Oregon’s 2040 Electric Utility Mandates Rely on Future Technology–or Buying Electricity from Other States
By Micah DeSilva Two years ago, the Oregon Legislature passed House Bill 2021,…
Read Blog DetailCategory: Economic Opportunity
Portland Needs More Than a Small Tax Break
By Sam Herrin Two weeks ago, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler announced plans to…
Read Blog Detail
The Oregon Senate has been shut down for a month. Does anyone care?
By John A. Charles, Jr. Most Republican members of the Oregon Senate have…
Read Blog Detail
More Money, Same Result
By Sam Herrin “More money, same result” is what Oregon’s Senate voted for…
Read Blog Detail
A Failure of Political Leadership
By John A. Charles, Jr. The Oregon Senate has come to a standstill…
Read Blog Detail
Oregon Legislature Lines Up a Spending Blow-Out
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. While Oregonians are filling out their tax returns, their…
Read Blog Detail
Portlanders Are Voting with Their Feet
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. Oregon’s economic engine is losing steam. For the second…
Read Blog Detail
A Misplaced Moral Panic Over Teen Vaping
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. The moral crisis over vaping has hit the Oregon…
Read Blog Detail
When the State Stays Silent, It’s Easy to Assume the Worst
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. What do spy balloons, a state liquor scandal, and…
Read Blog Detail
Small Steps Toward the Stone Age: Biden’s Gas Stove Ban
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. My, how time flies. Just last month, I warned…
Read Blog Detail
New Year, New Oregon?
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. With 2022 winding down and 2023 less than a…
Read Blog Detail
A Holiday Wishlist for Oregon
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. ‘Tis the season for holiday wishes. And, toward that…
Read Blog Detail
Multnomah County Is Going “Ban”-anas
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. First they banned styrofoam, then last week they banned…
Read Blog Detail
Let the Best Trash Man Win
By James Swyter Today, many people associate the word “monopoly” with big tech…
Read Blog Detail
Private Property Saved the Plymouth Pilgrims
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. This Thanksgiving let’s give thanks to the Pilgrims who…
Read Blog Detail
For Oregon’s New Governor, Great Power Comes with Great Responsibility
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. It’s the day after Election Day and the votes…
Read Blog Detail
Oregon Needs a Free-Market Makeover
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D “What’s the one thing you’d do to fix Oregon?”…
Read Blog Detail
ADA Lawsuit Is a First Step Toward Addressing Region’s Homelessness Crisis
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. For most of us, homeless tents blocking sidewalks are…
Read Blog Detail
TriMet’s Electric Bus Plans Could Burst into Flames
By Mia Tiwana Connecticut’s bus service just pulled its entire fleet of electric…
Read Blog Detail
Local Governments Must Change Course to Fix Their Policy Crises
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. Things are not going well in the Portland region….
Read Blog Detail
Portland’s all-or-nothing city charter ballot measure may add up to no reforms at all
By Taylor Marks Too much, all at once. Portland’s city charter is long…
Read Blog Detail
A Boring Budget Item Highlights Public Safety Dysfunction
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. It’s budget season for local governments in Oregon. Budgets…
Read Blog Detail
State Legislators Created Their Own Pay Problem
By John A. Charles, Jr. State Representatives Karin Power (Milwaukie), Anna Williams (Hood…
Read Blog Detail
Local governments seeking to ban natural gas are willfully ignoring Oregon voters.
By Rachel Dawson Think the natural gas industry is dying? The latest data…
Read Blog Detail
Support for HB 4140—Expands duties of Oregon Government Ethics Commission to
conduct investigations, make findings and impose penalties for violations of public
meetings law.
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. Public meetings can be boring, but those meetings are…
Read Blog Detail
Oregon’s Land is Overregulated
By Micah Perry Land use regulations in Oregon are adversely impacting the state’s…
Read Blog Detail
Don’t own an EV? Too bad. Oregon says you’ll pay for the infrastructure anyway.
