Minimum Wage – Its Role in the Youth Employment Crisis
By Randall Pozdena, Ph.D. Introduction and Executive Summary This paper examines the history…
Read Blog DetailYear: 2016
There’s Never Enough Money for Government
By John A. Charles, Jr. The news from Portland is that despite record…
Read Blog DetailEducational Choice: A “Ticket to the Future” for Every Child
By Kathryn Hickok Derrell Bradford has spent his adult life passionately advocating for…
Read Blog DetailMaking Youth Unemployment Worse
The unintended negative effects of raising minimum wage rates By Randall Pozdena and…
Read Blog DetailPolicy Picnic – January 25, 2017
Please join us for our monthly Policy Picnic led by special guest Bobbie Jager …
Read Blog DetailCascade Report Finds Long-Term Negative Impacts on Youth from Oregon’s New Minimum Wage Policy
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: Steve Buckstein Senior Policy Analyst Cascade Policy Institute…
Read Blog DetailNo Standing in Lines, Just Amazon Go
By Lydia White Amazon has introduced its new line of physical stores: Amazon…
Read Blog DetailTestimony Before the Oregon State Land Board on the Sale of State Trust Lands
Cascade Policy Institute President and CEO John A. Charles, Jr. presented a version…
Read Blog DetailWES Is an Energy Hog
By Allison Coleman In 2009 the regional transit agency, TriMet, opened a commuter…
Read Blog DetailPortland’s Regional Transit Strategy Is Not Working
By John A. Charles, Jr. The Portland Auditor released the 2016 Annual Community…
Read Blog DetailHow Much Is the Elliott State Forest Worth to Oregon Schools? (Don’t Forget the Value of Compounding)
By John A. Charles, Jr. Advocates of public schools frequently complain about the…
Read Blog DetailMetro Should Dump the Garbage Tax
By Allison Coleman Portland-area voters just approved Ballot Measure 26-178, which imposes a…
Read Blog DetailPortland’s Zoning Policies Make the Housing Crisis Worse
By Lydia White The masterminds behind Portland’s newest inclusionary zoning recommendations have proven…
Read Blog DetailNow What?
By Steve Buckstein Here at Cascade Policy Institute, as a nonprofit, nonpartisan think…
Read Blog DetailPolicy Picnic – November 16, 2016
Please join us for our monthly Policy Picnic led by Cascade’s President and CEO, John A….
Read Blog DetailPortland’s 100% Renewable Energy Claim Is “Greenwashing”
By Allison Coleman In 2001, the Portland City Council declared that by 2010,…
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Using Disparate Impact to Restore Housing Affordability and Property Rights
By Randall O’Toole Executive Summary Portland, Bend, Medford, and to a lesser degree…
Read Blog DetailPower Is the Narcotic of Choice for Politicians
By John A. Charles, Jr. Oregon’s free-market research center, Cascade Policy Institute, celebrated…
Read Blog DetailSomething’s Rotten in Metro’s Missing Garbage Tax Money
By John A. Charles, Jr. and Allison Coleman Metro is asking for a…
Read Blog DetailOregon Must End “Economic Apartheid”
By Randal O’Toole The housing affordability crisis is turning Portland, already one of…
Read Blog DetailUber Translated: Better Service for the Underserved
By Lydia White It’s not news that free-market visionaries provide better service than…
Read Blog DetailAbolish Growth Boundaries to Ensure Fair Housing
By Randal O’Toole A recent Supreme Court decision found that government policies that…
Read Blog DetailMetro’s $32 Million Broken Promise
— Why You Should Vote Down Metro’s Natural Area Levy By John A. Charles,…
Read Blog DetailNew Report Highlights Civil Rights Implications of Oregon Land Use Laws, Urban Growth Boundaries
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: John A. Charles, Jr. [email protected] 503-242-0900 PORTLAND, Ore….
Read Blog DetailLight Rail to Bridgeport Village: The Dumbest Train Project Yet
By John A. Charles, Jr. TriMet and Metro are promoting the idea of…
Read Blog DetailDoes Oregon Rank Dead Last in Corporate Taxes? NO
Trying to sell voters on the largest tax increase in Oregon history, Measure…
Read Blog DetailDoes Oregon Rank Dead Last in Corporate Taxes? NO
By Steve Buckstein Trying to sell voters on the largest tax increase in…
Read Blog DetailMeasure 97 and the Mirage of School Funding
— Voters are destined for disappointment By John A. Charles, Jr. Proponents…
Read Blog DetailPolicy Picnic – October 26, 2016
Please join us for our monthly Policy Picnic led by Cascade’s President and CEO, John A….
Read Blog Detail“The Rent Is Too Damn High!” — Why Rent Control Won’t Help
Once again, Portland led the nation this July with its home prices rising…
Read Blog DetailWill the PUC Make Oregon’s Solar Energy Incentives Equitable?
