What States Can Do to Improve Health Savings Account Incentives
What States Can Do to Improve Health Savings Account IncentivesAuthor Byron SchlomachAbstract This paper explains how HSA incentives (meant to battle the third-party payer problem) are undermined by insurance companies. It proposes actions states can take, including...
Land and Prosperity: A Primer on Land Use Law and Policy
Land and Prosperity: A Primer on Land Use Law and PolicyAuthor Brad GalbraithAbstract This paper explains how property rights are central to liberty. It also introduces several prominent land-use controls and briefly discusses their intended value and their potential...
Plumber Licensing in Oklahoma
Plumber Licensing in OklahomaAuthor Tyler WilliamsonAbstract This paper summarizes Oklahoma’s plumber licensing law and evaluates whether there is any public interest justification for it. None is found. In fact, the license only serves to burden consumers by...
Independent, Principled
State Policy
Some Legislators Don’t Understand: Open Government Is Good Government
As government has become bigger and more complex, it has become increasingly difficult for individual citizens to...
Price Transparency: the Silver Bullet for Combating Healthcare Costs
Rising healthcare prices have long been an issue for this country. This is largely due to both the third-party payer problem and a lack of price transparency. The lack of stated...
Train Wreck Legislation Demonstrates the Need for Public Testimony
The Oklahoma legislature continues to impose new mandates on individuals and businesses that grow government and restrict free and open markets. This despite being comprised of a...
Our Story
The 1889 Institute is named for the first land run in Oklahoma. On April 22, 1889, pioneers gathered at a starting line and raced to claim tracts of land from the U.S. government for the price of staying on the
land for five years. The land run typifies the American ideal of opportunity – readily available to anyone with the personal initiative to take it, but without expecting equal results. Regardless of status, education, or station, no participant in a land run had an official advantage. In this way, the land run illustrates 1889 Institute’s commitment to fighting privilege granted by government, and expanding opportunity where government has intruded excessively.
Who We Are
The 1889 Institute is an independent group of scholars dedicated to making Oklahoma the best it can be. We are not affiliated with a political party, do not receive any money from any government entity, and do not engage in grassroots advocacy.
What We Do
The 1889 Institute analyzes and develops state public policy for the state of Oklahoma based on principles of limited and responsible government, free enterprise, and a robust civil society. We disseminate analyses and recommendations to policymakers and the general public.