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The Lighthouse®

The Lighthouse® is the weekly email newsletter of the Independent Institute.
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Volume 22, Issue 19: May 13, 2020

By Lee E. Ohanian (California on Your Mind, 4/7/20)
Along with many other occupations in California, certified registered nurse anesthesiologists under the state’s new AB-5 law can work as regular employees but not as independent contractors. Consequently, the law is worsening the Golden State’s anesthesiologist shortage and making surgery riskier. READ MORE »



By Adam B. Summers (The Orange County Register, 4/26/20)
As the missteps of federal agencies show, errors are compounded when bureaucratic decision-making is centralized. In contrast, free markets encourage decentralized approaches, fostering nimbler and more creative problem-solving from individuals, businesses, and non-profit groups. READ MORE »



By Benjamin Powell (American Institute for Economic Research, 4/29/20)
Invoking the Defense Production Act to force General Motors and others to make hospital ventilators isn’t socialism, which requires government ownership of companies; it’s fascism, which retains the formal dressings of private ownership even when government controls businesses by edict. To deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, America would be better served with more deregulation and entrepreneurial innovation, not command-and-control tactics. READ MORE »



By Alvaro Vargas Llosa (The Free Lance-Star, 4/30/20)
The best results against the novel coronavirus have not come from countries that have shut down massive numbers of private businesses or have severely restricted freedom of movement. They’ve come from countries, such as South Korea and Germany, that have intelligently avoided major intrusions. READ MORE »


By Richard K. Vedder (Forbes, 5/4/20)
Unless they soon take major corrective action, 500 to 1,000 institutions of higher learning will be forced into bankruptcy or face-saving mergers. Many schools could take preventive steps by cutting their personnel costs and better deploying their underutilized physical assets. READ MORE »





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