By Lydia White In accordance with House Bill 2941, the Public Utilities Commission…
Read Blog DetailFreedom in Film: Won’t Back Down (2012)
With students everywhere heading to class, we hope you enjoy Part 3 of…
Read Blog DetailFreedom in Film: Waiting for “Superman” (2010)
With students everywhere heading to class, we hope you enjoy Part 2 of…
Read Blog DetailTwenty-Five Years Litigating for Liberty
How many attorneys do you know who make their living defending liberty? Well,…
Read Blog DetailFreedom in Film: To Sir, with Love (1967)
With students everywhere heading to class, we hope you enjoy Part 1 of…
Read Blog DetailThe Everyday Heroes of 9/11, Remembered
“The greatest thing I ever did with my life.” The largest sea evacuation…
Read Blog DetailImprove Education Outcomes Through Education Savings Accounts, Not Measure 97’s Hidden Sales Tax
On the third day of the new school year at Portland’s Madison High…
Read Blog DetailMAX at 30: Portland Transit Needs a New Plan
September 5 marked the official 30th anniversary of the opening of TriMet’s light…
Read Blog DetailPolicy Picnic – September 21, 2016
Please join us for our monthly Policy Picnic led by Cascade’s Senior Policy Analyst and Founder, Steve…
Read Blog DetailTwo-Thirds of Oregon Union Members Want to End the Unions’ “Forced-Rider” Problem
By Kathryn Hickok and Steve Buckstein This month, National Employee Freedom Week (August…
Read Blog DetailCascade Policy Institute Says NO to Measure 97
ELECTION RESULT: 59 percent of Oregon voters said NO to this sales tax…
Read Blog DetailMeasure 97: A $30 Billion Gamble Oregon Voters Shouldn’t Make
The massive gross receipts tax Measure 97 on Oregon’s November ballot (previously known…
Read Blog DetailRepeating Mistakes Is Not a Housing Strategy
The Portland City Council has approved a plan for the Housing Bureau to…
Read Blog DetailOregon Union Members Want the Option to Represent Themselves
National Employee Freedom Week (NEFW, August 14-20, 2016), aims to educate union members…
Read Blog Detail“The Best Earthly Inheritance” Our Founders Bequeathed
Every July much is said about the blessings of liberty, the meaning of…
Read Blog Detail"The Best Earthly Inheritance” Our Founders Bequeathed
Every July much is said about the blessings of liberty, the meaning of…
Read Blog DetailOregonians Should Oppose Measure 97’s Regressive Taxation
The biggest proposed tax increase in Oregon history now has a measure number….
Read Blog DetailCascade Policy Institute Opposes Measure 97, the “Sales Tax on Steroids”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: Steve Buckstein [email protected] 503-242-0900 PORTLAND, Ore. – Cascade…
Read Blog DetailHillsboro Entrepreneur Manuel Castañeda Joins Cascade Policy Institute Board of Directors
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: John A. Charles, Jr. 503-242-0900 [email protected] Portland, OR…
Read Blog DetailOregon Land Board Low-Balls Elliott Timber with Fixed-Price “Bidding”
Last week the Oregon Department of State Lands announced the “fair market value”…
Read Blog DetailPortland Schools Need Radical Change, Not Just a New Superintendent
Portland school superintendent Carole Smith abruptly resigned in July, after nine years on…
Read Blog DetailFreedom in Fiction: Ida Elisabeth
Ida Elisabeth had every reason to leave her husband. He was foolish, immature,…
Read Blog DetailCascade Policy Institute’s 25th Anniversary Gala Reception and Dinner
Thursday, October 20, 2016 – 6:30pm to 9:00pm Tualatin Country Club Justice Clint…
Read Blog DetailOregon Land Board Low-Balls Elliott Timber at $220.8 Million
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: John A. Charles, Jr. 503-242-0900 [email protected] PORTLAND,…
Read Blog DetailTen Years After Milton Friedman
One of the greatest minds of our era passed away in November 2006….
Read Blog DetailCelebrating the “Christopher Columbus” of School Choice, Milton Friedman
School choice has entered a new world. Because Americans are increasingly vocal about…
Read Blog DetailFreedom in Film: Follow That Dream (1962)
What may be the funniest movie about personal initiative and limited government? Look…
Read Blog DetailOregon Teens Discover Their “Lightbulb Moment” at Young Entrepreneurs Business Week
Your average high school students may not be able to explain a fictional…
Read Blog DetailPortland Schools Need More Than a New Superintendent
Portland school superintendent Carole Smith announced her resignation this week after nine years…
Read Blog DetailTrust Lands Should Be Auctioned to High Bidder to Benefit Schools
In his recent guest column in The Oregonian, Director of the Oregon Department of…
Read Blog DetailChildren’s Scholarship Fund Closes the Achievement Gap for Low-Income Kids
Since 1999, the nonprofit Children’s Scholarship Fund has empowered more than 152,000 low-income…
Read Blog DetailFreedom in Film: Ever After (1998)
If you are looking for an uplifting summer movie for the teenage girls…
Read Blog DetailLike a Sales Tax on Steroids
Now that the massive Gross Receipts Tax measure IP 28 will be on…
Read Blog DetailFreedom in Film: Williamsburg: The Story of a Patriot (1957)
Williamsburg: The Story of a Patriot is the longest running motion picture ever,…
Read Blog Detail“When in the Course of Human Events…”
—A Declaration That Never Goes out of Style Two hundred and forty years…
Read Blog DetailFreedom: America’s Treasure
Three days after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, President George W….