By Rachel Dawson With the start of a new year, power customers will…
Read Blog Detail
Portland’s YOYO Approach to Solving Crime
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. Just after dinner on New Year’s Eve, my oldest…
Read Blog Detail
Oregonians Tell Politicians: If You’re Not Part of the Solution, You’re Part of the Problem
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. If you guessed that Oregonians think homelessness is the…
Read Blog Detail
Oregon is falling behind other states in the race for advanced nuclear power
By Rachel Dawson The era of small-modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) is upon us,…
Read Blog Detail
Economic Growth: The Only Game in Town
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. Last month, the Oregonian excitedly reported some great news:…
Read Blog Detail
Milton Friedman: Everyone is Greedy, No One’s an Angel, and That’s OK
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. Economist Milton Friedman passed away 15 years ago this…
Read Blog Detail
Utilities should plan on using firm, reliable resources during peak events
By Rachel Dawson Portland General Electric is living a virtual power plant pipe…
Read Blog Detail
Lincoln County’s Harmful Blame Game
By Micah Perry In a recent November special election, Lincoln County approved a…
Read Blog Detail
Innovation, not regulation, is the most effective way to control GHG emissions
By Rachel Dawson Governor Kate Brown has joined other state and national representatives…
Read Blog Detail
A Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunity to Shake Up Metro
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. With the retirement of Bob Stacey earlier this month,…
Read Blog Detail
Washington County Tells Small Business Owners They Just Don’t Care
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. Next week, the Washington County Commission is expected to…
Read Blog Detail
Portland officials need an attitude adjustment when it comes to violent crimes
By Rachel Dawson Just over a year ago the Portland City Council cut…
Read Blog Detail
Save Your Money, Save the State: Keep the Kicker
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. A few months ago, Oregonians learned they will be…
Read Blog Detail
A Developer’s Departure Gives Portland a Chance to Reconsider Its Priorities
By Micah Perry At a time when many Portlanders are sleeping on sidewalks,…
Read Blog Detail
PacifiCorp can do more to prevent future blackouts
By Rachel Dawson Environmental groups including the Sierra Club and Western Resource Advocates…
Read Blog Detail
Portland Politicians Talk Tough to Texas, and No One Cares
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. Last week, I attended my first out-of-state conference in…
Read Blog Detail
Oregon’s 2021 Energy Regulations Are Already Hurting Consumers
By Rachel Dawson Did you just have an order for a desktop computer…
Read Blog Detail
A Cascade Policy Institute Online Event: Discovering the Life of Thomas Sowell
On September 15, 2021 at noon PDT, Cascade Policy Institute will be joined…
Read Blog Detail
Portland’s Next Step to Thriving Is a Trusted Police Force
By Mia Tiwana If we want to continue seeing downtown Portland improve, maybe…
Read Blog Detail
Ratepayers are struggling to pay their utility bills and Kate Brown doesn’t care
By Rachel Dawson Oregonians are struggling to pay their utility bills. So then…
Read Blog Detail
Portland’s Housing Affordability Debacle
By Stew Robertson The City of Portland’s housing state of emergency, first declared…
Read Blog Detail
Travelers, Please Come to Portland … After We Clean Up the Place
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. If you get the Sunday New York Times, your…
Read Blog Detail
The Deadly Consequences of Catch-and-Release
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. On Saturday, police responded to a call that a…
Read Blog Detail
A new loss of load probability heightens concerns over the Northwest’s power grid
By Rachel Dawson The race is on for a reliable power grid. A…
Read Blog Detail
Portland Street Response: What Are You Waiting For?
By Vlad Yurlov Portland’s Lents neighborhood got a new homeless program in 2021….
