2006

Air pollutants of all kinds in North Carolina and the United States are at their lowest levels since measurements began back in the 1970s. The weight of the evidence suggests that these low levels of air pollution are at worst a minor health concern.

RALEIGH – In the name of “clean elections,” an N.C. House committee is considering expanding North Carolina’s public financing of judicial campaigns to cover other campaigns as well. That would…

North Carolina’s experience with taxpayer-funded judicial campaigns provides a great example of the critical problems with taxpayer-funded campaigns.

RALEIGH — The latest air quality rankings from the American Lung Association continue to exaggerate the harmful effects of air pollution. That’s the finding from an expert whose study…

What: John Locke Foundation Headliner Luncheon When: Noon Tuesday, April 25, 2006 Where: The Holiday Inn Brownstone 1707 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, NC Price: $20 Who: Charles W. Pickering had…

Neither enrollment increases nor federal and state mandates can account for the 19 percent increase in school personnel over the last eight years. The glut of public school personnel hiring is evident in counties that have a declining student population. Despite losing nearly 10,000 students in eight years, these school districts added 819 employees. This shows that school districts actively maintain their bureaucracy even as the amount of work declines.

RALEIGH – In the last eight years, North Carolina public schools have increased in personnel by 19 percent, a new John Locke Foundation Spotlight shows. Even school districts that are…

Health care is again a top priority for most Americans. Health savings accounts offer promise and are growing in popularity among companies and individuals. Three states will soon begin consumer-directed Medicaid pilot programs. These are more realistic approaches than proposals by the NC Institute of Medicine and others to expand Medicaid or to force employers to provide health insurance. Individuals, not companies or the state, are best equipped to manage their own health care. Health care reform should start from this premise.

RALEIGH – An expansion of the state-federal Medicaid program is a prescription for more health care problems, a new John Locke Foundation Spotlight argues. Instead, consumers should manage their own…

At a public hearing on April 4 the Raleigh city council will receive public input on a proposed across-the-board 72 percent increase in the city’s impact fee schedule (from $682 to $1,172 for single-family homes).1 Unfortunately, the consultant’s report that serves as the basis for an increase is flawed. In fact, Raleigh has collected impact fees for nearly twenty years without ever considering sound economic research. As the word “impact” implies, new housing generates both increased demand for public services and increased tax revenues. Surprisingly, the city council has not demanded that city staff and highly paid consultants produce reports that provide balanced and complete economic analysis. It is not too late; the council should not change the impact fee until proper economic analysis is conducted.