Read Blog DetailA Sales Tax by Any Other Name…
Public employee union backers of Initiative Petition 28 have turned in more than…
Read Blog Detail"Beyond Traffic" Has a Different Meaning in Portland
Portland is one of seven cities still in the running for a $50…
Read Blog DetailA Sales Tax by Any Other Name…
Public employee union backers of Initiative Petition 28 have turned in more than…
Read Blog DetailVoters Decided to Leave Themselves Stranded by the Side of the Road
In the month since voters in Austin, Texas upheld new city regulations on…
Read Blog DetailPortland Schools Schedule Book-Burning Party
The Portland Public School board recently voted to prohibit textbooks or classroom materials…
Read Blog DetailNew Orleans’ Miracle School District
Ten years ago, Hurricane Katrina devastated the southeastern United States, displacing more than…
Read Blog DetailIf Gambling Is a Problem, Who Is Responsible?
Governor Kate Brown opposes a plan by the Coquille Indian Tribe to build…
Read Blog DetailA Sales Tax by Any Other Name
Public employee union backers of Initiative Petition 28 appear to have turned in…
Read Blog DetailFreedom in Film: Captain America: Civil War (2016)
Have you taken your children to see Captain America: Civil War? There’s nothing…
Read Blog DetailGoogle’s War on the Poor
Google announced recently that it would no longer run ads for payday loans,…
Read Blog DetailWashington, D.C. Charters Called a Laboratory for Innovation in Public Education
Did you know that almost half of Washington, D.C.’s public school children attend…
Read Blog DetailWhy is the State Land Board selling the Elliott State Forest without competitive bidding?
In August 2015 the Oregon Land Board (Governor Kate Brown, Secretary of State…
Read Blog DetailPolicy Picnic – May 25, 2016
Please join us for our monthly Policy Picnic led by special guest speaker Adrian Moore, Ph.D., Vice President…
Read Blog DetailNew Report: Transportation Funding Should Be a State and Local Responsibility
Study Finds That Transportation Funding Should Be a State and Local Responsibility May…
Read Blog DetailHelp the Working Poor Adam Smith’s Way
This year’s May Day activities in Portland centered on promoting “workers’ rights” and…
Read Blog DetailGet Ready for High-Cost Electricity
In the recently concluded session of the Oregon legislature, the big environmental “win”…
Read Blog DetailFreedom in Fiction: Mansfield Park
“Wretchedly did [Sir Thomas] feel, that with all the cost and care of…
Read Blog DetailDo You Support the Free Market, But…?
I first wrote in 2003 about what I call “The Statement”: “I support…
Read Blog DetailWho Profits from Gambling?
Governor Kate Brown opposes a plan by the Coquille Indian Tribe to build…
Read Blog DetailFlexibility Is Key: The Next Generation of Parental Choice Solutions
Families in five states now have access to a special program called Educational…
Read Blog DetailFreedom in Film: Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius (2004)
“Amateur” is French for “one who loves.” But today, the word is commonly…
Read Blog DetailPolicy Picnic – April 27, 2016
Please join us for our monthly Policy Picnic, led by special guest Adam Novick,…
Read Blog DetailEnjoy the illusion that you’re not really paying taxes, when you cash that expensive refund check
Are you happy getting three extra days to file your income tax returns…
Read Blog DetailEarning Their Keep: Do Elected Officials in the Portland Region Show up for Meetings?
By Nick Pangares and John A. Charles, Jr. Most elected officials who serve on…
Read Blog DetailGovernor Jerry Brown: “Economically, Minimum Wages May Not Make Sense”
As California Governor Jerry Brown signed his state’s $15 minimum wage bill into…
Read Blog DetailTriMet’s Edifice Complex
Recently TriMet announced that after two years of planning for an expensive new…
Read Blog DetailHow Much of the Year Do Your Taxes Cost?
If every penny earned since the beginning of the year went to pay…
Read Blog DetailWhere Did President Obama Stay in Cuba?
This week, Barack Obama became the first U.S. President in nearly 90 years…
Read Blog DetailWhat Would Jefferson Advise Today’s Supreme Court About the Little Sisters of the Poor?
In 1804 an Ursuline nun in New Orleans asked Thomas Jefferson to clarify…
Read Blog DetailFreedom in Fiction: The Leopard
While the Irish celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day this week, Italians are celebrating National…
Read Blog DetailIf Socialism Is Like Playing Checkers, Capitalism Is Like Playing Chess
Now that former world chess champion Garry Kasparov has weighed into the American…
Read Blog DetailPortland Chases Another Dream
The U.S. Department of Transportation announced this week that Portland is one of…
Read Blog DetailFreedom in Film: “For Greater Glory” (2012)
“You cannot fight for something you don’t believe in,” says the wife of…
Read Blog DetailOregon Legislators Raised the Minimum Wage; Students Lose Their Jobs
Oregon’s three-tiered minimum wage law was just signed by Governor Kate Brown last…
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