Read Blog Detail
The Era of DIY Government Will Not End Well
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. Last week, a Craigslist post brought it home—we’re in…
Read Blog Detail
Press Release: Re: Metro Council Resolution No. 21-5171
April 29, 2021 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Cascade Policy Institute4850 SW Scholls Ferry Rd.,…
Read Blog Detail
Prepare for Portland’s Post-Pandemic Party
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. We’re in the waning days of the pandemic, and…
Read Blog Detail
Vlad Yurlov, Policy Analyst at Cascade Policy Institute, provided testimony on Portland City Council’s Shelter to Housing Continuum
Via emailMarch 30, 2021 Portland City Council, I’m Vlad Yurlov, policy analyst at…
Read Blog Detail
Oregon May Vote to Constantly Increase Infrastructure Spending
Raising prevailing wages would burden taxpayers and marginalize minorities By Vlad Yurlov Bad…
Read Blog Detail
Green Shoots of Business Need Room to Blossom
By Vlad Yurlov It’s a bad sign when businesses need to fortify their…
Read Blog Detail
Oregon Transportation Policy Needs to Learn from Its Mistakes
The Portland metro region tried everything to reduce automobile reliance. It’s time to…
Read Blog Detail
Price Gouging
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. Last week, Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum’s office reached…
Read Blog Detail
Hydroelectric power is renewable; it’s time legislators recognize that
By Rachel Dawson Oregon has always been a national leader in providing clean…
Read Blog Detail
Oregon Legislators Should Vote Yes on Nuclear Power
By Rachel Dawson Oregon is home to NuScale Power, the nation’s leading small…
Read Blog Detail
SolarWorld factory closure is the latest among government subsidy mistakes
By Rachel Dawson Should governments use taxpayer dollars to support select companies of…
Read Blog Detail
Make Oregon the Opportunity State
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. Oregonians blame Californians for many of our state’s woes….
Read Blog Detail
Take Stock, Then Take Action on Portland’s Homeless Crisis
By Vlad Yurlov Since 2015, Portland City Council has declared continuous housing emergencies….
Read Blog Detail
Portland Is Ill, but Not Dying
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. A recent column published in Forbes has caused quite…
Read Blog Detail
Reduce Homelessness by Reusing the Expo Center
By Vlad Yurlov Portland values its “green” projects; but local policymakers are attempting…
Read Blog Detail
Homelessness in the Portland Region
Some straightforward solutions to a complex problem By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. and Vlad…
Read Blog Detail
2021: The Year of Wishful Thinking
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. With the clock ticking down to midnight on December…
Read Blog Detail
Employers Are Left With the Bill After Lockdowns
By Vlad Yurlov When businesses fail, they shut down. But when the government…
Read Blog Detail
Where Can the Homeless Go? Portland Still Doesn’t Know
Shelter space can be used effectively by tracking and reporting vacancies By Vlad…
Read Blog Detail
Who Will Pay the Bills When the Pandemic Ends?
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. This week, the U.K. became the first western nation…
Read Blog Detail
Oregon Legislators should throw restaurants and bars a lifeline by legalizing “cocktails to-go”
By Rachel Dawson Do you want to enjoy a drink but don’t feel…
Read Blog Detail
Oregon’s “Public Purpose” Energy Tax: Mission Accomplished, or Mission Creep?
By John A Charles, Jr. and Rachel Dawson EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Oregon Public…
Read Blog Detail
Government Should Pay the Price for Locking Down Our Economy
By Vlad Yurlov Oregon’s government is finally feeling the pain of lockdowns. Last…
Read Blog Detail
Shopping in a Shutdown: How to Support Local Businesses
By Helen Doran The Oregonian reported that an estimated 51,000 more Oregonians are…
Read Blog Detail
Oregon should be supporting restaurants and bars, not freezing them out.
