Ben Smithwick – The Best of the 2010’s
Happy New Year! Here is a great recap of some of the major stories from the past decade – from the election of President Trump to the market disruption caused by the sharing economy – and the declining power of traditional media gatekeepers.
Tim Anaya – A Viral Shoplifting Video Shows Ongoing Problems of Prop. 47
During the holidays, a video of a wild shoplifting heist at a Richmond Sears store went viral, garnering over 5 million views on Twitter according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Unfortunately, these types of brazen shoplifting incidents are becoming more and more common in California thanks to Prop. 47. As our Kerry Jackson wrote about in his 2019 book Living in Fear in California, the threshold for theft to be considered a felony or a misdemeanor is $950. It’s likely that none of the shoplifters in this video stole more than $950 worth of merchandise, meaning that they’ll get a slap on the wrist if they are ever apprehended. Unfortunately, you and I will pay for this in the end as stores will inevitable pass on these losses to customers in the form on higher prices for paying customers.
Kerry Jackson – Markets for Conservation: Reining in the Wild Horse Crisis
Real conservation and real environmentalism are both market-based.
Rowena Itchon – Claremont Receives National Humanities Medal
We’re thrilled that our colleagues and fellow Californians at the Claremont Institute received the National Humanities Medal from President Trump. Here’s a video clip of the White House ceremony with President Ryan Williams receiving the medal. Congratulations Claremont!
