economic competitiveness.  A preview of his upcoming PRI book The Great Classroom Collapse, Lance talks with pare...

This week, we're pleased to a special presentation by PRI's Dr. Wayne Winegarden on our new Spending Watch initiative, which calculates the impact of major state legislation on outmigration, unemployment, taxes, and the economy.  In his presentation from PRI's recent Sacrament policy conference, he discusses the first Spending Watch analysis on the controversial reparations legislation.  Tim and R...

Our podcast guest this week is Todd Myers, director of the Washington Policy Center's Center for the Environment.  With more than two decades in environmental policy, Todd's experience includes work on a range of environmental issues, including climate policy, forest health, old-growth forests, and salmon recovery. Todd's new book is "Time to Think Small: How nimble environmental technologies can...

From PRI's recent Sacramento policy conference, we present a panel discussion featuring elected officials, innovators, and policy researchers discussing creative approaches to addressing California's homeless problem.  Speakers include Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho, who is suing the city of Sacramento over its failure to enforce homeless laws on the books, Joanne Price from the inno...

With reform legislation being debated to address rising incidents of retail and auto theft and a ballot measure in circulation to repeal the most sweeping provisions of Prop. 47, we present a panel discussion on California's growing crime problem from PRI's recent Sacramento conference.  Speakers include retired Brigadier Gen. Bob Spano, whose aunt was tragically murdered in the 1980s, crime victi...

Our podcast this week is a recording of remarks by Andrew Stuttaford, editor of National Review's Capital Markets .   Andrew spoke at a PRI dinner in San Francisco in March on progressives' efforts to mandate electric vehicles and the problems that lie ahead should they be successful.   Before becoming a writer and commentator, he worked in finance for nearly four decades.   In addition to Nationa...

Our guest this week is former Assemblymember Mike Gatto, who during his tenure, chaired the powerful Appropriations Committee.  Mike Gatto was an up-and-coming lawmaker when his father was brutally murdered. To try and solve the mystery of his father's murder, Mike journeys through the world of crime investigations, modern law enforcement in Los Angeles, and politics.  He shares his experience and...

Filmmakers Robert Bryce and Tyson Culver join us to discuss their new docuseries Juice, which explores how misguided government energy policies and cronyism are threatening energy reliability and affordability.  Also, Rowena and Tim discuss why Gov. Newsom is delaying his State of the State address and the latest legislative proposal to address California's $73 billion budget deficit.

Our annual former PRI speechwriters analyze President Biden's State of the Union Address: Senior Director of Education Lance Izumi was chief speechwriter to Gov. Deukmejian and Attorney General Ed Meese, Vice President of Marketing and Communications Tim Anaya was speechwriter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and numerous legislators and COO Rowena Itchon was a speechwriter for Gov. Pete Wilson and a...

Our guest this week is Rea Hederman, executive director of the Economic Research Center and vice president of policy at The Buckeye Institute, a free market think tank based in Ohio. Its new report, "Net-Zero Climate-Control Policies Fail Farmers and Families" looks at the impact the Biden administration's climate-control policies will have on farmers and families. Farm operating costs is estimate...

Our podcast guest this week is Steve Hilton, the keynote speaker at PRI's 2024 Sacramento Ideas in Action Conference.  Steve was a top advisor to UK Prime Minister David Cameron, a contributor at Fox News, and now running "Golden Together" a group focused on new ideas to increase affordable housing in California. Steve gave a rousing talk to our audience, rallying our guests to continue the fight...

Our guest this week is Paul Tice, a Wall Street veteran and now an adjunct professor at New York University's Stern School of Business. His new book The Race to Zer o provides a detailed rebuttal to the case for sustainable investing from the perspective of a long-time Wall Street analyst, investor, and now a finance professor. He argues that sustainable investing doesn't aim to generate high retu...

Our guest this week is Stanford University historian Jennifer Burns.  Professor Burns has just published her new book "Milton Friedman: The Last Conservative." Milton Friedman was a tremendous supporter of PRI and our work, giving lectures and attending many events. We invited Prof. Burns, who specializes in U.S. twentieth century history focusing on the state, markets, and capitalism and how thes...

Our guests this week are Steve Greenhut, director of PRI's Free Cities Center and Wayne Winegarden, senior fellow in business and economics.  The two have joined forces to produce PRI's latest mini book from the Free Cities Center, "Giving Housing Supply a Boost: How to Improve Affordability and Reduce Homelessness." They discuss the policies that have made homebuilding prohibitively expensive in...

Roger Simon wrote novels and screenplays before co-founding and becoming CEO of the pioneering blog aggregation and news and opinion website PJ Media (formerly Pajamas Media) in 2005. He's best known for the Moses Win e  detective series, which have won prizes from the Mystery Writers of America and the Crime Writers of Great Britain.  In his latest book, American Refugees:  The Untold Story of th...

Our guest this week is Jeff Anderson, president of the American Main Street Initiative, which publishes political and public policy research by scholars and writers.  Jeff has held many prominent positions in presidential administrations, including director of the Bureau of Justice Statistics at the Justice Department .   Jeff was also a professor at the Air Force Academy. We chat with Jeff about...

Listen as PRI's All Stars – Wayne Winegarden, Lance Izumi, Sally Pipes, and Steve Smith – respond to Gov. Newsom's much-anticipated 2024-25 state budget plan. They discuss Gov. Newsom's much lower state budget projection and spending priorities, the budget's impact on K-12 education, whether the Governor will suspend the controversial $25 health care minimum wage increase, and how it will affect e...

PRI's All Stars - Rowena Itchon, Tim Anaya, Lance Izumi, and Kerry Jackson - are back with their choices for 2023's biggest winners and losers, in our annual tribute to the McLaughlin Group.  We hand out our choices for best and worst ideas of the year, the bummest wraps, and give our predictions for who is destined for stardom in 2024.

  Calling all history buffs, this episode is for you!  PRI board member and Hillsdale College Associate Professor of Government Richard Samuelson joins us to discuss the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, the events surrounding the incident, and the lessons we can learn from the Boston Tea Party about today's politics.  Plus, Ro and Tim discuss California's $68 billion budget deficit and Kevin M...

Attorney, political analyst and "Get Out the Bet" podcast co-host Melissa Caen joins us to discuss all things politics. We discuss the latest on Mayor London Breed's re-election chances, Gov. Gavin Newsom's global travels, the California U.S. Senate race and the race for the White House. Plus Tim and Ro discuss the 10 Freeway fire in Los Angeles.

Our guest is Ben Judge, managing director of Monument Valley, a firm focused on adapting academic research for popular audiences. Ben is also the creator and executive producer of the documentary Right Makes Might: The Lincoln-Douglas Debates. We chat with Ben about his new book United and Independent: John Quincy Adams and American Foreign Policy. The father of early American foreign policy, we a...

The PRI holiday book gift guide has become an annual tradition.  This year's list has something for everyone on your gift list: politics, history, business, philosophy, mystery, horror, and good old-fashion whodunits.  Enjoy and happy holiday shopping.

Our guest this week is Scott Beyer, founder of the Market Urbanist, a website that reports and researches innovative free-market policy solutions to the myriad of problems many cities are facing.  Scott is the author of PRI's new mini book: Latin America's Urban Experience : How Markets Help Developing Countries Cope with Government Dysfunction . Scott is on a three-continent tour (Latin America,...