By Rachel Dawson Governor Kate Brown recently decided to take her Coronavirus “two-week…
Read Blog Detail
Cascade Policy Institute Responds to the Early Closure of the Boardman Coal Plant
October 19, 2020 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: Rachel Dawson (503) 242-0900 [email protected]…
Read Blog Detail
Government Alone Can’t Solve Homelessness
By Vlad Yurlov On October 2, Helping Hands unveiled its latest transitional housing…
Read Blog Detail
Press Release: Eric Fruits, Vice President of Research at Cascade Policy Institute, urges Metro Council to reject Ordinance 20-1449
October 4, 2020 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: Eric Fruits, Ph.D. (503) 242-0900…
Read Blog Detail
Oregon’s NuScale is one step further to providing states with clean, reliable energy
By Rachel Dawson Oregon’s very own NuScale Power, a company developing small-modular nuclear…
Read Blog Detail
Higher Taxes, Less Business
By Cooper Conway Joe Rogan, the outspoken commenter, comedian, and host, announced on…
Read Blog Detail
Regulating Third Party Food Delivery Services is Hurting, Not Helping, Portlanders
By Rachel Dawson Based on the passage of a 10% cap on commission…
Read Blog Detail
The Big Jobs Squeeze of 2020
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. This is a terrible time to own and run…
Read Blog Detail
OLCC Provides a Silver Lining in COVID-19 Recovery
By Vlad Yurlov Alcohol-lovers may have a reason for a toast. Oregon’s Liquor…
Read Blog Detail
The Era of Permanent Prosperity Is Over: It’s Time for a Serious Budget Discussion
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. The 2020 we’re living in is very different from…
Read Blog Detail
COVID-19 Is Killing the Economy; New Business Taxes Are Bayonetting the Wounded
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. Many Oregon businesses are looking forward toward May 15….
Read Blog Detail
COVID-19 and New Business Taxes: Bayonetting the Wounded
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. Many Oregon businesses are looking forward toward May 15….
Read Blog Detail
Portland’s homeless population needs a “hand-up,” not another Metro money grab
By Rachel Dawson The Oregon nonprofit Cascadia Clusters understands the value of providing…
Read Blog Detail
Letting Oregonians Find a Path to Recovery Is Essential Business
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. Oregon is nearing the end of the first month…
Read Blog Detail
As more people work remotely, a reliable grid is needed now more than ever
By Rachel Dawson “The vast disparity between the rich and the poor is,…
Read Blog Detail
Small Modular Reactors Are Not the 20th-Century Nuclear Plants We’re Familiar With
By Rachel Dawson Oregon, it’s about time we talk about nuclear power. No,…
Read Blog Detail
Oregon Can Support Workers by Reducing Regulations
By Rachel Dawson Businesses across Oregon are laying off employees and shuttering their…
Read Blog Detail
The Grid Is Not a Tinker Toy
By John A. Charles, Jr. Rarely has Oregon’s lack of political leadership been…
Read Blog Detail
Cap Taxes or You’ll Trade Business
By Miranda Bonifield You may not be able to tax carbon out of…
Read Blog Detail
They Always Want More: Voters Face at Least a Half Dozen New Taxes in 2020
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. With this year’s “short” session of the legislature, the…
Read Blog Detail
New Portland Design Guideline Will Place Responsibility for Homeless Crisis on Private Property Owners
By Rachel Dawson There is a homeless crisis in Portland. According to a…
Read Blog Detail
Press Release: Report shows possible benefits to workers, employers, and unions from increased competition in representation
December 30, 2019 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: Eric Fruits, Ph.D. (503) 242-0900…
Read Blog Detail
Why Wapato Is the Right Facility for Portland’s Homeless Crisis
By Rachel Dawson On December 2, I had the opportunity to tour the…
Read Blog Detail
Oregon’s population growth: Slow and steady may not win the race
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. Oregon’s population grew by more than 41,000 residents last…
Read Blog Detail
Early Coal Closures Could Spell Trouble for Grid Reliability
By Rachel Dawson The Northwest Power and Conservation Council regularly assesses the adequacy…
Read Blog Detail