Brief Analyses / Economy

Power For Sale

For most of the 20th century, electric power has been produced and sold by local monopoly utilities. Consumers were prohibited from buying power from rival producers and other sellers were prohibited from entering utilities' protected markets. Deregulation of other industries, such as long-distance telephone service and natural gas, has reduced prices and increased the variety and quality of services available. This has led to increasing pressure to deregulate the electric power industry.

Pete du Pont

Focus Point – Better Drugs for Dogs

An associated press story recently posed the question whether drug companies favor pets over people. The question arose when some pet owners noticed prescription drugs used for both humans and animals were cheaper when bought from their vet rather than their pharmacist.

Pete du Pont

Focus Point – Minimum Wage

I'm Pete du Pont with the National Center for Policy Analysis. It's bad enough Congress gave Bill Clinton his one dollar minimum wage hike. Worse is the lame reasoning from …

Pete du Pont

Good News No Excuse for Inaction on Social Security Reform

Two pieces of good news were announced recently. First, the nation's economy grew an unprecedented 7.3 percent during the last quarter of 1999. Second, due in part to this tremendous growth, the Social Security trust fund is predicted to have an extra three years of life, pushing back the projected insolvency date to 2037.

John C Goodman

Tax Credits For Health Insurance

Tax credits for health insurance is not a new idea. A refundable tax credit for low-income families became part of the tax code in 1990, primarily due to the efforts of Texas Senator Lloyd Bentsen. Very few families took advantage of this tax subsidy, however (because of mechanical problems discussed below), and the tax credit was repealed a few years later.