Business & Economics
Business & Economics
Memo to Candidates – Dire Economy Calls for Deep Reforms
California’s unemployment rate is 12.4 percent – third-highest in the country – but that statistic fails to tell the whole story of our economic woes. If marginal workers and those forced to work part-time are added to the base unemployment rate – what the Bureau of Labor Statistics refers to ...
Business & Economics
Public Pay Study Seems Bogus
The media have been providing serious reporting about a “UC Berkeley [2]” study showing that public employees earn a total salary and benefit package that’s about the same as those in the private sector. This counter-intuitive study is being championed by government advocates as a rebuttal to the public upset ...
Business & Economics
Pro-union study twists stats, takes public for saps
California’s public employee unions have taken the public for suckers for years, so it’s understandable they now think they can play us for fools. A study released Monday by a pro-union think tank purports to show that public employees receive less total compensation than their counterparts in the private sector. ...
Business & Economics
LaFaive: Give businesses freedom to create jobs
When the price of something goes up, the quantity demanded of it goes down. When government raises the price of creating jobs, investing and living in Michigan, we get less of those things. There’s plenty of evidence to back this common-sense truth. A March 2010 Federal Reserve Bank of St. ...
Business & Economics
Nelson vs. Sidhu a snore this time
Those Orange County political observers who have been awaiting a repeat of the June supervisorial grudge match that pitted pension-reforming Shawn Nelson, then a Fullerton councilman, against union-backed Anaheim Councilman Harry Sidhu must be sorely disappointed. In June, the unions tried to make an example out of Nelson, who blew ...
Business & Economics
Returning the state to prosperity requires action
As the November election approaches, Californians don’t need to be reminded of the dismal state of the Golden State. The state’s economic misery permeates Californians’ daily lives. Our headline unemployment is 12.4 percent, third-highest in the country, and increases to 21.9 percent, highest in the country, when marginally employed and ...
Business & Economics
A Bad Word in California
What does voter anger at pension payouts and government spending mean for candidates who rely on the support of public employees? Steven Greenhut is the director of the Pacific Research Institute’s Journalism Center and the author of “Plunder! How Public Employee Unions Are Raiding Treasuries, Controlling Our Lives And Bankrupting ...
Business & Economics
Jackpot Justice Series
The first film in the Jackpot Justice series titled “Lawyers Gone Wild” takes a humorous look at the absurd warning labels on everyday consumer products revealing a serious underlying problem—rampant abuse of our nation’s civil-justice tort climate. The second film titled “Judicial Hellholes” takes audiences on a tour of American ...
Business & Economics
New leadership on taxes needed
A general economic malaise permeates everyday life in California, best illustrated by the state’s 12.4 percent unemployment rate, third-highest in the country. This melancholy has forced responses from the candidates for governor. Californians should give their ideas careful scrutiny. In his eight-page fiscal plan, Jerry Brown offers vague and general ...
Business & Economics
California Tax Facts 2011
State of California General Fund Tax Revenue, Fiscal Year 2010 July 1, 2009 June 30, 2010 up 5.6% from FY 2009 Source: California State Controller (p. 12) $86.58 billion California Tax Facts 2011 – Revenue Sour Personal Income Taxes $44.83 billion 52% Retail Sales and Use Taxes $26.74 billion ...
Memo to Candidates – Dire Economy Calls for Deep Reforms
California’s unemployment rate is 12.4 percent – third-highest in the country – but that statistic fails to tell the whole story of our economic woes. If marginal workers and those forced to work part-time are added to the base unemployment rate – what the Bureau of Labor Statistics refers to ...
Public Pay Study Seems Bogus
The media have been providing serious reporting about a “UC Berkeley [2]” study showing that public employees earn a total salary and benefit package that’s about the same as those in the private sector. This counter-intuitive study is being championed by government advocates as a rebuttal to the public upset ...
Pro-union study twists stats, takes public for saps
California’s public employee unions have taken the public for suckers for years, so it’s understandable they now think they can play us for fools. A study released Monday by a pro-union think tank purports to show that public employees receive less total compensation than their counterparts in the private sector. ...
LaFaive: Give businesses freedom to create jobs
When the price of something goes up, the quantity demanded of it goes down. When government raises the price of creating jobs, investing and living in Michigan, we get less of those things. There’s plenty of evidence to back this common-sense truth. A March 2010 Federal Reserve Bank of St. ...
Nelson vs. Sidhu a snore this time
Those Orange County political observers who have been awaiting a repeat of the June supervisorial grudge match that pitted pension-reforming Shawn Nelson, then a Fullerton councilman, against union-backed Anaheim Councilman Harry Sidhu must be sorely disappointed. In June, the unions tried to make an example out of Nelson, who blew ...
Returning the state to prosperity requires action
As the November election approaches, Californians don’t need to be reminded of the dismal state of the Golden State. The state’s economic misery permeates Californians’ daily lives. Our headline unemployment is 12.4 percent, third-highest in the country, and increases to 21.9 percent, highest in the country, when marginally employed and ...
A Bad Word in California
What does voter anger at pension payouts and government spending mean for candidates who rely on the support of public employees? Steven Greenhut is the director of the Pacific Research Institute’s Journalism Center and the author of “Plunder! How Public Employee Unions Are Raiding Treasuries, Controlling Our Lives And Bankrupting ...
Jackpot Justice Series
The first film in the Jackpot Justice series titled “Lawyers Gone Wild” takes a humorous look at the absurd warning labels on everyday consumer products revealing a serious underlying problem—rampant abuse of our nation’s civil-justice tort climate. The second film titled “Judicial Hellholes” takes audiences on a tour of American ...
New leadership on taxes needed
A general economic malaise permeates everyday life in California, best illustrated by the state’s 12.4 percent unemployment rate, third-highest in the country. This melancholy has forced responses from the candidates for governor. Californians should give their ideas careful scrutiny. In his eight-page fiscal plan, Jerry Brown offers vague and general ...
California Tax Facts 2011
State of California General Fund Tax Revenue, Fiscal Year 2010 July 1, 2009 June 30, 2010 up 5.6% from FY 2009 Source: California State Controller (p. 12) $86.58 billion California Tax Facts 2011 – Revenue Sour Personal Income Taxes $44.83 billion 52% Retail Sales and Use Taxes $26.74 billion ...
