Economy
Business & Economics
Trade Wars Hurt Farmers
Before promising to impose tariffs on our nearest trade partners — Mexico and Canada — President Donald Trump told American farmers that they should get ready to sell more of their products domestically. The trouble with that optimism is that most farms are not corporate giants, but family operations that ...
Business & Economics
Robust Tech Company Investment Show The Folly Of Trump’s Tariffs
On February 24th, Apple announced that, over the next four years, the company will invest $500 billion into U.S. advanced manufacturing and high-tech initiatives such as artificial intelligence and silicon engineering. Additionally, the company expects to hire 20,000 people over this time frame. These investments will make important contributions to ...
Business & Economics
Housing Unaffordability Is A Policy Choice Not A Technology Problem
Trying to deflect the blame for the growing problem of housing affordability, politicians across the country are channeling their inner Captain Louis Renault and “rounding up the usual suspects”. In this case, the usual suspects are property landlords using algorithmic software to better understand the local market dynamics. Read the ...
Business & Economics
President Trump’s Tariffs Will Harm Your Pocketbook
President Trump fired the first shot of a trade war by imposing 25% tariffs on Canada and 10% tariffs on China, which will take effect on February 4 as of this writing. It also announced 25% tariffs on Mexico, but implementation has been delayed a month while the Administration negotiates ...
Blog
Book Review: The Age of Debt Bubbles edited by Max Rangely
Today, the U.S.’s debt-to-GDP ratio (the ratio between a country’s government debt and its gross domestic product) stands at 121 percent according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. However, we’re not the only country at risk. Italy is at 139 percent, Greece at 153 percent, Singapore at 176 ...
Business & Economics
Learn more about LNG exports
The High Costs Of Obstructing LNG Exports
Thanks to plentiful natural gas, consumers have access to affordable and reliable electricity, an often preferred heating/cooking fuel, and an energy source that has helped reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Greater use of natural gas is also consistent with the strong preference of “American voters across demographics and partisanship” for “an ‘all of ...
Blog
Rise Of The Machines
Some years ago, in 2018, when the minimum wage in California was $11 an hour for companies with 26 or more employees, a Pasadena burger joint hired a machine named Flippy to turn patties on the grill. “The world’s first autonomous kitchen assistant,” an “upgrade on a human line cook,” ...
Commentary
Learn why price controls won't reduce inflation
Kamala Harris is wrong. American economic history is replete with failed price control policies
Yet in one of her first policy proposals as the Democratic Party’s White House candidate, Kamala Harris insisted that the country needs “the first-ever federal ban on price gouging on food and groceries.” She would set “clear rules of the road to make clear that big corporations can’t unfairly exploit ...
Agriculture
Read the latest on the Harris grocery price gouging plan
Kamala Harris is wrong. The ‘California Way,’ not corporate greed, hikes grocery prices
Harris is right: we’re paying more at the grocery store these days. According to the Federal Reserve, food prices are up about 20 percent compared to when Harris became vice president. But when looking for a culprit for rising food prices, economists suggest Harris should look in the mirror – ...
Blog
Read why latest employer is leaving California
Chevron’s Departure Highlights California’s Risky Economic Future
Companies have been decamping from California for greener pastures so frequently that, in some ways, Chevron’s announcement is barely newsworthy. The particulars of Chevron’s decision are important, however, because they exemplify the large economic risks California’s policymakers are taking. Judged by their actions, California’s political leaders, including Governor Newsom, have ...
Trade Wars Hurt Farmers
Before promising to impose tariffs on our nearest trade partners — Mexico and Canada — President Donald Trump told American farmers that they should get ready to sell more of their products domestically. The trouble with that optimism is that most farms are not corporate giants, but family operations that ...
Robust Tech Company Investment Show The Folly Of Trump’s Tariffs
On February 24th, Apple announced that, over the next four years, the company will invest $500 billion into U.S. advanced manufacturing and high-tech initiatives such as artificial intelligence and silicon engineering. Additionally, the company expects to hire 20,000 people over this time frame. These investments will make important contributions to ...
Housing Unaffordability Is A Policy Choice Not A Technology Problem
Trying to deflect the blame for the growing problem of housing affordability, politicians across the country are channeling their inner Captain Louis Renault and “rounding up the usual suspects”. In this case, the usual suspects are property landlords using algorithmic software to better understand the local market dynamics. Read the ...
President Trump’s Tariffs Will Harm Your Pocketbook
President Trump fired the first shot of a trade war by imposing 25% tariffs on Canada and 10% tariffs on China, which will take effect on February 4 as of this writing. It also announced 25% tariffs on Mexico, but implementation has been delayed a month while the Administration negotiates ...
Book Review: The Age of Debt Bubbles edited by Max Rangely
Today, the U.S.’s debt-to-GDP ratio (the ratio between a country’s government debt and its gross domestic product) stands at 121 percent according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. However, we’re not the only country at risk. Italy is at 139 percent, Greece at 153 percent, Singapore at 176 ...
Learn more about LNG exports
The High Costs Of Obstructing LNG Exports
Thanks to plentiful natural gas, consumers have access to affordable and reliable electricity, an often preferred heating/cooking fuel, and an energy source that has helped reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Greater use of natural gas is also consistent with the strong preference of “American voters across demographics and partisanship” for “an ‘all of ...
Rise Of The Machines
Some years ago, in 2018, when the minimum wage in California was $11 an hour for companies with 26 or more employees, a Pasadena burger joint hired a machine named Flippy to turn patties on the grill. “The world’s first autonomous kitchen assistant,” an “upgrade on a human line cook,” ...
Learn why price controls won't reduce inflation
Kamala Harris is wrong. American economic history is replete with failed price control policies
Yet in one of her first policy proposals as the Democratic Party’s White House candidate, Kamala Harris insisted that the country needs “the first-ever federal ban on price gouging on food and groceries.” She would set “clear rules of the road to make clear that big corporations can’t unfairly exploit ...
Read the latest on the Harris grocery price gouging plan
Kamala Harris is wrong. The ‘California Way,’ not corporate greed, hikes grocery prices
Harris is right: we’re paying more at the grocery store these days. According to the Federal Reserve, food prices are up about 20 percent compared to when Harris became vice president. But when looking for a culprit for rising food prices, economists suggest Harris should look in the mirror – ...
Read why latest employer is leaving California
Chevron’s Departure Highlights California’s Risky Economic Future
Companies have been decamping from California for greener pastures so frequently that, in some ways, Chevron’s announcement is barely newsworthy. The particulars of Chevron’s decision are important, however, because they exemplify the large economic risks California’s policymakers are taking. Judged by their actions, California’s political leaders, including Governor Newsom, have ...
