As the nation prepares for the possible full implementation of federal health care reform, New Jersey must prepare for the coming effects on the state’s Medicaid population. On April 12, CSI-NJ hosted a forum to educate legislators, legislative staff and other policymakers about the ways the Patient...

Last year, the Common Sense Institute of New Jersey produced a three-part series on management practices at New Jersey’s nine senior public colleges and nineteen community colleges. One of the revelations of the Campus Green series was the large amount of unrestricted cash assets at the schools, and...

by Mark ‘Jay’ Williams, Economics Fellow The use of statistics is a routine and important part of the policy making process, but too often the repetition of a generalized statistic lulls advocates, legislators and the press into false assumptions. One of the most misused variables is ‘teacher’,...

Since the 1980s, corporate Boards of Directors concerned about their company being purchased by other firms have established defenses meant to make that impossible. These controversial tactics, known as poison pills, usually involve a penalty that the would-be acquirer must absorb to complete the takeover....

On February 22, Governor Christie introduced his proposed budget for the 2011-’12 Fiscal Year. The governor’s “Budget in Brief” can be downloaded at this link or viewed below, and a text of the budget address is available here. Download (PDF, 1.22MB) Budget highlights, The proposed budget would...

Landmark school choice legislation is advancing through the New Jersey Legislature. The Opportunity Scholarship Act would provide tax credit scholarships to up to 40,000 low-income students in chronically failing schools that can be used at participating public and non-public schools of the student and...

by Mark ‘Jay’ Williams Economics Fellow When policy makers use statistics to either justify or tear down a public policy, it is important that the numbers be used properly and are connected to real-world outcomes. Unfortunately, the recent debate about school budget cuts has used statistics...