Government Spending
Business & Economics
California: The National Petri Dish
Supposedly, trends start in California and then spread to the rest of the country, a notion that seems to be confirmed by the latest economic news. In May, California’s unemployment rate hit 11.5 percent—the highest it has been since 1941. This morning we learn that unemployment for the entire country ...
California
The Albany-Trenton-Sacramento Disease
How three liberal states got into deep trouble with ‘progressive’ ideas. President Obama has bet the economy on his program to grow the government and finance it with a more progressive tax system. It’s hard to miss the irony that he’s pitching this change in Washington even as the same ...
Commentary
How to Bankrupt a Country
What if you found that your personal income this year will be $55,000, but you will spend $100,000 — even though you had no prior savings? And what if next year’s picture looked similar, and the year after that, and so on? If President Obama were your personal financial advisor, ...
Agriculture
Analyzing the politics of climate change
San Francisco Examiner, June 9, 2009 We hear it every day. News headlines read: “Global Warming Biggest Threat of 21st Century, Experts say.” (businessweek.com. May 13th, 2009. Gardner, Amanda). News anchors provide us with a choice, either we believe the scientists that support global warming hypotheses, or we reject science ...
Business & Economics
California’s Economy: Boxer And Krugman Get It Wrong
New York Times columnist Paul Krugman argued in a May 25th column that California’s economic problems are rooted in a dysfunctional government that finds it “extremely hard to raise taxes, even in emergencies.” On May 28, California’s junior Senator, Barbara Boxer made a similar argument on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. Both ...
Business & Economics
An Agenda For California’s Fiscal Reform
The California state budget for years has been “balanced” with heavy borrowing, various kinds of raids on localities and special funds, and transfers from the future to the present. More generally, spending profligacy, high tax rates and onerous regulations have worked their magic: The gap between the ability of the ...
Business & Economics
State voters signal loud and clear: Down with taxes
Californians did not solve all our state problems at the ballot box Tuesday. Far from it. They did, however, send a signal that could help end our economic nightmare if politicians take heed. On Tuesday, Californians made it clear they reject higher taxes, with good reason. We are already one ...
Business & Economics
Is California Too Big To Fail?
California, the state that gave us wheatgrass, the microprocessor and the summer of love, is about to provide us with yet another first: a bailout of a failing state government. Preliminary returns on Tuesday night show that voters soundly rejected ballot measures calling for higher taxes, meaning that the not-so-Golden ...
Business & Economics
Oh Canada! … Role-Reversal in North America?
Stereotypes are often rooted in some current or past reality, but they can also become outdated. While the USA and Japan have for a long time been regarded as small-government countries, among industrial countries, Canada has long been considered more ‘socialistic’ and closer to the big-government model of Western Europe. ...
Business & Economics
Revive state’s start-up culture
Californians perceive the Golden State as a bastion of entrepreneurship and innovation, and in some ways they’re correct. Silicon Valley, after all, is a hub of researchers, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and innovators. But a look at the entire state tells a different story. California’s vaunted start-up culture is under siege. ...
California: The National Petri Dish
Supposedly, trends start in California and then spread to the rest of the country, a notion that seems to be confirmed by the latest economic news. In May, California’s unemployment rate hit 11.5 percent—the highest it has been since 1941. This morning we learn that unemployment for the entire country ...
The Albany-Trenton-Sacramento Disease
How three liberal states got into deep trouble with ‘progressive’ ideas. President Obama has bet the economy on his program to grow the government and finance it with a more progressive tax system. It’s hard to miss the irony that he’s pitching this change in Washington even as the same ...
How to Bankrupt a Country
What if you found that your personal income this year will be $55,000, but you will spend $100,000 — even though you had no prior savings? And what if next year’s picture looked similar, and the year after that, and so on? If President Obama were your personal financial advisor, ...
Analyzing the politics of climate change
San Francisco Examiner, June 9, 2009 We hear it every day. News headlines read: “Global Warming Biggest Threat of 21st Century, Experts say.” (businessweek.com. May 13th, 2009. Gardner, Amanda). News anchors provide us with a choice, either we believe the scientists that support global warming hypotheses, or we reject science ...
California’s Economy: Boxer And Krugman Get It Wrong
New York Times columnist Paul Krugman argued in a May 25th column that California’s economic problems are rooted in a dysfunctional government that finds it “extremely hard to raise taxes, even in emergencies.” On May 28, California’s junior Senator, Barbara Boxer made a similar argument on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. Both ...
An Agenda For California’s Fiscal Reform
The California state budget for years has been “balanced” with heavy borrowing, various kinds of raids on localities and special funds, and transfers from the future to the present. More generally, spending profligacy, high tax rates and onerous regulations have worked their magic: The gap between the ability of the ...
State voters signal loud and clear: Down with taxes
Californians did not solve all our state problems at the ballot box Tuesday. Far from it. They did, however, send a signal that could help end our economic nightmare if politicians take heed. On Tuesday, Californians made it clear they reject higher taxes, with good reason. We are already one ...
Is California Too Big To Fail?
California, the state that gave us wheatgrass, the microprocessor and the summer of love, is about to provide us with yet another first: a bailout of a failing state government. Preliminary returns on Tuesday night show that voters soundly rejected ballot measures calling for higher taxes, meaning that the not-so-Golden ...
Oh Canada! … Role-Reversal in North America?
Stereotypes are often rooted in some current or past reality, but they can also become outdated. While the USA and Japan have for a long time been regarded as small-government countries, among industrial countries, Canada has long been considered more ‘socialistic’ and closer to the big-government model of Western Europe. ...
Revive state’s start-up culture
Californians perceive the Golden State as a bastion of entrepreneurship and innovation, and in some ways they’re correct. Silicon Valley, after all, is a hub of researchers, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and innovators. But a look at the entire state tells a different story. California’s vaunted start-up culture is under siege. ...
