The Garden State is No Bed of Roses - Spring 2009 - Vol. 21, No. 1 - available PDF file

If you know your state nicknames, the title of the article tells you which state ranked as the worst on the GMAC national survey of drivers. Read the article to find out which states had the highest scoring drivers, and who is more likely to fail the written driving exam—men or women.

Oil and Bottled Water Don’t Mix - Spring 2008-Vol.20, No.1 - available PDF file

Bottled water is the fastest growing beverage in the world. Yet, you may be surprised to learn just how much fossil fuel is used annually to satisfy Americans’ insatiable thirst for this drink’s plastic packaging. And the cost comparison of bottled water to tap water—staggering!

A non-partisan poll reveals which political party members are more likely to describe their mental health as “excellent.” Hint: There’s an elephant in the room.

Disturbing statistics show a 757% jump in the U.S. women’s prison population from 1977 to 2004. This article cites contributing factors for this increase, the adverse effects on society, as well as the disparity in female incarcerations rates among the states.

Can the state where a child lives affect how successful that child will ultimately become? The Editorial Projects in Education (EPE) Research Center recently released interesting data that claims just that.

In a 2004 poll of in-house general counsels and senior litigators, more than 80% of respondents indicated that the litigation environment could color their decision about locating a business or doing business in a state. This article identifies the states seeking tort reform as they continue to compete for jobs and investment with other states.

According to a recent study in the journal Health Affairs, states with higher Medicare spending are more likely to provide lower quality, less effective care to Medicare Beneficiaries. In addition, the number of general practitioners in the medical workforce has a direct relationship with high-quality care.

OxyContin was introduced as a longer lasting dosage of oxycodone in 1995, prescribed for the treatment of moderate to severe pain. This article reveals that OxyContin abuse is on the rise and is particularly high in the eastern U.S.

A state-by-state analysis of per capita education spending increases from 1997 to 2002. Furthermore, this article quantifies if increased education spending has resulted in increased education performance since 1998.

A map identifying the American Tort Reform Associations list of “judicial hellholes” and how these areas correlate with a U.S. Chamber of Commerce ranking of state’s liability systems is an almost exact match.

A recent lawsuit brought against Southwest Airlines magnifies the need for tort reform in much of the U.S.

Diversification of stock portfolios can help eliminate unwanted volatility as well as reducing risk.

Who do you think is more likely to go to college and succeed—the child of a college graduate or the child of a high school graduate? Many would assume that the child of the college graduate has the ultimate advantage; however, certain trends and two societal factors explain that success can go either way.

Saving for retirement is certainly not aided by the government’s IRA program, which fails to adjust for inflation and discriminates against non-working spouses. As medical costs rise and the social security system dies, it is a wonder whether any Americans will have enough money for retirement.

Federal regulations, particularly environmental, cost businesses $500 billion annually. However, when new technologies and modifications are introduced, the cost of meeting government guidelines is insignificant.

An analysis of stock market performance in foreign markets versus the US.

While Hispanics comprise the largest ethnic group in California, Asians are the more successful college attendees. As for the future of California, Latinos will outnumber the Asians, but the state leaders may be the latter since the key is education.

An examination of why Mondays are the worst day of the week for stock market performance.

According to a UCLA sociology professor, Japanese owned manufacturing facilities in California are low paying, modern-day sweatshops—evidence of an un-Japanese management style.

Federal court rules a corporation’s president may be held personally liable for the business’s environmental violations, even if he had no knowledge of them.